The Rise of Machine Made Marbles | CAC, Peltier & AKRO Secrets Revealed | Beginner’s Guide Series

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:01]Man, Jeeoff, that is a beautiful guinea we brought tonight.

[00:00:05]>> It really is. You know, that was made by the Christensen Sonaga Company. They only were in business eight years.

[00:00:10]>> They made some gorgeous marbles. It is sad that they burnt down in 1933.

[00:00:16]>> Well, on tonight's episode of Keepers of the Marbles, we're going to explore the truth behind that myth.

[00:00:23]>> You're telling me that they may not have burnt down?

[00:00:26]>> That's right. Yeah, I've heard that as well. H.

[00:00:29]>> Well, my name is Jeff Baker. I'm a 40-year collector. And this is >> my name is Cody Kemp and I've been collecting for 10 years. And on tonight's episode of Keepers on the Marbles, we're going to be continuing our complete beginners guide to marble collecting. We just finished up our last episode talking about uh handmade marbles and pontals and how to tell the difference between them.

[00:00:58]Mhm. Yeah. And uh how to read the glass.

[00:01:01]And so tonight we're going to be reading the glass with the American machinemade marbles and studying a little bit about other features such as cut lines, seams, patches, and ribbons, and how you can use this information to identify which company made the marbles you're looking at. So follow along as we continue to explore on Keepers of the Marbles.

[00:01:33]>> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat.

[00:01:52]>> [music] >> Well, welcome back. Hope you enjoy our intro music. And today we're going to be getting into something that our channel really hasn't dove into much >> at all. Normally we focus a lot on German handmmaids because they were the first glassmade marbles to ever be produced on mass.

[00:02:20]>> And as we covered before, you know, Germany dominated the marble industry from 1850 to about 1910, 1920.

[00:02:31]>> Unmatched.

[00:02:33]>> But something happened in 1910.

[00:02:35]>> 1910. And we already covered it a little bit in our last video, and we're really going to be diving into it on this one, >> but that was the introduction of machines into the marble making process.

[00:02:47]>> That's not what I was referring to, though.

[00:02:49]>> Oh, >> I was talking about the embargo, >> right, >> of German imports to the United States.

[00:02:56]>> They were cut off. Germany's >> That was 1914 was the the >> Oh, 14. I thought it was 19. Okay.

[00:03:02]>> I believe it was 1914. That was the it it started in 1910, but it was fully embargoed by 1914, >> right?

[00:03:10]>> Was all German imports due to the war had been cut off. So all these little toys, >> Germany only could now start selling them over to the UK. They weren't able to sell in America anymore.

[00:03:23]>> And we had the industrial revolution starting up in the United States. And man, did that kick marbles into high gear. Men were men were experimenting with all sorts of machinery. They they were saying how how can we industrialize this? It's it's no different than what AI is doing today. It's it's >> trans it transformed >> the marble making process.

[00:03:48]>> Right.

[00:03:48]>> And within one decade MF Christensen was making over a million marbles a month.

[00:03:55]>> A month. They started in 1905.

[00:03:57]>> Right.

[00:03:58]>> But they were a hybrid. They were doing transitional marbles, meaning that part of it was a hand gathered manual process where they would take the glass, swirl it by hand, chop it, >> hand scissors.

[00:04:13]>> Yep. And drop that into a uh machine that finished rolling that marble out round and uh >> which was infinitely faster than making it. made a killing because it had virtually no competition, >> right?

[00:04:33]>> But after 1910, 1914, >> right?

[00:04:36]>> And the company, like you said, in by 19, what was it? 19 >> 14 >> 1914.

[00:04:43]>> Yeah. 1914 was producing a million dollars a month. And that company continued, >> a million marbles a month.

[00:04:49]>> I thought I said a million a month.

[00:04:50]>> You said a million dollars a month.

[00:04:52][laughter] >> Dollars. Who's talking dollars? Okay.

[00:04:56]Anyway, [laughter] but a million marbles a month.

[00:05:01]>> No, it was it was a it was a crazy time to be alive. They were they were changing. The the game was changing.

[00:05:10]>> You've got one right there, don't you?

[00:05:11]>> Yep.

[00:05:12]>> The game was changing so fast.

[00:05:15]>> That's a purple one.

[00:05:16]>> Yep.

[00:05:16]>> One of purple actually was one of their >> rarer colors, right?

[00:05:21]>> Especially large that like that size.

[00:05:24]>> Yeah.

[00:05:24]>> Yeah. Absolutely.

[00:05:25]>> They didn't make very many large ones.

[00:05:26]>> And um and they they have that signature nine hand gathered >> where it was where it was whip, flip, and snip. And that was they they'd get that they'd get that tail and >> flip it over.

