Memories Of Vintage Marble Collecting

By: Alana Morgaine

When I was a small child, my cousin had a marble collection. This wasn't your normal school-kid collection -- this was a heavy suitcase full of marbles, which he deigned to show me only after a huge amount of begging on my part. He'd open the lid to reveal a veritable treasure chest of shiny (and, admittedly, not so shiny) round balls of various shapes, sizes and colors. "This is a steely," he'd say, holding up something that looked like a ball bearing on steroids. "And this is a cat's eye. Look inside it." I did as he commanded and saw, to my wonder, a twisted spiral of glorious color suspended in the center of the clear glass. Just how many kinds of marbles were there? Turns out there were a large number of them in all shapes, sizes and materials.

The first marbles on record were found in 3000 year-old Egyptian tombs. Those were made out of clay, but anyone who has ever waded in a small brook and picked up a perfectly round water-hewn pebble can guess that people have been smitten with smooth little orbs since time immemorial. Today, of course, when we think of marbles we usually picture that psychedelic cat's eye, or perhaps the "purie," a sphere of clear or colored glass with no imperfections.

Wait a minute! Stone, clay, glass - so how come they are called "marbles?" Because, of course, they are also made out of marble, a form of calcite, and that unique and handsome stone with its many natural colors loans its polished heft to many of the most valued collectibles. "Marble" marbles were originally made by hand-chipping small chunks of the stone into rough spheres, tumbling them until smooth, and finally polishing them with fine grit. These are often called "Allies," short for alabaster, also a type of calcite.

Marble types inspire imaginative names
"Aggies," are made from agate, or from colored glass, which resembles that semi-precious mineral. A "commie" is named not for its political leanings, but rather is a contraction of the word "common," and refers to the clay variety. When machine-made marbles began to be produced in the 19th century, new vistas of color and depth opened up. Many marble names refer to a marble's aesthetics, rather than the material out of which it is made.

Onionskins are layered like an onion. Oxbloods have streaky blood-like patches. You can see through opals, rubies, "glimmers" or "clearies." A "galaxy" appears to hold a star-filled sky within it. There is even a field of art-marbles, crafted by the likes of Drew Fritts, whose tiny spheroid wonders may contain a miniature garden or a perfectly formed koi pond.

Marbles have enchanted us through the ages, and will certainly continue to do so with their perfect, smooth roundness.
And what happened to my cousin's treasure trove? Alas, when the family moved across country, the suitcase was deemed too heavy to bring, and it disappeared into the mists of time. I don't think he's ever gotten over it.

Alana Morgaine

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

Alana Morgaine www.alanascherishedtreasures.com

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