marble (toy)

 

  • [1] In the North of England the objects and the game are called “taws”, with larger taws being called “bottle washers” after the use of a marble in Codd-neck bottles, which
    were often collected for play.

  • • Swirly – a common marble made out of glass with one swirly color • Shooter – any marble but in a bigger size • Tiger – clear with orange-yellow stripes • Baby – white with
    colors visible on the outside • Tom bowler – large glass marble at least twice as big as a normal marble Art marbles [edit] Main article: Art marble Art marbles are high-quality collectible marbles arising out of the art glass movement.

  • These toys can be used for a variety of games called marbles, as well being placed in marble runs or races, or created as a form of art.

  • The name “marble”, used for the little toy balls, comes from this region and era, and refers to such balls being made of marble.

  • • Princess – a tinted crystal • Galaxy – modern, machine-made marble; lots of dots inserted to look like a sky of stars • Indian – antique, handmade German marble; dark and
    opaque, usually black, with overlaid groups of color bands; usually white, and one or more other colors.

  • Bogard & Sons (1971–1986) • Mid Atlantic of West Virginia (1990–2004) • JABO, Inc. (1991–2021) • Sammy’s Mountain Marbles (2012–current) • Dave’s Appalachian Swirls (2014–current)
    Related games Video games [edit] • Marble Madness (1984), an Atari game wherein players race each other to the finish line • Oxyd (1991), a game for Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh • Marble Drop (1997), a computer game wherein players place
    marbles in a complicated apparatus in an attempt to solve a puzzle • Lose Your Marbles (1997), a PC puzzle game where players line up marbles of the same color to add marbles to the other player’s board and eventually block their board • Marble
    Blast Gold (2003), a “get to the finish” first person game for the PC and Xbox; a sequel, Marble Blast Ultra (2006), was released later for the Xbox 360 • Switchball (2007), a game for the PC and Xbox 360 • Enigma (2007) • The World Ends with
    You (2007) and Neo: The World Ends With You (2021) are role-playing games that both include a marble-style minigame played with pin badges called “Tin Pin Slammer” or “Marble Slash” • Marbles on Stream (2018), a marble racing game made to
    be live-streamed on Twitch (service) • Marble It Up (2018), a spiritual successor to Marble Blast Ultra Other [edit] • Abalone (board game), a board game in which white and black marbles try to knock each other into a gutter that lines the
    outside of the board • Aggravation (board game), a variation of Pachisi • B-Daman, a toy that fires marbles and can be played under several game rules • Battle B-Daman, a manga series about a game that is an enhanced version of marbles • Bakugan
    Battle Brawlers, a game which uses magnetic spring loading marbles which open up to reveal creatures used to play the game • Chinese checkers, often called “marble checkers”, a board game for two to six players using marbles as game pieces
    • Hungry Hungry Hippos, a tabletop game for two to four players involving marbles • KerPlunk, a game for two to four players involving marbles • A rolling ball sculpture (also marble slide, marble maze, marble run, marble rail, marble coaster).

  • [19] • Aggie – made of agate (aggie is short for agate) or glass resembling agate, with various patterns like in the alley • Alley or real – made of marble or alabaster (alley
    is short for alabaster), streaked with wavy or other patterns with exotic names like corkscrew, spiral, snake, ribbon, onyx, swirl, bumblebee, and butterfly • Ade – strands of opaque white and color, making lemon-ade, lime-ade, orange-ade,
    etc.

  • [21] Manufacturing Marbles are made using many techniques.

  • • “Bombies”: when called, it allows a player to take one or two steps while holding their marble and, while closing one eye, to line up over one of the opponent’s marbles
    and drop the marble trying to hit the marble on the ground.

  • • Tock, also known as Tuck, is a cards or board game in which players race their four marbles (or tokens) around the board, with the objective being to be the first to take
    all of one’s marbles “home”.

  • Art marbles are usually around 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in diameter (a size also known as a “toe breaker”), but can vary, depending on the artist and the print.

  • Can also have many colors like blue, green and scarlet.

  • • Steely – made of steel; a steely was traditionally made from a flat piece of steel folded into a sphere and showed a cross where the corners all come together, but other
    versions of a steely are solid steel ball bearings.

  • One game popular in the United Kingdom and United States is ring taw (or “ringer”), where a ring is drawn on the ground and a number of small marbles placed within it.

  • • Opaque – a popular marble that comes in many colors • Oxblood – a streaky patch resembling blood • Pearls – opaque with single color with mother of pearl finish • Toothpaste
    – also known as plainsies in Canada.

  • ; then wild animals; human figures are scarce; inanimate objects such as a train or pocket watch are very rare and command high prices.

  • [5] At this point, marbles were made in mills and quarries by polishing small fragments of real stone like marble, agate, alabaster, limestone, and even brass.

  • Clay marbles, also known as crock marbles or commies (common), are made of slightly porous clay, traditionally from local clay or leftover earthenware (“crockery”), rolled
    into balls, then glazed and fired at low heat, creating an opaque imperfect sphere that is frequently sold as an “old timey” marble.

  • • A “taw” or “shooter” is generally a larger marble used to shoot with, and “ducks” are marbles to be shot at.

  • A marble is a small spherical object often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate.

  • [12][13][14] (Marbles has been played in Tinsley Green and the surrounding area for many centuries:[12][15] TIME magazine traces its origins to 1588.

  • They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass.

  • Color is added to the main batch glass and to additional glass streams that are combined with the main stream in a variety of ways.

  • • Plaster – a form of china that is unglazed • Commie or common – made of clay; natural color or monochrome coloration.

