Marble Uses

Marbles are often seen only as a game to be played (see previous post on classic game) or as part of a game. In fact though, marbles have many uses today and throughout history. Listed below are some of those uses.

1. Paint Cans: paint cans have marbles in them to stir the paint as they are shaken
2. Mausoleums: marbles are placed under caskets when they are slid into mausoleums
3. Marbles are placed in kettle's of boiling water. When the water begins to boil, the marble rattles on the bottom to alert that the water is boiling.
4. When placed in a saucepan with jam, marbles on the bottom help keep the jam off the bottom and keep it from burning
5. Level: placing a marble on a surface will tell you if it is level
6. Ammunition: shooting marbles using a sling shot (this spelled the demise of many a marble)
7. As decoration: planters, aquariums, in wet concrete
8. Possible myth: placing a marble in a bird bath filled with water will attract birds

Questions:
Is it true that placing a marble on  a surface will tell you if it is level or flat? When might this not be accurate?
Research placing a marble in a bird bath to find if it really attracts birds. If you have a bird bath try it out!
Can you find any marbles that are being used in you home?
What other uses can you come up with for marbles?

Add a marble?

Glass Myths

Myth: "a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society" according to Webster (the dictionary, not the 1980's television show).
We have always heard myths about everything the Lochness Monster, to the Mothman locally, to what may even be deemed old wives's tales. It should come as no surprise that there are also myth's that involve glass and glass products. We will introduce a few here and let you do the research to prove or disprove these myths and give us the history.

Myth: Glass sags over time
Many believe that glass will flow or sag over time, as proven by glass panes that are thicker on the bottom than the middle.

Myth: A baggie with water in it and a marble will keep flies from coming through the window or door (some use a penny as opposed to a marble).

Myth: Marbles are made using marble.

Myth: Wearing glasses causes vision to change (better or worse) over time.

Now its your turn:
Research the myths above and find out whether they are true or not and why. Make sure to explain what you find.
Search for other myths about glass and report them back to the blog for others to research.

Clarksburg, West Virginia

For my presentation I chose Clarksburg, West Virginia. What drew me to Clarksburg was that it contained at least 39 different named glass manufacturing companies between 1899 and 1987 (when I say named glass manufacturers, I am referring to the fact that some of the companies changed names throughout their existence). Harrison County, which Clarksburg is located, had at least 68 named glass manufacturers, the most of any county in the state according to Dean Six. While I haven't found any evidence of currently operating facilities in Clarksburg, something drew those companies to Clarksburg. This led me to question why Clarksburg and Harrison County were a major glass manufacturing area.

As I have discussed in previous posts, the three things needed for glass or any industry are natural resources, transportation and human resources. Clarksburg is located within a reasonable proximity of the Oriskany glass sand deposit. Glass sand is obviously a necessary component to make glass. Secondly, the Clarksburg area had vast amounts of natural gas available at cheap prices. In the early 1900's natural gas cost .10 cents per ten-thousand cubic feet. It, like the rest of West Virginia would also have its most famous natural resource, coal in abundance. Add to this the available natural resource of cheap land and Clarksburg was appealing to glass manufacturers.

Clarskburg also had the advantage of being located on a major Appalachian Mountain thruway, the Northwest Turnpike (today US 50). The turnpike was chartered by Virginia in 1827 and reached Clarksburg in 1836. The B&O Railroad would reach Clarksburg twenty years later in 1856, further making this location attractive. Add to this available water transportation on the Westfork River and Elk Creek and Clarksburg had more than ample transportation opportunities for this time period. Today, Interstate 79 also provides a north-south route through Clarksburg.



The third necessity is a willing and able workforce. During the 1910s and 1920s, Clarksburg was characterized as a boom town, increasing in population from 4,050 in 1900 to 28,866 by 1930. The population peaked at 32,014 in 1950, decreasing to 16,578 today. So where did those people come from? The answer is from neighboring states, especially Pennsylvania and Ohio, which had an abundance of skilled craftsmen willing to come to West Virginia to work in the glass industry. Artisans and craftsmen from Europe would also follow from countries like Spain, France and Belgium.