[00:05:42]>> So they would often have these long strings stringy tail that come off that nine. Um and then uh uh opposite of that nine you will see what we call a um a cut line and that that's where they had snipped the glass off from their punting >> and and then it rolled through the rollers and and there it can sometimes [clears throat] be difficult to see on a marble if the white glass because they're always they were always a slag type glass or an ox blood glass. uh where they would have the white mixed in with it and and if that white didn't come all the way down to the other end where they made the cut. Sometimes you you have to really look for it, but it's there. And other times it's very obvious. Uh there's other companies that did a similar thing and and we'll I'll point that out here in a moment. and and they went they went from they went uh from 1905 to 1917, >> right?

[00:06:47]>> So they went out of business at the first world war.

[00:06:51]>> World War. Yeah. They were sure on natural gas. Yep. Um >> the natural gas shortages.

[00:06:55]>> All the focus went into wartime production.

[00:06:59]>> Yep. Yep. But they were not without competition.

[00:07:03]Acro started five years later in in 1910.

[00:07:09]>> Yes.

[00:07:10]>> And they had a lockdown on their patent that their way of making marbles.

[00:07:16]>> Right. Right.

[00:07:17]>> Was way cheaper because they had taken the human element completely out of it.

[00:07:24]>> Totally industrialized it.

[00:07:26]>> Totally industrialized.

[00:07:27]>> Right. And Acro was really the king.

[00:07:32]And throughout the history of the marble era. Oh yeah.

[00:07:37]>> Machine made marble era. Acroinated machine made marble era.

[00:07:42]>> Yeah.

[00:07:42]>> Yeah.

[00:07:42]>> Yeah. They >> they they really made the most >> they they also had um this was something interesting that when we were doing the research they had the least amount of process the the least amount of vats and steps for their machine. Yeah, >> it was actually one of the more simpler machines >> that made marbles.

[00:08:11]>> And they came up with an iconic design called the corkcrew.

[00:08:15]>> Oh man.

[00:08:16]>> The corkcrew is identified as a marble that will start at one a pattern that will start at one end of the marble and spiral around in a circle like a corkcrew to the other end. And there will be snip lines at each end of that cork screw.

[00:08:33]>> Yep. I'm holding one right now. Yeah.

[00:08:35]>> And and [clears throat] that was part that was part of their machine that they had taken their patch machine, >> their acro patch machine and added a secondary machine onto it called spin a spinning cup. A spin cup >> that as it dropped down, it would spin into that and spinner right up into a cork screw. So, if you got a corkcrew that spins a lot, it spent some time in that [laughter] cup a little longer before it went into the rollers and that's obviously going to be more desirable than if you had a cork screw that just kind of went a half turn, you know. So, >> some something else I wanted to cover a little bit with our viewers. Um, >> our our channel doesn't spend a lot of time on machinemade marbles. Um, but that being said, some of the rarity factors do cross over between German handmmaids and machine >> there. You're going to be looking for rare colors, right?

[00:09:37]>> Rare uh eye appeal, >> rare patterns, >> rare patterns, >> right? The more colors, >> the more colors, [snorts] right?

[00:09:45]>> Just like the clown onion skin, it had all the colors of red, yellow, blue, and green on white. Exactly. Well, if you get a corkcrew with three colors or four colors or five colors >> or a Popeye that has four colors, a four color Popeye, >> right? Which is a corkcrew, >> right?

[00:10:02]>> For those um just joining us in marble collecting, you're going to learn your entire life in marble collecting. You're not going to ever >> get there. You're going to always be learning. And if you think that you know everything you there is to know about marbles, you're going to find out you don't. And there's something more to learn. Well, and that's what I that's another thing I wanted to cover with this this video. This is not going to be a a fully comprehensive machinemade >> uh video. This isn't going to cover even a an a tenth of the the the vast amount of machine-made marbles. We're not going to be covering any machine-made marbles that were made outside of America. And honestly, we're not even covering all of the American machine made marbles.

[00:10:51]>> No. No. Uh, our focus is going to be on the main five that created seams, >> right?

[00:10:59]>> And they're different.

[00:11:02]>> They're different. And so that's what we want to point out is these difference between these companies that made marbles with seams. So, when you see a marble that has a seam, which means a a line dividing the pattern, um you're going to be maybe asking yourself, well, who made that one? Hopefully, we create enough curiosity that you'll explore some of these other uh educational materials that we're going to put links to in our description so that you can follow up with that and hopefully learn something from what we discussed with it as well.

[00:11:36]We will be discussing a lot of u a lot of resources for because there's Facebook groups out there that are devoted just to Christensen company, right?

[00:11:46]>> Um and there's there's ones that are just devoted to MF Christensen.

