Recent Discoveries
December 2004
Akron marble champs make the New York Times Sports page!
The New York Times Sports Sunday, December 26, 2004
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Kneeling, Knuckling to Marbles Fame
From Production to Playing, Akron Rules
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
Long before Ohio gave us halls of fame for pro football, rock ‘n’ roll and inventors, it had already given a gift that towered over most others, a contribution to sports that has grown over three centuries: marbles.
In case you missed it, the American marble celebrated its 120th birthday this year. In Akron, Ohio, where the marble made its debut in 1884, two of the city’s best slingers are training to defend their titles in the Akron District Marble Tournament - the oldest children’s sporting event in the United States.
William Deshields, a 9-year-old student at Schumacher Academy, and Lea Ciavarella, a 9-year-old who attends North Akron Catholic, literally won all the marbles last year in their divisions. They rolled past the competition in a clay ring measuring 10 feet in diameter. They understood their mission: to size up 13 marbles placed in the center, and, with at least one knuckle planted firmly on the ground, become the first player to knock 7 of those 13 marbles out of the ring.
The Akron District Marbles Tournament, which began in 1923, is the oldest children’s sporting event in the United States. Last year Lea Ciavarella, left and William DeShields won their divisions. They will try to defend their titles.
Tough guys play for keeps, thus the phrase, "He lost his marbles." "It was kind of surprising because I hardly ever played marbles before," William said. "I just relaxed, concentrated and played hard."
The two mibsters (that’s marblespeak for children) emerged from a field of 5,000 cap-wearing, tonguewagging, knuckle-curling, one-eyesquinting competitors, all trying to earn a spot in the National Marbles Tournament, the Super Bowl of their sport, held each June in Wildwood, N.J. The Akron tournament, which runs from February to June, started as a promotion for Scripps Howard Newspapers in 1923.
"These tournaments were held in communities throughout Ohio, and the results were splashed on the front pages of those newspapers," said Michael Cohill, an Akron historian and marble enthusiast. "The idea was to get as many kids as possible to compete, so that more and more parents would go out and buy the paper."
In a flush of hyperbole, he added, "It became the most successful promotion in the history of American journalism."
In those days, the king of the ring was Alfred J. Huey, 11, from Akron, who made headlines by winning the 1928 national tournament, then held in Atlantic City. His victory brought a gold pocket watch, trophies, plaques, even a tomahawk from a New York State Indian tribe.
Alfred’s name and picture appeared in innumerable newspapers and his victory was shown on newsreels in movie houses across the United States. Akron threw him one of the largest parades in its history, and he met President Herbert Hoover at the White House.
"Really? I never heard of him," said Lea, a third grader who agreed to be interviewed last week, but only after a class in spelling - her favorite subject - had ended.
Most children have never heard of Alfred Huey, nor have they heard of Samuel C. Dyke, a newspaperman from Akron, who in 1884 became the first American to mass-produce marbles here and, hence, the first to mass-produce toys of any type in the United States.
Of course, marbles have been around a lot longer than that.
"Perfectly spherical marbles were made as far back as 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, and some were even found in King Tut’s tomb," Cohill said. "They were made out of everything from clay and limestone to precious gems, and whatever technology was used to make them remains unknown to modern science."
The evolution of the American marble began with the clay ones that rolled off Dyke’s assembly line at his factory on South Main Street. By the turn of the century, porcelain marbles were all the rage.
In the roaring 1920’s, children were using shooters made of glass. By the 1950’s, Germany’s bull’seye agate, a marble made of onyx, some costing as much as $5 each, were in vogue. The 1980’s saw the return of the glass marble that is still popular today, and not only with younger players.
In Clay County, Tenn., the locals are known throughout the marble-playing world for their marksmanship in a difficult game they call Roley Holey, which is played on a 40-foot court.
In Tinsley Green, England, adults participate in the International Marbles Tournament. And throughout Europe, other adults play a variation of the game in pubs, shooting marbles with one hand while holding a drink in the other. The last player standing is declared the champ.
"It’s a great sport with a grand history," said Debra Stanley-Lapic of Shillington, Pa., who captured the 1973 national championship in Wildwood and coached 14 national champions thereafter.
Stanley-Lapic, now the coordinator of the Reading (Pa.) Marbles Program, will soon train her 9-yearold daughter, Whitney, the way she has trained other potential champions: four to eight hours a day, seven days a week - year-round.
"Our goal," she said, "is to become the first mother-daughter champions in the history of the sport."
Reprinted with permission, The New York Times.
Click HERE for a PDF version of this story as it appeared in the New York Times.
The M.F. Christensen & Son Company is documented with the State of Ohio!
The M.F. Christensen and Son Company factory site has finally been recorded with the Ohio Historical Society. The site has be given an identification number that will allow future research and preservation possible. The number is 33-SU-374.
Christensen Agate Co. site discovered in Payne, Ohio!
Some of the artifacts found in Payne, Ohio. Larger blue and amber examples measure about 23/32. The white piece on the bottom left is not a marble half.
Brian Graham holding a bucket full of the glass artifacts uncovered in Payne, Ohio.
On Saturday August 31st, the team of Michael
Cohill and Brian Graham of the "Akron Mibology Labs", conducted
archaeological investigations at the Christensen Agate factory site in Payne,
Ohio. This discovery was very important because the site has remained untouched
since 1927. This was the last Ohio marble factory site left to be discovered. We
are very fortunate for this find and for the fact that it was undisturbed. What
might seem to be the most insignificant glass fragment the size of a pea can
yield pages of important history and information. That is what makes this discovery so
special. We have been researching this factory for about a year and the project
is now complete. The materials found correspond perfectly with what we have
uncovered in the local newspapers and the US Patent record. The artifacts
recovered from this site represents a unique first in the history of toy marble
production. A full analysis will be published down the road.
There were about 8 hours total involved in the excavation. The total yield was less than a gallon of glass debris. In other words, we were lucky to find anything at all, but we did find enough to physically document what was produced.
The site is located near the city water plant. You might be able to find some very tiny glass fragments in the parking lot, but don't expect to find much of anything else. The archaeological signature of the site is extremely ephemeral in nature.