Game Marble Bibliography

This Version: 26 January 1999
For Correction, Comments, or additions, please contact:

Smoke (Michael A.) Pfeiffer
USDA Forest Service
Ozark-St. Francis National Forests
605 West Main Street
Russellville, Arkansas 72801-3614
(501) 968-2354 Ext.233

E-mail: mpfeiffe/r8_ozark@fs.fed.us

Allen, Shirley (1975)
The Game of Marbles. Private publication of Marble King, Inc., Paden City, West Virginia

Anonymous (1927)
Prehistoric Boys Played Marbles Too. Mentor 15(3):63

(1930) Marble Golf. Playground and Recreation Vol. 24 (October) p. 407

(1936) Immies. Fortune. Vol. 13 (June) p. 36

(1936) Marbles Grow Up. Literary Digest. Vol. 122 (October 31) p. 122

(1938) Chinese Checkers. Popular Science Vol. 133 (September) p. 56

(1939) Marbles. Pic Magazine (July 25)

(1941) Hobbies (November) p. 56 (Article on sulphides)

(1942) Marbles-Mad Beloit Crowns a New Mibs King. Life Vol. 12 (June 22) pp.56-57

(1947) Marbles Have History, Too. Collectors Roundup. (January 24)

(1948) Marbles Roll into New Industrial Uses. Business Week 81:24-25. (Illustrations show present Marble making techniques)

(1958) Anybody remember how to play marbles? Changing Times. Vol. 12 (March) pp. 45-46

(1968) It's Spring - Get Out Your Aggies and Immies. Changing Times 22(3):46-47.

(1979) A Portion of the U.S. Marble History. Marble Mania. Vol. 13, p. 2

(1980) It's not kids who are playing with marbles. Press Herald (Portland, Maine) (March 20)

(1985) Marbles. Cub Scouts Sports. Boy Scouts of America, Irving, Texas

Appleton, Budd (1972)
Akro Agate. Privately published

Arnold, Arnold (1972)
The World Book of Children's Games. Fawcett Publications, Inc., Greenwich, CT

Barrett, Marilyn (1994)
Aggies, Immies, Shooters and Swirls: The Magical Woprld of Marbles. Little Brown and Co., Boston

Baumann, Paul (1970)
Collecting Antique Marbles. Mid-America Book Company, Leon, Iowa.

(1991) Collecting Antique Marbles. (2nd edition). Wallace-Homestead Book Co., Radnor, Penn.

Bavin, William R. (1991)
The Pocket Book of Marble Collecting, History and Games. Outline Press, London

Bernard, Betty (1991)
Chocolate Covered Marbles. Buckeye Marble Collectors Club Newsletter (June), p. 2

Biernacki, C. (1984)
Carpet Balls. City & Country Home Collecting (March) pp. 64-66

Blizzard, William C. (1959)
West Virginia's Marble King. Sunday Gazette-Mail [Charleston, W.Va.], (Oct 4), p.4

Block, Robert (1996)
Marbles: Identification and Price Guide. The Marble Collectors Society of America. Schiffer, Publiushing Company, Altgen, PA.

Block, Stanley A. (1979)
Marbles: Playing for Fun and for Keeps. In: The Encyclopedia of Collectibles Lalique to Marbles, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Va., pp. 150-160. Reprinted in 1983.

(1983) Marbles-Playing for Fun and for Keeps. The Encyclopedia of Collectibles. Lalique to Marbles, pp. 151-160

(1988) The Akro Agate Company. Antiques & Collecting Hobbies 93(2):38-40. (April) (The finest marbles ever made by machine were made by the Akro Agate Company, a history of the company is given.)

(1996) Marbles: Identification and Price Guide. (Schiffer Book for Collectors), Schiffer Publishing Co., Altgen, PA

(1998) Marble Mania. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, Pennsylvannia. (This book is really more of a coffee-table picture-book, than anything of much informational value, but the section on stone, clay, and porcelain marbles is written by Jeff Carskadden & Richard Gartley, and their marble articles are the best out there, in my opinion - MLK).