[00:11:51]>> Um >> and so yeah, as the viewer, definitely go and um do a lot of independent research on these, >> right? And go to the marble shows. The more you handle these, the more you're exposed to seeing different varieties, the better you're going to understand what you're looking at and be able to pick it up in a in a snap just that quick. You say, "Okay, that one is this type of marble." And you'll be able to identify marbles that don't quite look right. And those are often times modern marbles made to repro reproduce to look like the the antique ones. So, uh, one other thing I want to say about Acro, we have these cork screws we just discussed here.

[00:12:37]>> Acro also made patch.

[00:12:39]>> Yes, >> cork screws. This one here >> and it's B and a cork screw is basically a patch prior to the prior to entering entering into the spin machine.

[00:12:49]>> But when it doesn't spin, it's a patched opaque uh swirl. So this one here has a patch of ox blood on one side and blue and looks like a little tan maybe on on the other side. But what I wanted to say about it is the cut line here at the seams of I mean at the ends of this patch often times on an acro are going to be pretty straight.

[00:13:19]>> Okay. And so that's an identifying feature of of acro >> versus a more curved >> a curved one or maybe a V-shaped.

[00:13:28]>> And each each cut line is dependent on the machine that made it, >> right?

[00:13:33]>> Because the the acro machines are different than the marble king machines, >> right? Every every machine had its own patent and is was unique. But that's the one thing I wanted to point out about acro is look for that uh the if you have a patched marble. Um a straighter cut line is going to generally indicate an acro.

[00:13:58]>> Well, and and one more thing I wanted to say about acro. Uh and I touched on it a little bit, but it it does make a big difference because they made it through World War I >> and all the way until the depression.

[00:14:12]Mhm.

[00:14:13]>> Um but the re one of the main reasons why they did was because of the simplicity of their machine. their simplic the simplicity of their machine really only they they took a hand like two to um like three to five vats and the the vats would pour into one line >> and then as they were coming together >> then it would mix and then it would snip off and it was at the snipping process that then they then they saw it and they're like oh well that's a finished marble. And when you and I were talking about this before, you made the comment, it's kind of like a fro yo machine.

[00:14:53]>> It's kind of like a fro yo machine.

[00:14:54]>> Vanilla on this side and you got strawberry or chocolate on this side and you want >> mold two together, >> pull these two and they come together, >> right? So just uh you can kind of imagine that with glass.

[00:15:06]>> Pinch it off. Pinch it off. Pinch it off. Right.

[00:15:10]>> And and the the cork screws were a later introduction.

[00:15:15]We could spin these things >> and spin them a little bit and and add that. Uh >> yeah, they started doing that.

[00:15:23]>> Actually, not too late. I mean, they're fairly early. Um >> I imagine that they were able to to get that cuz it was a very simple machine that made that, >> right?

[00:15:32]>> Cuz we'll get into the the next big company that we're >> Did you want to say one more thing?

[00:15:38]>> No, no, no. I was just going to say something about this next company. Are you talking about Christensen?

[00:15:43]>> Christensen egg company. So Christensen AOT company started off making marbles by hand just like MF Christensen.

[00:15:55]>> And I I'll bet you even I it's unproven.

[00:15:59]You heard it here first, but I bet you they even purchased some of the MF Christensen um >> the the machines.

[00:16:09]>> I don't know >> because again they were handmade and then or hand gathered. Yeah, >> they were their earliest ones in these red slags. It's a if you have a red slag, it's a dead giveaway because MF Christensen only came in uh green, blue, purple, amber, and white, >> right?

[00:16:30]>> Not red.

[00:16:30]>> Not red. They didn't do red. So, if you see a red and it's got a hand gathered pattern like a nine and then a cut line on the other side, don't think that's a MF Christensen. It's not. That is a CAC or Christensen AGOT company marble. And um the two Christensen's >> weren't family. Uh different names, right?

[00:16:50]>> But uh one thing about the Christensen company, I'm going to show a picture of this right now. It had it came >> all these marbles and millions of dollars worth of marbles were made out of this block building, you know, unassuming building. And just imagine the beautiful marbles made inside those walls and pass through those doors.

[00:17:11]>> Well, and and you can really see it in the marble because again, uh something you'll hear us say, the glass will tell you everything you need to know. They spared no expense on the glass. They they went with some of the highest quality glass, some of the most vibrant colors. They also though something you'll see they made multiple different they they were almost experimenting with hand with with machinemade marbles they couldn't get where where acro had their system down >> Christian company >> really never made it off the ground in in uh in 1925 is when they started up and I was joking with Jeff. It would be like attempting to start up a um an entertainment business >> like at like axe throwing or a restaurant or some some other entertainment venue business right before co >> Yeah, I know someone did that >> that [laughter] we won't talk about that.

[00:18:26]That being said, it it the timing was terrible.

[00:18:31]>> It was terrible timing, >> but it's what makes Christensen Egg Company marbles >> so rare.

[00:18:39]>> Their colors were off the charts. Now, they hired a chemist from Germany.

[00:18:46]>> Really?

[00:18:47]>> Yes.

