Dufferin Historical Museum

Carman, Manitoba

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Collector’s Item: Keep your Marbles


In the spring, a young person’s fancy used to turn to thoughts of marbles. As the sun warmed up, so those colorful little balls would appear to be displayed, traded and competed for in all manner of side-walk games. Around the turn of the century, they were so popular that important glass manufacturers made significant production runs of them. Berry Pink, the marble king of the ‘20s was turning out his popular rainbow mibs at the rate of 100,000 a day.
Marbles came in all sizes from the teenies of half-inch diameter to monsters two-inches across. Sears Roebuck listed clay marbles at 15 cents a bag of 150, while the famous sulphides sold for three cents apiece. Today, those same sulphides in good condition would cost you at least $20 .
The making of sulphides actually goes back to the Chinese. A figure of an animal, a child, or maybe a political figure is made from hard, white sulphides and dipped in molten glass to build up the desired diameter. The most sought after today are the monsters; these are more likely to be found in good condition since they were always regarded as too precious to risk in the rough and tumble of the game. A mint two-inch sulphides of President McKinley is listed in my price guide as $100 .
Other types which collectors look for are End of Day, made by work-men using left over glass in whatever combination of colors struck their fancy. These were made only for their own children and today may fetch anything from $5 to $50 . Cornelian agates were byproducts from semi-precious stones. Solid colors were made into gems but the streakers, visually more interesting if less pure, were made into marbles. Unchipped specimens sell in the $5 to $10 range and have actually been reproduced by tinting glass in a way difficult to detect.
Candle swirls were particularly fine examples of the glassmaker’s art. Different glass rods were banded together and heated to melting point. They were then twisted into a succession of balls. These were considered so valuable by sidewalk marble champions that, to win one, you had to hit it 20 times in a row. Miss once and you were out. Today they sell for $10 to $30 each.
Published around the 1950s-60s

Dufferin Historical Museum

Guest’s Comments

“It was so nice to meet you guys and get a chance to see all of your displays. I want to again say how much we appreciated you opening the museum and taking time out of your days for us. We went over to the cemetery and they helped us find the grave sites which was a thrill as well. Thank you again for your hospitality and the gift bag.”
Howard Thomson
Hemenway Family

"Nice to meet you and have a personalized tour of the Museum .... your organization has done a wonderful job of displaying the artifacts and honoring the families in the area. Glad that you were able to use some of the articles that I had available.
The cookbook is really well done. I enjoyed reading and reminiscing - lots of great recipes and 'tidbits'. 
"Big Bouquet" to all involved.

Linda, Morden, MB"

"A Great Museum I visited the Dufferin Historical Museum on Saturday, June 2 for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
I have not visited the museum for some time and I was greatly impressed by the changes that have taken place. The people who have been giving their time and expertise to the arrangement and displaying of the many artifacts, as well as the people who have worked with the flowers and plants around the grounds, are to be greatly commended. There is more work and time spent on these jobs than most people realize. The tea was probably a first and in my opinion a good idea. It was overall a great way to celebrate the event. A visit to our museum is certainly a great way to spend an hour or two and well worth it."

Keith Barker, Carman Past Board Member

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Contact

Dufferin Historical Museum
44 Kings Park Road
Carman Manitoba R0G 0J0

Phone:
Museum - 204-745-3597

Trish Aubin – 204-745-7353
Caroll McGill – 204-745-6674
The GPS coordinates:
49° 30.178 N 098° 00.621 W

Admisions

Adult: $5.00
Student: $3.00
Under 5: Free

Memberships:

Single: $10.00
Family: $25.00 (2 adults/2 students)

Hours of Operation

July and August
Tues - Sat 10:00 - 5:00 pm
Sunday: 1:00 to 5:00 pm

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