  • • “Elephant stomps”: when called, it allows a player to stomp their marble level with the ground surface, making it very difficult for other players to hit.

  • A sulphide with a colored-glass sphere, or with a painted figure inside, is also very rare and brings a high price.

  • • Sulphide – antique, handmade German marble; large (3 to 8 cm [1.25 to 3 in] or more) clear glass sphere with a small statuette or figure inside.

  • [13] More than 20 teams from around the world take part in the championship, each Good Friday; German teams have been successful several times since 2000,[12][15][17] although
    local teams from Crawley, Copthorne and other Sussex and Surrey villages often take part as well;[12][16][18] the first championship in 1932 was won by Ellen Geary, a young girl from London.

  • Applying more expensive colored glass to the surface of cheaper transparent or white glass is also a common technique.

  • • Turtle – wavy streaks containing green and yellow • Bumblebee – modern, machine-made marble; mostly yellow with two black strips on each side • China – glazed porcelain,
    with various patterns similar to an alley marble.

  • Due to the large market, there are many related side businesses that have sprung up such as numerous books and guides, web sites dedicated to live auctions of marbles only,
    and collector conventions.

  • The interior figures are made of white clay or kaolin, and appear a silvery color due to light refraction.

  • Marbles are categorized by many factors including condition, size, type, manufacturer/artisan, age, style, materials, scarcity, and the existence of original packaging (which
    is further rated in terms of condition).

  • Collectible contemporary marbles are made mostly in the United States by individual artists such as Josh Simpson.

  • Ugly, but rare marbles may be valued as much as those of very fine quality.

  • Clay, pottery, ceramic, or porcelain marbles can be made by rolling the material into a ball, and then letting dry, or firing, and then can be left natural, painted, or glazed.

 

Works Cited

[‘1. Elvan, Mehmet (2023-07-25). “The Dimensions of a Marble A Small Wonder”. Tureks. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
2. ^ Marshall, John, ed. (1931). Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations Carried out
by the Government of India between the Years 1922 and 1927. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-812061179-5.
3. ^ Joy, Jody; Gunn, Imogen; Harknett, Sarah-Jane; Wilkinson, Eleanor (2016). Hide and Seek: Looking for Children in the Past.
Cambridge: Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-947595-23-4.
4. ^ “History of Marbles – Corner Cafe Message Board”. The baby corner. Archived from the original on 2017-07-30. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
5. ^
Marbles — Encyclopedia
6. ^ Abernethy, Francis Edward (12 November 1997). Texas Toys and Games. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441037-2. Retrieved 12 November 2017 – via Google Books.
7. ^ Acton, Johnny; Adams, Tania; Packer, Matt
(2006). Origin of Everyday Things. Barnes & Noble.
8. ^ “Marble History”. Thinkquest. Archived from the original on 2013-10-17.
9. ^ “Marbles”. WV Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
10. ^ “Marble King now only marble manufacturer that
remains in U.S.” West Virginia Explorer. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
11. ^ “British team defeats Germans to win World Marble Championship”. Reuters. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
12. ^ Jump up to:a b c d “Losing your Marbles”.
BBC Inside Out programme. BBC. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
13. ^ Jump up to:a b Collins 2007, p. 88.
14. ^ Aitch, Iain (4 April 2009). “Event preview: British And World Marbles Championship, Tinsley Green”. The Guardian. London: Guardian
News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b Sandy, Matt (7 April 2007). “Village rolls out a welcome for a World Marbles Championships”. The Times. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
16. ^ Jump up
to:a b “Sport: At Tinsley Green”. TIME magazine. TIME Inc. 17 April 1939. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
17. ^ Pearson, Harry (26 April 2003). “Going under in the marble halls of Tinsley Green”. The Guardian.
London: Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
18. ^ Gwynne 1990, p. 172.
19. ^ Media, Cider Press. “Kinds of Marbles – Antique, Vintage and Collectable Marbles”. Imarbles.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
20. ^ “Vintage Cat’s
Eye Marbles”. inkspotantiques.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
21. ^ Jenkins, Tiffany (25 February 2016). Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums – And Why They Should Stay There. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191631887.
Retrieved 12 November 2017 – via Google Books.
22. ^ “Agates, Corkscrews, and Onionskins: Fun with Antique Marbles”. Collectorsweekly.com. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
23. ^ “Marbles by foreign manufacturers”. Marble collecting. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
24. ^
“M. F. Christensen & Son Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
25. ^ “Akro Agate Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
26. ^ “Akro Agate Company”. Ohio History Central.
Retrieved August 25, 2022.
27. ^ “Christensen Agate Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
28. ^ “Peltier Glass Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
29. ^ Jump up to:a
b c d e f g h “All Other American Marble Companies”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
30. ^ “Lawrence Alley Companies”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
31. ^ “Master Marble Company
/ Master Glass Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
32. ^ “Vitro Agate Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
33. ^ “Vitro Agate Marble Co”. Mackey’s Antiques and Clock
Repair. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
34. ^ Jump up to:a b c “Heaton Glass Company”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
35. ^ “Berry Pink / Marble King”. Marble Collectors Society of America. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
Sources
• Baumann,
Paul. Collecting Antique Marbles (4th ed.).
• Collins, Sophie (2007). A Sussex Miscellany. Alfriston: Snake River Press. ISBN 978-1-906022-08-2.
• Gwynne, Peter (1990). A History of Crawley. Chichester: Phillimore & Company. ISBN 0-85033-718-6.

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathias-erhart/3513200808/’]