[00:18:48]>> To come up with the different colors.

[00:18:50]>> Yes.

[00:18:50]>> Wow. And he made glass that would be of just enough different chemistry so that the two colors could come together with a sharp edge >> would mix >> and not mix.

[00:19:09]>> Oh, >> and they could get some of the really sharp lines and patterns and flames.

[00:19:15]>> Well, it's Oh, yeah. Some of their flames are gorgeous. Yeah, the just the flames, the fine tips of those colors and uh and actually >> because you won't you won't get that in an acro patch. In an acro patch, all the colors are kind of blending together.

[00:19:31]>> They do fade and blend. Yep.

[00:19:33]>> It's not it's not >> But Acro hired the same guy.

[00:19:37]>> He worked for Acro for a little while as well. Um >> but um Christensen, what I wanted to say about Christensen is >> I think they really excelled among all of the companies with the quality of the glass that they used. The colors were unique and they were they were because of >> the chemistry of that glass. unique colors, unique patterns, unique sharp lines. Everything about them was [snorts] spectacular >> except for the fact that in a day and age where nobody was spending money on toys, >> right, >> because of the war, they they didn't get paid >> for the the uniqueness of their marbles.

[00:20:28]>> And that was their downfall.

[00:20:29]>> That was their downfall.

[00:20:30]>> It wasn't the fire, Cody. Nope.

[00:20:32]>> It was they cared so much about quality that they put a lot of money towards that. And then when the Great Depression hit uh and the stock market fell, they couldn't compete.

[00:20:50]>> Couldn't compete.

[00:20:50]>> They had to close for economic reasons.

[00:20:52]It wasn't because of a fire.

[00:20:54]>> Yep.

[00:20:55]>> Yeah.

[00:20:56]>> That was tough. And and when we found that out during our research, that was a that was that was a shocker for us because we had always heard >> it burned down.

[00:21:04]>> Burnt down.

[00:21:05]>> Yeah.

[00:21:05]>> Um and and Yeah. But they went out of business just due to economic reasons >> and because they made such beautiful marbles.

[00:21:15]>> Yes. Because they really put their heart and soul into >> They were cheap to make.

[00:21:19]>> Yep.

[00:21:20]>> Acro was making them cheap.

[00:21:22]>> Acro that's why they survived.

[00:21:23]>> Yep. Uh, Peltier also started up right around the exact same time as Christian Snaget Company. Yeah.

[00:21:30]>> In in 1927, though.

[00:21:32]>> Yeah.

[00:21:33]>> And how >> the the thing is, >> how did Peltier make it through?

[00:21:39]>> Yeah. That's >> because they made it all the way until 2002.

[00:21:44]>> Yeah.

[00:21:45]>> They their final run was in 2002, >> right? You know, Peltier had some very complex machines that made some fabulous patterns and collars. I want to back up for one second. Yeah, >> the cut lines.

[00:22:03]>> Yeah.

[00:22:03]>> On Christensen, sometimes they were one, sometimes they had two, >> which is which is a >> peltier will have two.

[00:22:11]>> I wonder I I I know that the the hand gathereds would have only had one cut line, >> right? But I'm talking about the seam because when they started when they got their machines, right, let's back up a little bit to Christian.

[00:22:26]>> At first they had to hand gather them and snip them and put them in their machine into a roller kind of like MF Christensen. But then they finally got their machines with their vats >> and then they would um they would come down and it would create where you have a a set of vats on this side with patterns and this side and they come together and where they would come together it would be like a mold line or seam.

[00:22:51]>> Yeah.

[00:22:51]>> It wouldn't be all the way around. It' just be partway down on this side and partway down on that side. And if you like for example look at a that that guinea the guinea um you'll see a cut line or I mean seam line.

[00:23:08]>> Yeah. A single seam line.

[00:23:09]>> Yeah. And sometimes they would do one and then they all would swing around to the other side. Sometimes they had two.

[00:23:16]Uh and they were very very unique in how they produce their marbles. That goes back to kind of what I was saying is it seems like during that during that short eight-year period they had hand gathered machine finish they had single seam they had double seam ones and they never got >> they never like found their niche right where >> well I think they it wasn't that they didn't find their niche that they continued to push the envelope I think they liked exploring and what Now, can we do Yeah. You know, in the guineies, >> um we'll have mostly surface patches of color, polka dots of color. And then they went to the cyclones where they were inside the marble. And so they kept exploring.

[00:24:08]>> They they were exploring what unique properties you could do with, >> right, >> with the glass, >> right? uh which ultimately ended up being their downfall because they just weren't that profitable.

[00:24:21]>> Yeah. They had a hard time u continuing to sell marbles at a high enough price to people that were poor, >> right?

[00:24:30]>> And struggling in, you know, the Great Depression. Yep.

[00:24:33]>> Uh to to keep their doors open and they couldn't do it anymore.

