Hiccuping Thoughts: Ohio Is Losing Its Marbles--Part I

Mood Marbles

I currently reside in Ohio (however, Wisconsin is my home of origin; furthermore, the Rocky Mountains, the Smokey Mountains, and Vermont are my ideal vacation spots). Ohio is a much more interesting place than one might imagine. For example, there are the following places that might be fun to visit: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Great Serpent Mound, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, the annual Labor Day Weekend Flea Market (which has been going on for over 70 years). Ohio is home to the rubber industry (particularly the tire industry), the steel industry, the cereal industry, the lamps industry, Thomas Edison, eight U. S. Presidents, John Brown, Alcoholics Anonymous, the first all-deaf football team (the Goodyear Silents), four dead students, a burning river, Ohio is currently home to the University of Akron College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and the Kent State University Liquid Crystal Institute. Did you know that Labor Day was founded in Ohio, by Ohio's first Black attorney, John Patterson Green? Did you know that Shawshank Redemption was made here in Ohio? Did you know that the birth of the modern American toy industry happened in Ohio?

The making of marbles did not originate in Ohio. Marbles have been around for thousands of years, but only in the last 100 years have they been mass produced by machinery. One might find all sorts of marbles made in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America during the 1880s. Indeed, playing with marbles is a long-held, varied tradition of global standards. "Marbles is an ancient game that can be played 100 different ways. Some say that marble games were spread by soldiers of the Roman Empire. Washington and Jefferson played marbles. So did Lincoln. Games such as billiards, bowling, golf and pinball are all derived from marbles, enthusiasts say, though such claims are probably impossible to verify." (Dan Ackman, "Now No One Plays for Keeps") In Roman times, bags of nuts and marbles were traditional Christmas presents, according to The National Marble Museum at the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia. According to another source, "The oldest marbles found thus far by archaeologists date from 3000 BC. They are a group of rounded semi-precious stones that were buried with an Egyptian child at Nagada."

M.F. Christensen & Son marble

However, Ohio is the origin of the modern American toy marble industry. Men like Sam Dyke, M. F. Christensen, James Harvey Leighton, helped found this industry in the late 1800s, early 1900s. The first factory was built in Akron, Ohio. The National Marble Tournament, held every year in Wildwood, New Jersey, was begun in 1923 by the Scripps Howard newspaper corporation, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. You can visit the American Toy Marble Museum, which is located on the grounds of the old M. F. Christensen & Son Company factory at Lock 3 (Akron, Ohio). There were toy marble factories located all over Ohio, particularly in the Akron, Ohio area. There were also several factories located in West Virginia. Sadly, no fully functioning factories remain in Ohio, and only Marble King exists in West Virginia. Actually, the vast majority of mass produced toy marbles now come from the company Vacor de Mexico.

How It's Made: Marbles

What is left in Ohio are a few places of interest. Two of them are The American Toy Marble Museum and the no longer officially operating JABO, Inc. in Reno, Ohio. Each is an elusive place. The American Toy Marble Museum, located at Lock 3 in Akron, Ohio, is run by Michael Cohill and Brian Graham. Cohill, who has established himself as a local mibologist, is difficult to contact and operates the museum irregularly. I used to know Cohill, but have not been in touch with him, sadly, for several years. Graham, who is Director of the museum, can be found running his own Canal Fulton Glassworks gallery, also a rather cool place to visit. The folks at JABO, Inc. no longer mass-produce marbles; rather they have ventured into making experimental runs that have produced (since 2008) some increasingly beautiful marbles.