Champion furnace marbles

[cheese]

Some of my favorites. The Champion marble factory was located next to the Wissmach Glass company in West Virginia. They made stained glass windows. When Champion did a furnace cleaning, they used glass scraps from the stained glass window company to fill the tank. This glass wasn't matched well as far as the rates of expansion and contraction, so while some colors contracted faster than others it created a lot of fractures. These marbles weren't sold to the public, they were brought home by employees, given as gifts, etc... They are beautiful marbles. Some of them are hard to find without fractures.

 

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[drizzlermibs]

They sure are pretty. I never knew what a Champion "furnace" marble was. Why did they use that glass when they cleaned their furnaces? Fascinating stuff I might add!

 

[cheese]

I think they used it because it was "junk" glass, so they wouldn't have to use glass that they needed for making marbles.