[00:24:37]>> But then when the Peltier Company come along, how did they survive? That's a good question because they had a patented machine that uh I'm going to show pictures of the of the machine.

[00:24:49]It's extremely complex, but basically a multiple series of vats on different sides that would feed the glass through to the other side. And so you'd have patterns that would like come through on this side and then it would be over here on this side. And and like like this Superman right here.

[00:25:10]>> Yeah.

[00:25:12]blue base marble with yellow and red.

[00:25:15]>> And they had some really vibrant colors, too.

[00:25:18]>> Yeah, >> I I I personally think that Peltzier is one of my favorite uh machinemade marbles out there. Um so, just some really stunning uh crisp colors.

[00:25:33]So, Peltier had um some what's called a patch and ribbon design where you have the ribbons in the middle and then kind of like a end patch on each end, >> right?

[00:25:46]>> And uh they but they had some National Line rainbows such as such as the Superman like this one right here.

[00:25:54]That's a rainbow right there.

[00:25:58]>> Okay, >> you see that? And those were much more common earlier. They were earlier on.

[00:26:03]They were in the 20s.

[00:26:05]>> Yeah.

[00:26:05]>> Um and then uh >> and they have that they have that pretty distinctive cut line there.

[00:26:12]>> You hear NLR or National Line Rainbow.

[00:26:14]>> Yeah.

[00:26:15]>> Yep.

[00:26:15]>> NLRs. And those ones had the six ribbons, >> which would have been a more complex machine being able to do that.

[00:26:23]>> Mhm.

[00:26:24]>> Um >> Yep. And they were out of Ottawa, Illinois.

[00:26:28]>> Yeah. were uh Christensen. They were Cambridge, Ohio. You know, the chemist, his name was Arnold Fidler.

[00:26:38]>> Arnold Fidler. And that so that was the chemist that came up with those really distinct glass, >> right, >> types, >> right?

[00:26:46]>> Yeah.

[00:26:46]>> And if it wasn't for him, and he was a German, >> he came from the German handmade marble factories.

[00:26:55]>> Really? In fact, he was responsible for carving some of the eagle sulfides.

[00:27:02]>> Oh, wow.

[00:27:02]>> Yeah, >> that is that is so cool.

[00:27:05]>> Right.

[00:27:06]>> I uh between all of the the companies that we are talking about tonight, the two distinct ones that stand out to me are definitely Christensen Company and Peltier. And and the reasons why they stick out so much is because of their >> stunning colors.

[00:27:27]>> I think to a collector, the appeal of these two companies is the color, but also the wide array of patterns, right?

[00:27:36]>> And variations on the theme, >> right? Because for for a Christian egg company, you could do Christensen slags, you could do the Christensen guineies, you could do the Christensen Cyclones, the Christensen Flames. That's all Christensen, >> but they're all sorts of different uh patterns and types.

[00:27:57]>> Right. Right. And a lot of times with peltier because they had so many bats, they could add in an extra little yellow stripe or extra another something other color. And it it >> beautiful combinations. And then when they changed their tanks, they got some hybrid colors. [laughter] Yep.

[00:28:18]>> Coming through. maybe just a little bit of leftover running with their green and red. And so now um and >> you got some spillover.

[00:28:27]>> Yeah. Yeah. And so now instead of it being a dragon, it's a sun dragon cuz it's or it's a dragon eye if it's got white, you know, >> or a a burnt liberty or, you know, and and those are I I compare those to kind of like a um like a die set on a on a coin, you know, like if if it's if it's off stamped for a second. Um, yeah.

[00:28:58]>> Like where where the back and the front aren't >> perfectly aligned a little bit. Yep.

[00:29:03]>> And so they uh so then >> they they make a limited run of of a hundred of these.

[00:29:11]>> They didn't realize, oh man, that's >> they didn't realize it was going >> coming out as it should. Right.

[00:29:15]>> Right. Quality control finally didn't catch it.

[00:29:18]>> It's kind of the same thing where when they're switching out the vats of glass, >> you're going to get some of these hybrids. I love the marbles, but quality control doesn't catch.

[00:29:28]>> Yes, [laughter] exactly. Well, that's those are the marbles that are the the valuable ones. And so, you as the collector, >> be looking for some of those oddities that that that uh you know, whether that be a a fourcolor Popeye or a burnt Superman or a burnt Christmas tree. And these are all different color runs that these other companies did >> um that are a rarer run than other um >> than other specific runs.

[00:30:01]>> Very very few of that one blend of color maybe came through before it turned to the new color scheme. And so uh they're really tough to find you know in between there. That's why so many people like the hybrid Popeye corkcrews, for example. You know, normally a a cork screw is a a clear and white stringy base with two other colors. And if there's a little red still with it, no, that's a hybrid, >> right?

