Anyone collect old marbles? (collection, buy, how to, great)

[mrwumpus]

I started collecting old marbles a couple of years ago after carrying around the leftover marbles from my childhood in the 70s. It started with nostalgia and has turned into a fun hobby. I was shocked how little I knew about marbles and marble history.

Persons who grew up in the 1920s - 1950s had access to the golden age of machine made marbles. Marbles then were so beautiful. The quality of the glass was far superior, and today these toys are very collectible if you can find them in mint condition.

Much of the fun and frustration in marble collecting is trying to find them "in the wild", like at antique stores, flea markets and yard sales. It's a particular challenge for me living in Southern California but I've scored a few nice ones this way.

So who collects them? If you don't collect them, do you still have them somewhere in your attic?

[jaxart]

I've been advised on any number of occasions that I seem to have lost all of mine!

[mrwumpus]

Originally Posted by jaxart

I've been advised on any number of occasions that I seem to have lost all of mine!

That's exactly why they're so collectible. There's few people who have them.

[BoydS]

I don't collect them, but I played many games with marbles when I was a kid in the 50's and early 60's. I remember well sitting under an old oak or pecan tree with my buddies and drawing that circle in the dirt before we started play. My dad taught me several marble games and gave me his collection which were in a leather bag when I was about 6 years old. My buddies and I were entertained for hours. Today, I have no idea where that leather bag full of those wonderful marbles are. And that is a great shame. Good luck with your hobby, as this is something that needs to be remembered.

[jaxart]

Originally Posted by mrwumpus

That's exactly why they're so collectible. There's few people who have them.

TOUCHE! LoL...

[newmex]

Bought some at an estate sale recently in Akron, OH, house full of old S##t, I have no idea how to evaluate...how do you know it is old?

[mrwumpus]

Originally Posted by newmex

Bought some at an estate sale recently in Akron, OH, house full of old S##t, I have no idea how to evaluate...how do you know it is old?

You certainly bought them in the right place, since Akron is where the American toy marble industry started.

You could attach some pictures here and I could tell you, or the experts over at the ID forum on landofmarbles.com could certainly tell you. There is a really nice gallery of old handmade and machine made marbles over at marblesgalore.com.

When I buy lots of marbles it's almost always a mixed bag. There might be a few old handmade ones, a lot of vintage machine made ones, and often a bunch that were made in the last ten years.

You can also search around for marble shows in your area and bring them in and the experts will be happy to id them for free.

[Beth56]

We have an old house. Whenever we move dirt, we find marbles and other treasures.

We know there have been many children here!

[jkmewright]

MY dad was a boilerman 30-35 years ago and would bring marbles home the he found under old schools. The coolest one is cork? I believe. I have them in a little container and never play with them. My son (5) discovered marbles @ Walmart and now we have marble tournaments in the street with 3-5 kids who think this is a new thing lol I wonder what their parents think when they see us all huddled in the road yelling and laughing

[mrwumpus]

That's a cool story. Yes, Akro Agate made their famous corkscrew marbles in all sorts of delicious color combos. Their trademark corkscrew twists around the marble from one pole to the other and are one of the most popular machine made marbles to collect.

In my area there isn't any dirt so I'm not sure how kids could play marbles anymore. Maybe that's why we stopped playing back in the day.