Brinkloe, Julie (1988)
Playing Marbles. Morrow Jr. Books, NY

Burrows, Fredrika A. (1977)
Marbles-- Another Fun Hobby. Hobbies 82(2):117. (April)

Butterfield, Oliver (1977)
Marble Collection for Keeps. Yankee Sept, pp. 174-184.

Carskadden, Jeff, Richard Gartley, and E. Reed (1985)
Marble Making and Marble Playing in Eastern Ohio: The Significance of Ceramic, Stone, and Glass Marbles in Historic Archaeology. Proceedings of the Symposium on Ohio Valley Urban and Historic Archaeology 3:86-96. University of Louisville.

Carskadden, Jeff and Richard Gartley (1990)
Chinas: Hand Painted Marbles of the Late 19th Century. Muskingun Valley Archaeological Survey, Zanesville, Ohio.

(1990) A Preliminary Seriation of 19th-Century Decorated Porcelain Marbles. Historical Archaeology 24(2):55-69.

Carskadden, J. and M. Randall (1987)
The Christensen Agate Company, Cambridge, Ohio, 1927-1933. Muskingum Annals 4:48-52. . Published by The Muskingum Valley Archaeological Survey: Zanesville, Ohio.

Castle, Larry, and Marlow Peterson (1989)
Collectable (sic) Machine-Made Marbles: Identification & Price Guide. Utah Marble Connection, Inc., Ogden, Utah.

(1992) Marbles: The Guide to Machine-Made Marbles. Utah Marble Connection, Inc. Ogden, Utah. (Also a 2nd edition is available.)

Childress, William (1979)
How I Lost My Marbles. Ford Times 72(4): 12-17. (April)

Clark, Agnes (1976)
Collectors Shoot for Swirls, Sulphides. Changing Times 2(23). (April 8)

Cohill, M. (1990)
M.F. Christensen and The Perfect Glass Ball Machine. America's First Machine-Made Glass Toy Marble Factory. Vol. 1, Series 1. The History of the American Toy Marble Industry. Group Ideate Publishing: Akron, OH

Combs, Josiah H. (1955)
More Marble Words. Publication of the American Dialect Society 23:33-34.

Cook, Harry H., Editor (1927)
William J. Miller's Semi-Automatic Marble Machine. The American Flint Magazine, p. 14

Cope, Cathleen (1972)
The Rolley Holers. The Tennessee Magazine, (Sept), pp. 7-10

Davis, Rod (1987)
Shoot Not To Kill. American Way 20(18). (September 15) American Airlines Magazine Publications, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Texas

Dickson, Paul (1988)
Kids and Collectors are Still Knuckling Down to Business. Smithsonian 19(1):94-103.

Douthat, Strat (1980)
The Magic Marble of West Virginia. The Washington Star (August 13) pp. C1-C2

Duncan, S. Blackwell (1970)
Taws and Mibs. Collector's World 1(4):12-14.

Ely, Bill (1985)
The Sulphide Marble: A Handbook. Published by the author, Vancouver, Washington.

Ferretti, Fred (1973)
The Great American Marble Book. Workman Publishers.

(1974) The Great American Marble Game. Pastimes: Inflight Entertainment for the Passengers of Eastern Airlines. Pastimes Publications, Inc.: NY., pp. 12-17

Freeman, Ruth, and Larry Freeman (1942)
Cavalcade of Toys. Century House, N.Y.

Gartley, Richard, and Jeff Carskadden (1987)
Marbles From an Irish Channel Cistern, New Orleans, Louisiana. Proceedings of the Symposium on Ohio Valley Urban and Historic Archaeology 5:112-125.

(1998) Colonial Period and Early 19th-Century Children's Toy Marbles . The Muskingum Valley Archaeological Survey, Zanesville, Ohio.