[00:30:30]>> Well, and one other thing I wanted to touch on too was Acro went out of business in uh what was it? 1951.

[00:30:41]And that one of the biggest factors that happened in in during that time was the introduction of plastic >> plastic toys in general >> or yeah sorry you're yeah the introduction of plastic toys >> right >> and and children no longer were playing with uh what would marbles would have been considered a children's toy >> versus a children's toy that was mimicking adulthood, >> whether that be like an Easy Bake oven or Barbie doll or the um >> Tonka trucks.

[00:31:21]>> Yeah, the Tonka trucks. And these these toys started changing and and really >> um marbles were having a hard time competing >> with some of these newer toys that kids were falling in love with, >> right?

[00:31:40]>> Uh and >> so they weren't spending their time just with a marble. They were like you were saying uh wanting to grow up. Kids were wanting to grow up. They were wanting to >> be like mom and dad, >> play play with their cap guns and you know and >> Exactly.

[00:31:58]>> Yeah.

[00:31:58]>> Um and that that brings me to something that Peltier did um >> kind of in those in those tough days um was they came out with the marble the the comic character marbles, >> right? They did.

[00:32:15]>> And that was a super unique feature that was kind of a selling feature for the kids to say, "Oh, well, I've got uh >> it would be it would be similar to like baseball trading cards >> because it's it's oh, I'm I'm mimicking this thing that I saw on TV, >> right? I'm mimicking this u the these children's their favorite characters that they're seeing on TV." But you know what? Acro made um >> tea sets.

[00:32:47]>> Yeah. I mean >> glass tea sets >> these uh Well, and they were they were really trying to compete with um they were trying to compete with being able to >> What else can we give the kids?

[00:33:00]>> Exactly.

[00:33:01]>> Yeah.

[00:33:01]>> And the the toys were I mean once plastic >> came on the scene >> plastic or or sheet metal. those early sheet metal trucks, >> those early sheet metal um >> pedal pedal cars they could ride around in the yard.

[00:33:18]>> Yeah, exactly. They they no longer wanted to play with a hoop and a stick, >> marbles and a string.

[00:33:25]>> It just wasn't the It wasn't the thing kids played with anymore, >> right? You know, another kind of early company was Master.

[00:33:34]>> Yeah. It came in came out in 1930 and it went all the way to the 70 like 73 or four and uh master now they have they have a cut line also and how you're going to uh differentiate a master cut line at the end of its marble. See Acro made a marble called a uh a sparkler, >> right? and and it looked kind of like a cats eye in a sense where it had from one pole and it kind of got wider and came back down and it was in clear glass but multiple colors in there and it would kind of thin out a little bit. Um Master made a similar one called a a sunburst >> the master sunburst sunburst. And um the difference though is at the se at the seam where it's cut um it'll it'll look like a V, >> a distinct V >> versus the acros.

[00:34:34]>> Acro straight cut.

[00:34:37]>> Yep. The acros more of a straight cut.

[00:34:39]>> Mhm.

[00:34:40]>> Yep. And so that's your distinct feature between because they're they are a very similar >> um >> looks like a patch >> patch look. It's a very patch looking marble >> and and um the master uh sunburst is more of an opaque looking marble more than a um sparkler too. A sparkler is definitely got a thick casing of clear glass around it. And the sunburst can too, but they're generally less a little bit more opaque looking.

[00:35:14]>> And they lasted all the way until 74.

[00:35:17]Yeah.

[00:35:17]>> U just due to the simplicity of their marble making process.

[00:35:23]>> Um >> yeah, they made a lot of marbles though.

[00:35:27]And um pretty plain though in general I think. Uh >> it's not a >> they didn't stand out like the peltier stand. So they didn't have uh a lot of multicolor multi- um >> the bright colors. They didn't have >> the refined colors, >> right? Acro was still making a lot of really bright pretty >> Right. colors, >> but they they also had that the chemist came along >> and they had the corkcrew.

[00:35:51]>> Yeah.

[00:35:51]>> The the corkcrew was a huge R right >> I mean kids love the corkcrew.

[00:35:56]>> He said it was simple glass vat pattern but then they twisted it and made it beautiful. Yeah.

[00:36:03]>> Yep.

[00:36:04]>> Yeah.

[00:36:05]>> And then that the final Americanmade one that we really wanted to cover was the marble king.

[00:36:11]>> This one.

[00:36:11]>> Yep.

[00:36:12]>> This one. Now, it's a patch and ribbon pattern. It's got the the patch on the edge. They were going with they were going with the look >> that Peltier was getting, >> but there was a huge defining feature >> about Marvel King >> that they were able to cut their costs and they started up in 1949. Yeah.

[00:36:33]>> And they're still running to this day.

[00:36:35]>> Yeah. In Clarksburg, West Virginia. Yep.

