Clear Marbles

Clear marbles are made out of glass and are very popular. Clear glass marbles are made from sulphide.

 
The history of Clear Marbles
 
Marbles started being made out of sulphide. These marbles were small and clear – and sometimes they were made will little shapes or figures inside. Most of these marbles were clear like glass, although it was also possible to make them amber, blue, green, with a slight translucency.

To make the marbles more child-friendly, the marbles were created large enough so that a small child could keep hold of one easily – usually 2 inches or more. This allowed children to hold the marble, and look at the shapes inside.

 
How clear marbles are made?
 
The marble was created by the glass-making craftsman into a ball of soft, hot glass. Two methods were used.

Some collectable clear marbles have figures and pictures inside these are very rear and collectible. To create a figure inside the clear marble the craftsman, holding the end of a heated glass rod, inserted the pre-heated tiny figure into the softened glass. Another craftsman would then fold the glass over the figure. The figure was completely covered in the still hot soft glass, and then it was folded around the figure again. This was then rounded and smoothed to form the marble.

The second method is similar, but instead of folding the glass over the top, the figure was placed on top of the glass, and it was pinched up around the figure.

Glass marbles are a favourite with kids as there are many games that can be created using marbles. Marbles have been used for years as toys for children of course under strict supervision.

A game that was once popular to play with marbles was called “Bun”. Players would dig a hole in a field, and then try to role the marble as close to the hole as possible without the marble going in. The person who got their marble as close without going in was the winner – and would either win all the marbles that fell down the hole, or all the marbles in the game.