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A marble is a small spherical object often made from
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
,
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, steel,
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
, or
agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...
. They vary in size, and most commonly are about in diameter. 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. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. Sizes may range from less than to over , while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over wide. 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 bottle A Codd-neck bottle (more commonly known as a Codd bottle or a marble bottle) is a type of bottle used for carbonated drinks. It has a closing design based on a glass marble which is held against a rubber seal, which sits within a recess in the li ...
s, which were often collected for play.


Games


History

In the early twentieth century, small balls of stone from about 2500 BCE, identified by archaeologists as marbles, were found by excavation near
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Indus Valley civilization. Marbles are often mentioned in Roman literature, as in
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
's poem "Nux" (which mentions playing the game with walnuts), and there are many examples of marbles from excavations of sites associated with Chaldeans of
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
and ancient Egypt. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass. Marbles arrived in Britain, imported from the
Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, during the
medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. In 1503, the town council of
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany, limited the playing of marble games to a meadow outside the town. The name "marble", used for the little toy balls, comes from this region and era, and refers to the stone called marble. At this point, marbles were made in mills and quarries by polishing small fragments of real stone like marble,
agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...
,
alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...
,
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, and even
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
. It is unknown where marbles were first manufactured. A German
glassblower Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
invented marble scissors, a device for making marbles, in 1846.
Ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s. The game has become popular throughout the US and other countries. The first mass-produced toy marbles (clay) made in the US were made in
Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, Ohio, by S. C. Dyke, in the early 1890s. Some of the first US-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron by James Harvey Leighton. In 1903,
Martin Frederick Christensen Martin Frederick Christensen (26 March 1849 – 10 October 1915) was a Danish inventor and businessman. He is most known as the inventor of an automated machine that could manufacture glass marbles and founder of M.F. Christensen and Son Company. ...
—also of Akron—made the first machine-made glass marbles on his patented machine. His company, M. F. Christensen & Son Co., manufactured millions of toy and industrial glass marbles until they ceased operations in 1917. The next US company to enter the glass marble market was Akro Agate. This company was started by
Akronites Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...
in 1911, but located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Today, there are only two American-based toy marble manufacturers: Jabo Vitro in
Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
, Ohio, and Marble King, in Paden City, West Virginia.


Types of game

Various games can be played with marbles. 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. Players take turns to flick a larger "taw" marble at these marbles, attempting to knock them out of the ring.


World championship

The
British and World Marbles Championship British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
has been held at
Tinsley Green Tinsley Green is an area in the Borough of Crawley, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Originally a hamlet in the parish of Worth, it was absorbed by the New Town of Crawley in the 1940s and became ...
, West Sussex, England, every year since 1932. (Marbles has been played in Tinsley Green and the surrounding area for many centuries: ''
TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine traces its origins to 1588.) Traditionally, the marbles-playing season started on Ash Wednesday and lasted until midday on Good Friday: playing after that was thought to bring bad luck. 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, although local teams from Crawley, Copthorne and other Sussex and Surrey villages often take part as well; the first championship in 1932 was won by Ellen Geary, a young girl from London.


Gameplay terminology

* "Knuckle down": the position adopted at the start line at the beginning of a match. The player begins with his or her knuckle against the ground. * "Quitsies": allows any opponent to stop the game without consequence. Players can either have "quitsies" (able to quit) or "no quitsies". * "Keepsies" (or "for keeps"): the player keeps all the marbles he or she wins. * "Elephant stomps": when called, it allows a player to stomp his or her marble level with the ground surface, making it very difficult for other players to hit. * "Bombies": when called, it allows a player to take one or two steps while holding his or her marble and, while closing one eye, will line up over one of the opponent's marbles and drop the marble trying to hit the marble on the ground. * "Leaning tops": when called, a shooter leans in on his or her off hand for leverage over an indentation on any type of surface or obstacle. * A "taw" or "shooter" is generally a larger marble used to shoot with, and "ducks" are marbles to be shot at. * Various names refer to the marbles' size. Any marble larger than the majority may be termed a boulder, bonker, cosher, goen, masher, plumper, popper, shooter, thumper, smasher, goom, noogie, taw, bumbo, crock, bumboozer, bowler, tonk, tronk, godfather, tom bowler, fourer, giant, dobber, dobbert, hogger, biggie or toebreaker. A marble smaller than the majority is a peawee, peewee or mini. A "grandfather" is the largest marble, the size of a billiards ball or tennis ball. * Various names for different marble types (regional playground talk, Leicester, UK): Marleys (marbles), prit (white marble), Kong (large marble), King Kong (larger than a bosser), steely (metal bearing-ball). Names can be combined: e.g. prit-Kong (large white marble).