[00:36:37]So, um the thing with this that's different from say this patch and ribbon his this um peltier both patch and ribbon style. Generally the the marble king are going to have wider ribbons of color but it's a veneer of color on top of a white core.

[00:37:04]>> A white opaque core. And this the color runs all the way through the glass.

[00:37:08]>> So it so looking at it purely from >> a business standpoint you have the pelters >> more but they are exactly it's a more expensive glass and and Marble King was able to achieve a similar look.

[00:37:28]>> I'm not going to I'm not going to say that they have the same look. You can tell you can tell it's a much simpler process, >> right?

[00:37:38]>> But it's a similar look to what Peltier was getting.

[00:37:42]>> Yeah.

[00:37:43]>> With >> a a tenth of the cost of glass >> because just opaque white glass, >> right, >> with simple veneer colors on the outside >> was a was so much cheaper to to produce.

[00:38:00]>> Yeah. and and um you know, Marble King is still going to this day. Uh but they came up with other other things that they along the way to to make their marbles appealing. They they would um come up with their rainbow series would be multiple colors, >> right?

[00:38:17]>> Uh of the patch and ribbon, right?

[00:38:20]>> And and then they also came up with that cat's eye pattern with the blades or veins of of color. Um you you mentioned 1949.

[00:38:32]>> Yeah.

[00:38:32]>> Was the start for Marble King. Um and actually didn't start in Clarksburg, West Virginia where they are now. It started in St. Mary's, West Virginia.

[00:38:44]>> And so there's a cat's eye called a St. Mary's.

[00:38:49]And >> it's a four vein cat's eye.

[00:38:52]>> Yeah.

[00:38:52]>> If you look at it, you know, straight down, it looks like a cross, >> right? That sounds Catholic though.

[00:38:58]>> Oh yeah. St. Mary's [laughter] cross.

[00:39:00]Yeah.

[00:39:00]>> Um and then uh so it looks like a cross but each vein is a separate color.

[00:39:07]>> Oh really?

[00:39:08]>> Yeah.

[00:39:09]>> Oh that's interesting.

[00:39:10]>> Yeah.

[00:39:11]>> So yeah. No.

[00:39:12]>> Red, yellow, blue, and green.

[00:39:14]>> Marble King absolutely made some some very unique marble types and they they've been a pioneer since 1949.

[00:39:23]And being an American manufactured marble since then is really cool.

[00:39:30]>> Uh really cool feat, especially in a day and age where >> yeah, >> at this point almost all machinemade marbles that that you will find in stores today are all mass prodduced from China, Mexico, >> some other country other than America.

[00:39:48]>> Yeah, I think that pretty much does it for tonight's episode.

[00:39:52]Um, and again, this this is looking to be a we're trying to get this to be a complete beginners's guide to marble collecting.

[00:40:04]And some of these are highly collectible. Again, the fact that Christian Senga company was only running for eight years. Yeah. and produce some of the most beautiful machine-made marbles out there. It really makes them a highly collectible marble.

[00:40:23]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. And >> the at the at the at the Morphy's auction just a couple weeks ago, there was some incredible batches of Oh, yeah.

[00:40:34]CAC marbles.

[00:40:35]>> Oh, yeah. There was There was one that was a normal 5/8 inch marble sold for I think $6,200.

[00:40:42]$6,200.

[00:40:44]>> And that's before the buyer fee.

[00:40:47]>> Yep.

[00:40:47]>> Yeah. But um anyhow, uh this next episode that coming up, we want to talk about whether you should polish your marbles or not. Because that's a fairly common question we get uh all the time actually is, is this marble worth polishing, right?

[00:41:05]>> And sometimes they are and sometimes what would it do to the value if I polish this marble?

[00:41:10]>> Right? and we're gonna we're gonna dive all into that. Um, we've we've really enjoyed you guys being along for this ep for this episode, this series.

[00:41:20]>> Uh, go back and watch all of the the previous videos in the series. We also did a full comprehensive series on German onion skins >> um, and how to tell them apart. And in in uh in that series, we featured well over a4 million dollars of marbles of German handmade marbles. And looking back on that, >> those prices that we were putting on, and again, we were not putting um we were not putting de definitive prices on any of the marbles.

[00:42:00]>> They were all estimates. And at that Morphy's auction >> they were they and they weren't excessive estimates.

[00:42:08]>> Nope.

[00:42:09]>> Because >> Yeah. As you were saying at that auction those those prices seemed conservative.

[00:42:16]>> The prices that we were putting on >> our prices seemed conservative compared to I had a guy messaged me and said that very thing. He said uh that based on what he sees marble selling for today that he feels that the prices that we were estimating some of those at were probably pretty pretty low. And um uh the marbles were just as beautiful or more beautiful than the ones that we're selling for high dollar on auction.

[00:42:45]>> Marble colle I mean just one of those marbles sold for over $37,000.

