|
The Champeens’ Marbles
|
||
|
In 1923 when the National Marble Tournament began, there were only three toy marble factories in the United States; The Standard Toy Marble Company of Akron, Ohio; The J.E. Albright Company of nearby Ravenna, Ohio, both of which manufactured ceramic marbles or ‘commies’ and The Akro Agate Company of Clarksburg, West Virginia, the only American manufacturer of ‘glassies.’ The percentage of ceramic marbles to glass marbles produced in the United States this year were about 1,000 ‘commies’ to every ‘glassie’ made. The retail cost of commies were roughly 30 for a penny and a glass marble cost from 2 to 5 cents each. Also, during this period a large number of ceramic and glass marbles were imported to the United States from German. The most coveted marble by young mibsters of the day were ‘flinties’ – natural stone agates of various types. These could cost as much as several dollars each. Between 1923 and 1925 the types and kinds of marbles used in the National Marble Tournament and its sanctioned local tournaments was not specifically addressed. In 1926 new rules outlaws the use of “steelies and “ironies,” set an exact size limit and mandated ceramic marbles, ‘commies,’ as official target marbles. Glass marbles were not allowed as “ducks” or target marbles in tournament play until some time in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. Few champions played with glass shooters, finding their smooth surface difficult to grip, hard to control when using “English” or backspin and could break when targeted and “killed” by their opponent.
|
||