Types of marbles

There are various types of marbles, and names vary from locality to locality. * 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. ** Cat's eye or catseye - central eye-shaped colored inserts or cores (injected inside the marble) *** Beachball - three colors and six vanes *** Devil's eye - red with yellow eye * Red devils - same color scheme as a devil's eye but swirly ** Clambroth - equally spaced opaque lines on a milk-white opaque base. Rare clams can have blue or black base glass. Medium-high value for antique marbles; rare base color valued much higher. ** Lutz - antique, handmade German swirl, containing bands of fine copper flakes that glitter like gold. Erroneously thought to have been invented by noted glassmaker Nicholas Lutz. Medium-high value for antique marbles, depending on specific sub-type of Lutz design. ** Oilie or oily - opaque with a rainbow, iridescent finish ** Onionskin - antique, handmade German swirl, with many closely packed surface streaks. Medium price range for antique marbles. ** 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. Wavy streaks usually with red, blue, black, white, orange. ** 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. Geometric patterns have low value; flowers or other identifiable objects can command high prices. ** Plaster - a form of china that is unglazed * Commie or common - made of clay; natural color or monochrome coloration. Made in huge quantities during nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ** Bennington - clay fired in a kiln with salt glaze—usually brown, often blue. Other colorations fairly scarce. Fairly low value. ** Crock - made from crockery ( earthenware) clay * Croton alley or jasper - glazed and unglazed china marbled with blue * Crystal or clearie or purie - any clear colored glass - including "opals," "glimmers," "bloods," "rubies," etc. These can have any number of descriptive names such as "deep blue sea", "blue moon", "green ghost", "brass bottle", "bloody Mary". ** 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. Can also have many colors like blue, green and scarlet. Medium price range for antique marbles. * Mica - antique, handmade German marble; glassy to translucent with streaks or patches of mica, ranging from clear to misty. Value depends on glass color. * Steely - made of steel; a true steely (not just a
bearing ball Bearing balls are special highly spherical and smooth balls, most commonly used in ball bearings, but also used as components in things like freewheel mechanisms. The balls come in many different ''grades''. These grades are defined by bodies ...
) was made from a flat piece of steel folded into a sphere and shows a cross where the corners all come together. * Sulphide - antique, handmade German marble; large ( or more) clear glass sphere with a small statuette or figure inside. Most common are domesticated animals such as dogs, cats, cows, etc.; then wild animals; human figures are scarce; inanimate objects such as a train or pocket watch are very rare and command high prices. The interior figures are made of white clay or kaolin, and appear a silvery color due to light refraction. A sulphide with a colored-glass sphere, or with a painted figure inside, is also very rare and brings a high price. Like other types of antique marbles, sulphides have been reproduced and faked in large quantities. * 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

Art marbles are high-quality collectible marbles arising out of the art glass movement. They are sometimes referred to as contemporary glass marbles to differentiate them from collectible antique marbles, and are spherical works of art glass. Collectible contemporary marbles are made mostly in the United States by individual artists such as Josh Simpson. Art marbles are usually around in diameter (a size also known as a "toe breaker"), but can vary, depending on the artist and the print.


Marble collecting

Marble players often grow to collect marbles after having outgrown the game. Marbles are categorized by many factors including condition, size, type, manufacturer/
artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
, age, style, materials, scarcity, and the existence of original packaging (which is further rated in terms of condition). A marble's worth is primarily determined by type, size, condition and eye-appeal, coupled with the law of supply and demand. Ugly, but rare marbles may be valued as much as those of very fine quality. However, this is the exception, rather than the rule, and normally "condition is king" when it comes to marbles. Any surface damage (characterized by missing glass, such as chips or pits) typically cuts book value by 50% or more. 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. Additionally, many glass artisans produce art marbles for the collectors' market only, with some selling for thousands of dollars.


Manufacturing

Marbles are made using many techniques. They can be categorized into two general types: hand-made and machine-made. Marbles were originally made by hand. Stone or
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
marbles can be fashioned by grinding. Clay, pottery, ceramic, or
porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
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. 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. Glass marbles can be fashioned through the production of glass rods which are stacked together to form the desired pattern, cutting the rod into marble-sized pieces using marble scissors, and rounding the still-malleable glass. One mechanical technique is dropping globules of molten glass into a groove made by two interlocking parallel screws. As the screws rotate, the marble travels along them, gradually being shaped into a sphere as it cools. 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. For example, in the "cat's-eye" style, colored glass veins are injected into a transparent main stream. Applying more expensive colored glass to the surface of cheaper transparent or white glass is also a common technique. Currently, the world's largest manufacturer of playing marbles is Vacor de Mexico. Founded in 1934, the company now makes 90 percent of the world's marbles. Over 12 million are produced daily.