Greenwood, Roberta S., and R.O. Brown (1968)
The Chapel of Santa Gertrudis. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 4(4):1-60. (A short paragraph describing two marbles)

Grist, Everett (1983)
Marbles At Auction. Privately printed: Ft. Scott, KS.

(1984) Antique and Collectible Marbles. Collector Books, Paducah, Ky.

(1988) Antique and Collectible Marbles Revised 2nd Edition. Collector Books, Paducah, Ky.

(1990) Antique and Collectible Marbles. Collector Books, Rev. 2nd ed., Shroeder Publishing Co., Inc.: Paducah, KY

(1992) Antique and Collectible Marbles. Collector Books

(1992) Everett Grist's Machine-Made and Contemporary Marbles. Collector Books, Paducah, Ky.

Hannum, Jill (1978)
Marbles. Glass 6(1): 21. (January)

Harder, Kelsie B. (1955)
The Vocabulary of Marble Playing. Publications of the American Dialect Society 23:3-34.

(An extensive list of marble terms and what they mean) Hiro (1968)
The Aesthetic of the Mib. Esquire 70(2):86-87. (Two photographs with explanations)

Howe, Bea (1969)
The Charm of Old Marbles. Country Life 146(3797):1593.

Hoxter, Curtis J. (1949)
The Marble Business Rolls Ahead. Coronet Vol. 26 (September) pp. 119-120

Ingram, Clara (1972)
The Collectors Encyclopedia of Antique Marbles. Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky

Jhaveri, Ravindra (1986)
Flying Fingers. Lapidary Journal 39(12). (March) (Agate marble and bead-making in India.)

Johnson, Owen (1911)
In Marble Time. Collier's Outdoor America. Vol. 47 (April) p. 23. (Marble terms)

Kenyon, Thomas (n.d.)
Marbles. Kewa Magazine. Ontario Archaeological Society, London Chapter.

Kern, G. I. (1940)
Marbles - An Old Game. Recreation 34(2):109-110. (A concise historical sketch)

Klutz Press (1989)
The Klutz Book of Marbles. Klutz Press, Palo Alto, CA

Lew, Lance (1991)
Marble Daze. Collector's Showcase (August) (A general overview of current marble history and historic trends.)

Long, C. E. (1950)
Notes on Antiques Marbles. Hobbies 55(3):98-99. (Contains some historical information plus one illustration)

Metzerott, Mary (1941)
Notes on Marble History. Hobbies (November) pp. 56-57

Miller, Roger C. (1966)
Swirl and Sulfide Playing Marbles. Spinning Wheel 22(11):20-21.

Morrison, Mel and Carl Terison (1968)
Marbles- Identification and Price Guide Privately printed, Falmouth, Maine

Noel Hume, Ivor (1970)
A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. (Just briefly mentions marbles)

Novak, Kim (1984)
The Christensen Agate Company. Unpublished report by the Degenhart Paperweight and Glass Museum, Cambridge, Ohio

Ostlere, Hilary (1988)
Keeping Your Marbles. Americana (September)

Patten, G.E. (1869)
Marbles. Appleton's Journal, A Weekly Paper, no. 20 (Saturday, August 14)

Peterson, Marlow, and Larry Castle (1998)
Marbles: The Guide to Cat's-Eyes Marbles. Utah Marble Connection, Inc., Ogden, Ut.

Randall, Mark E. (1971)
Early Marbles. Historical Archaeology 5:102-105. (Probably the only article up to this point devoted to early marbles in a scholarly journal. Illustrations)

(1977) Identifying and Dating 19th and 20th Century Marbles. Southwest Folklore 1(2):1-32.

(1978) Ceramic Marbles. Pottery Southwest 5(2):4-6. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

(1979) Marbles as Historical Artifacts. Marble Collectors Society of the America, Trumball, CT.

(1986) The Use of Patent Records in Historical Archaeological Research: Examples From the Glass Marble Industry. Proceedings of the Symposium on Ohio Valley Urban and Historic Archaeology 4;159-164.

