MarblesGalore.com Gallery
This photo gallery showcases vintage marbles, featuring all major styles and makers from handmade, transitional and machine made. It is always a work in progress so check back often! It has been made possible by B. Alan Basinet, AKA marblealan, who generously granted permission to use his amazing images of the equally amazing marbles that he sells on eBay.
Vintage Handmade
Clay and stone marbles have been made by hand for thousands of years, but glass marbles originated in Germany in the 1840s.
Akro Agate
Akro Agate Company created a dizzying variety of machine made marbles from about 1911 until 1951.
Alley Agate
The Alley Agate Company produced marbles from 1929-1949 at several locations in West Virginia. Their swirl marbles, when they have 'flames', are popular with collectors.
Boxes and Packaging
Tue 09 Mar 2010 12:15:57 AM ESTAs with other collectible antique toys, vintage marbles in their original boxes or bags in good condition are rare and therefore extremely valuable.
Champion Agate
The Champion Agate Company has produced marbles in West Virginia since 1938 and are most famous for their colorful Sunburst style of marbles.
Christensen Agate
The Christensen Agate Company produced marbles in Ohio from just 1925 through 1931. Their short life as a company, combined with their innovative glass making techniques and striking colors, have made their marbles the most collectible among American machine made marbles.
M.F. Christensen & Son
M.F. Christensen & Son Company operated from 1904 until 1917 in Akro, Ohio and were granted the first patent for a mechanized marble making machine.
Marble King
Marble King, Inc. has produced marbles in West Virginia since 1949 and its colorful 'Rainbow' styles are popular among vintage marble collectors.
Master Marble
The Master Marble Company operated from 1930-1941, then continued as the Master Glass Company until closing in 1973.
Miscellaneous
Some marbles just don't fit into a major category due to a lack of examples or information.
Navarre Glass Marble & Specialty Co.
James Harvey Leighton started Navarre in 1897 in Ohio, and it operated until 1901. All Leighton-made marbles have a melted pontil.
Peltier
The Peltier Glass Company produced many styles of machine made marbles from 1920s up until the 1970s.
Ravenswood Novelty Works
Ravenswood Novelty Works produced marbles in West Virginia from 1932 until the 1950s.
Transitional
Transitional marbles were made partly by hand and partly by machine. They can be identified by their pontil, or cut mark, but identifying which company (or country) that made them can be very difficult. Early American marble companies such as the Navarre Glass Company, M. F. Christensen & Son Company, and Akro Agate all made transitional marbles.
Vitro Agate
The Vitro Agate Company started in 1932 and changed hands several times from 1969 until closing in 1993.