[00:42:51]Yeah, >> Marvel collecting is definitely on the rise.

[00:42:55]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:42:55]>> And >> I >> and and I'm seeing new collectors come in all the time that are younger and I love it. I just today I spoke with a young man in his 20s in Greece that's a fairly new collector and then another young man in New Zealand that's also in his 20s. Uh, and they have the passion like you wouldn't believe. They're both sending me pictures of marbles all the time and asking me >> my opinions on on on the marbles that they're seeing and and giving me their opinions. And uh these guys are really growing in their knowledge and and they're intuitive >> and that's what this channel is all about is kind of striking up the passion of marble collecting. You wouldn't you wouldn't necessarily think that it was >> as as collectible as it is, but honestly it is it is to me one of the best collectibles out there. They there is I I don't I can't think of another collection another collectible that is as beautiful and as just fun to hold and >> you can handle these ar it's fun to get a a nice big one in your hand. It just fills your palm.

[00:44:13]>> But uh you know we're keeping the craft alive.

[00:44:16]>> We are >> and um you guys are a big part of that.

[00:44:20]We appreciate you following along and for subscribing to our channel >> and giving us the likes on the videos.

[00:44:27]>> Share it with your friends, too. That that makes a huge difference. Makes a huge difference if you share the video.

[00:44:34]Um Oh, Jeff.

[00:44:37]My goodness, >> we didn't cover any of the the resources.

[00:44:45]this book.

[00:44:46]>> Yeah, we were going to put that in in the description for >> Yeah, we'll put it all in the description. Again, there's the Facebook groups. There's books about these.

[00:44:57]>> Uh oh, I I also wanted to mention >> one more little honorable mention for those of you that have stuck around this long is the um uh two I wanted to mention two Jabos.

[00:45:14]They are a modern.

[00:45:16]>> They're being uh produced today.

[00:45:19]>> Well, they're no longer >> They're out.

[00:45:22]>> They're out.

[00:45:23]>> Yeah.

[00:45:24]>> Which makes them >> Yeah.

[00:45:26]>> Now that they're Now that they're no longer making them >> and they made some gorgeous marbles.

[00:45:32]They have some My My daughter has one upstairs that is just a gorgeous JBO marble.

[00:45:38]>> They're beautiful >> and >> they're becoming collectible though.

[00:45:41]>> They are becoming collectible. when they first came out, uh, because they were brand new, I thought, "Well, these are gorgeous marbles, but they're not very collectible." It's kind of like the gorgeous marbles that CAC made, right?

[00:45:53]>> You know, they put their heart and soul into it and they made unique stuff.

[00:45:56]>> Yep. That the other one that I wanted to mention was uh the lawn chair marbles.

[00:46:02][laughter] And >> the this >> another thing that just if you find marble runs that are unique marble runs.

[00:46:14]>> Yeah.

[00:46:15]>> Right. And the story behind the the the the lawn chair was what what company made the lawn chair marbles? The um >> that was that was uh Jabbo. Was it Jbo?

[00:46:30]Oh, it was. But right before they went to lunch, one of the guys thought, "I'm going to throw my lawn chair in the vat and see what comes out." So, I'll show you some pictures of some lawn chair marbles.

[00:46:39]>> Yeah.

[00:46:40]>> And and they're a very unique >> they they have >> they're like a black, but they're actually transparent with a with a metallic >> surface of the melted launcher >> from the melted launcher. But the thing is is is that's a a unique one-of-a-kind uh not they aren't all they're all the marbles that were made out of that one run.

[00:47:05]>> One run. Just a one run deal. One and done.

[00:47:08]>> Yeah. And and there's collectors out there right now that know all the history behind it to where they can track the date, the time, the guy's chair that was >> the name of the guy that threw the chair in. I I have friends that know this information. I I personally don't, but >> but um >> that's one of the things >> fun fun little feature about the hobby is this sort of stuff.

[00:47:32]>> Exactly. And so so if you are following us as a German handmade collector as as we would consider ourselves to be more of German handmade collectors, right? If you're following us as a German handmade collector yourself, don't don't rule them out just because they were mass- prodduced. Not all of them were mass-produced. There are limited run ones and there are are specialty color ones. There are the there are very unique features about some of these machine-made marbles that really tell a story and a unique portion of marble history.

[00:48:21]Right.

[00:48:22]>> Right. And if you're following us and you're a machine-made collector, >> take a look into German handmmaids because there are so many types of German handmmaids out there that we haven't even scratched the surface.

[00:48:38]>> After we're done with this series, we're going to be diving into all the different types of German handmmaids out there. And yeah, it's a fantastic hobby to get into.

[00:48:51]>> All right. Well, you're going to find that there's a lot to learn and you're going to enjoy watching the videos and learning more. So, continue watching us on Keepers of the Marbles.

[00:49:01]>> Have a great night.

[00:49:17]Heat.

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