Randall, M.E. and D. Webb (1988)
Greenberg's Guide to Marbles. Marsha A. Davis, ed. Greenberg Publishing Co., Inc.: Sykesville, MD. (This book is difficult to obtain. The author's present the best collection of illustrations in marble manufacturing technology. They have a full chapter on patents research and the photographs on machine-made process are good. Reissue probably 1992.)

Ray, Gene (1979)
Marbles for Everyone. 1st Edition, Knuckle Pool Co.

Roberts, A.W. (1883)
Marbles and Where They Come From. Harpers Young People.

Runyan, C.C. (1985)
Knuckles Down! A Fun Guide to Marble Play. Right Brain Publishing: Kansas City, Missouri.

Sackett, S. J. (1962)
Marbles Words from Hayes, Kansas. Publications of the American Dialect Society 37:1-3.

Shaffer, Dale E. (1983)
Marbles - A Forgotten Part of Salem History. Privately printed, Salem, Ohio

Shetrone, Henry C., and Emerson F. Greenman (1931)
Explorations of the Seip Group of Prehistoric Earthworks. Ohio Archaeological & Historical Quarterly 40:349-509. (The reference is to the Native American marbles (which aren't really marbles, since that wasn't their function), or more properly called the 5 incised steatite spheres excavated from the Seip mound in the 1920s.pp. 377-380 and 426 for just the spheres).

Shull, Thelma (1941)
Old Glass Marbles. Hobbies 46(9):55-57. (A concise historical sketch with illustrations)

Slusser, Esther (1965)
Swirl and Sulphide Marbles. The Spinning Wheel (June) pp. 10-11

(1969) More About Swirl Marbles. Spinning Wheel 25(7):58-59.

Smith, Helen C. (1974)
Report on Marbles Found during Archaeological Excavations within the Kitchen CP-A and Basement CP-B and C Areas. Report, Bishop's Mill Historical Institute, Ridley Creek State Park, Media, PA.

Smith, Violet Bramer (1941)
Marble Collecting. Hobbies (November) pp. 58-59

Sweeney, Edwin (1984)
Marbles and Pressed Glass--Remembering Akro Agate of Clarksburg. Goldenseal 10(2): 20-25. (Summer)

Walters, J.L. (1986)
Agate Facts and Fancy. Lapidary Journal Vol. XI, No. 6 (February) (Coloring Agate)

Watson, Henry W. (1942)
Antique Marbles of Stone, Pottery and Glass. American Collector 11(6). (July)

(1943) Marbles Among the Earliest Games. American Collector 12(7):10-11. (July)

Webb, Dennis (1994)
Greenbergs Guide to Marbles. Greenberg Books, Kalmback Publishing Company, Waukesha, WI.

Willy, Gordon R. (1966)
An Introduction to American Archaeology, Vol. 1, North and Middle America. Engelwood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. (Photographs of possible prehistoric marbles)

Wynne, Joe (1986)
Rolley Hole! Tennessee Conservationist Jan-Feb, pp. 7-9.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Orignally two pages by James M. Mckie for R. Sprague's Historical Archaeology Class, 1976. I would very much like to thank Diane B. Rice (Archaeologist in-the-stacks) and Mary L. Kwas (Arkansas Archeological Survey) for numerous references!

Note: There are at least two regularly published magazines on game marbles. They are Marble-Mania by the Marble Collectors Society of America, Trumbull, Connecticut Published periodically from 1976 onward; and Marble-Mart/Newsletter by Marble Collectors Unlimited (P.O. Box 206, Northboro, Maine, 01532) is an ongoing publication since 1982. The Marble Collectors Society of America publishes books and makes videos about marbles. Marbles currently in demand are described. They also have a website at http://www.blocksite.com/.

For Correction, Comments, or additions, please contact:

Smoke (Michael A.) Pfeiffer
USDA Forest Service
Ozark-St. Francis National Forests
605 West Main Street
Russellville, Arkansas 72801-3614
(501) 968-2354 Ext.233

E-mail: mpfeiffe/r8_ozark@fs.fed.us