Marble I D

[Cosmo]

Are these some kind of settler marbles? The brown ones are ceramic like. Purple ones clay. Thanks in advance

 

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[gunsil]

Glazed (the brown ones) and unglazed clay on the purple ones. The brown ones are usually referred to as Benningtons" They were made and used into the 1920s. They were more inexpensive than the handmade glass marbles of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and are fairly common since more kids could afford them. I have dug a lot of marbles, and the Benningtons are pretty cool for clay marbles. Purple ones are in great shape too.

 

[surf]

Nice ones, Cosmo.

​

"Bennington marbles are a type of glazed clay marble. They are not very dense. The marbles are fired clay with a salt glaze on them. Benningtons are readily identifiable by both their coloring and the little “eyes” that they have on them. These are spots where the marbles were touching each other while they were being fired, resulting in those spots being uncolored and unglazed.

The term “bennington” is actually a misnomer. There is no evidence that they were ever made in Bennington, Vermont, or that they have any lineage to the Bennington pottery that they resemble and from which they get their name. It appears that all Bennington marbles were imported from Germany. Some boxes have been found that contain them and that are labeled “Agates - Imitation / Made in Germany.”

Benningtons are usually colored brown or blue. Green or black Benningtons are rarer. Marbles that have both brown and blue on them, as well as a little green, are referred to as “fancy Benningtons”. These are rarer than the single color variety. There are also some very rare examples with pink on them." Earthenware Marbles

Here's a few of mine.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Did they ever call those Bennies Surf?

 

[gunsil]

Did they ever call those Bennies Surf?

I think that's what the truck drivers used to take running across the country, or some folks took to lose weight.

 

[gunsil]

Here's a couple of green ones, brown and blue ones, and some different ones with glazed patterns often called "China" or "Chinese" marbles.

 

[surf]

Did they ever call those Bennies Surf?

Hey Coily,

I guess that depends on who "they" is. I've heard old digger guys call them, "Bennies."

Back in the day, I don't believe they used the term.

"And finally an excerpt from this wonderful ad from 1897:

MARBLES
ARE DOWN AT
JACKSON'S TOY STORE
Water St., Benton Harbor, Michigan.
The lowest prices and the largest stock
in either city. All kinds of common,
both gray and colored, china painted,
both glazed and unglazed, china bull's
eyes, glazed, ballots black and white,
imitation agates or falsies, imitation
agates flamed, jaspers or cloudies
glazed,glass threads all fine, glass braudies,
glass opals, glass opals striped, imitation carnelians,
flint agates, carnelian agates, onyx agates, tiger eyes,
glass threads all sizes…"
Vintage Marbles and Marble Collecting Resources - Part 14