U.S. manufacturers

* M.F. Christensen (1904–1917) * Akro Agate Company (1911–1951) * Christensen Agate (1925–1933) * Peltier Glass Company (1927–2002) * Ravenswood (1928–1955) * Alley Agate (1929–1947) * Master Glass (1930–1974) * Vitro Agate Company (1932–2004) * Kokomo Opalescent Glass Co. (1939–1942) * Alox (1930s to 1940s) * Jackson Marble Company(1945–1946) * Playrite Marble and Novelty Company (1940–1947) * Cairo Novelty Company(1946–1952) * Heaton Agate Company (1946–1971) * Davis Marble Works (1947–1948) * Marble King (1949-current) * C.E. 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

* ''
Marble Madness ''Marble Madness'' is an arcade game, arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within ...
'' (1984), an Atari game wherein players race each other to the finish line * '' Oxyd'' (1991), a game for Amiga, Atari ST, and
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
* '' Marble Drop'' (1997), a computer game wherein players place marbles in a complicated apparatus in an attempt to solve a puzzle *''
Lose Your Marbles ''Lose Your Marbles'' is a puzzle video game developed and published by SegaSoft and released for Microsoft Windows on August 19, 1997. A version of the game was included in Microsoft Plus! 98. Gameplay In ''Lose Your Marbles'', the player moves ...
'' (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 Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
; a sequel, ''
Marble Blast Ultra ''Marble Blast Ultra'' is a 3D puzzle action game involving a marble developed by GarageGames. It was released on January 25, 2006 for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It is the sequel to '' Marble Blast Gold''. It features 60 levels, enhan ...
'' (2006), was released later for the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
* '' Switchball'' (2007), a game for the PC and
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
* ''
Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...
'' (2007) * ''
The World Ends with You ''The World Ends with You'' is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Jupiter and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. Set in the modern-day Shibuya shopping district of Tokyo, the game uses urban fantasy elements insp ...
'' (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) Twitch is an American video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and " in real life" streams. Twitch is op ...
'' * '' Marble It Up'' (2018), a spiritual successor to ''
Marble Blast Ultra ''Marble Blast Ultra'' is a 3D puzzle action game involving a marble developed by GarageGames. It was released on January 25, 2006 for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It is the sequel to '' Marble Blast Gold''. It features 60 levels, enhan ...
''


Other

*
Abalone (board game) ''Abalone'' is a two-player abstract strategy board game designed by Michel Lalet and Laurent Lévi in 1987. Players are represented by opposing black and white marbles on a hexagonal board with the objective of pushing six of the opponent's mar ...
, 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 is a Japanese manga series by Eiji Inuki which ran in CoroCoro Comics by Shogakukan from 2002 to 2005. An anime adaptation was released in January 2004. It premiered in the United States in April 2005. It is the first show of the ''B-Dama ...
, a manga series about a game that is an enhanced version of marbles * ''
Bakugan Battle Brawlers is a Japanese anime adventure television series produced by TMS Entertainment, Dentsu Inc., and Nelvana Limited under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto. The story centers on the lives of creatures called Bakugan and the "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 Hungry Hungry Hippos (or Hungry Hippos in some UK editions) is a tabletop game made for 2–4 players, produced by Hasbro, under the brand of its subsidiary, Milton Bradley. The idea for the game was published in 1967 by toy inventor Fred Krol ...
'', a tabletop game for two to four players involving marbles * '' Ker-Plunk'', a game for two to four players involving marbles * A
rolling ball sculpture A rolling ball sculpture (sometimes referred to as a marble run, ball run, gravitram, ''kugelbahn'' (German: 'ball track'), or rolling ball machine) is a form of kinetic art – an art form that contains moving pieces – that specific ...
(also marble slide, marble maze, marble run, marble rail, marble coaster). Used in such things as
pinball machine Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
s and
Rube Goldberg machine A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction-type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these mach ...
s. A game of skill, involving building using; rails, tracks, cones, wheels, levers, and ramps. * '' 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".


See also

*
Carved stone balls Carved stone balls are petrospheres dated from the late Neolithic, to possibly as late as the Iron Age, mainly found in Scotland, but also elsewhere in Britain and Ireland. They are usually round and rarely oval, and of fairly uniform size ...
* Cherokee marbles *
Croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...
* Akro Agate Company *
Elections in the Gambia The Gambia elects on national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Assembly has 53 members, 48 members elected for a five-year term and 5 members ...
. Electors drop marbles to vote for a candidate. * Jelle's Marble Runs, a YouTube channel featuring marble races and events.


References

Notes Sources * * *


External links


Marbles Federation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marble (Toy) Balls Children's games Physical activity and dexterity toys Games of physical skill Street games Collectible-based games Toy collecting Traditional toys Glass art Game equipment