Three companies that stood out in Clarksburg were the Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, Akro Agates and Lafayette Cooperative Glass Company. As I have discussed those three companies in previous blog posts, please refer to them for more information. Among the products made by the 39 Clarksburg glass manufacturers were window glass, tumblers, product containers, colored flat glass, milk bottles, flat glass, marbles, beer and other bottles, children's dishes, floral ware, lamps, chimneys, lighting goods, table ware, ovenware and various other novelties.

The end of glass manufacturing in Clarksburg seems to be fairly universal story. Changes in consumer habits such as switching from glass bottles to cheaper plastic bottles, fewer people canning their own fruits and vegetables leading to the need for fewer canning jars. Foreign competition also led to less expensive products from outside the United States. Finally, within the United States there was plenty of competition in the glass industry and frequently other states' businesses won the price wars. Today we live in a world where automation has led to fewer workers being needed to produce more products more cheaply and quickly.






Shooting Marbles: The Classic Game of Ringer

Marbles have been used for entertainment for centuries. Long before Atari, Pacman or Playstations kids were playing with marbles. While games and rules varied from group to group, the overall objective was to play for fun and to win!

Click on the video link below. Watch the video and answer the following questions and define the vocabulary.

Vocabulary:
Mibs
Shooter
Keepsies
Knuckle Down

Questions:
What factors would affect the game?
What variations of the classic game can you find?
Do you think shooting marbles would be a game of skill or chance?

Marbles game video

How To Play the Classic Marble Game of Ringer
Most children understand the game of marbles the first time it is explained, but to make it easier, these drawings show the most common plays.

FIG. 1: To start a game of Ringer the children lag from a line, drawn tangent to the ring, to a parallel line across the ring, which would be 10 feet away. The child whose shooter comes nearest the line has the first shot. Players must lag before each game. Practice lagging, as the first shot may mean the winning of the game before your opponent gets a shot. In lagging, a child may toss his or her shooter to the other line, or he or she may knuckle down and shoot it.

FIG. 2: This shows child No. 1 who won the lag, preparing to knuckle down. His knuckle has not quite reached the ground, which is necessary before shooting. He can take any position about the ring he chooses. (The process of picking the best possible position for starting is referred to as "taking rounders.") The 13 marbles in the ring are arranged as in tournament play. For casual games, a one foot ring is drawn inside of the ten foot ring and each player puts in some 5/8" marbles, so that there is about a dozen marbles in the smaller ring.

FIG. 3: Child No. 1 knocks a marble from the ring on his first shot and his shooter stays in the ring. He picks up the marble. As he has knocked one from the ring, he is entitled to another try. Players are not permitted to walk inside the ring unless their shooter comes to a stop inside the ring. Penalty is a fine of one marble.

FIG. 4: Here we see child No. 1 continuing play. He "knuckles down" inside the ring where his shooter stopped on the last shot. This gives him the advantage of being nearer to the big group of marbles in the center of the ring for his next shot. Expert marble shots try to hit a marble, knock it out of ring and make their shooter "stick" in the spot. "Sticking" or shooting seven consecutive marbles out of the ring and winning the game without giving an opponent a turn is usually good for two days of playground bragging rights.

FIG 5: On this play, No. 1 hit a marble, but did not knock it from the ring. At the same time his shooter, too, stays inside the ring. He can not pick up the marble, and whether he is allowed to pick up his shooter depends on the type of play - in tournament play, if your shooter is in the ring at the end of your turn, you must remove it. In casual games, if your shooter is in the ring at the end of your turn, it becomes a legitimate target and any player who hits it out collects a forfeit from you, or even your shooter! (Players should agree in advance whether to use this rule.)

FIG. 6: Child No. 2 may start by "knuckling down" anywhere at the ring edge. In this case he may shoot at the 11 marbles in the center or if he wishes, he may go to the other side and try for the marble that No.1 almost knocked from the ring. In a casual game he might also try to knock the other player's shooter from the ring.

FIG. 7: Child No. 2 chooses to try for No. 1 child's shooter and knocks it out of ring, winning all the marbles No. 1 has taken (and his shooter, if that rule is being followed) and putting No. 1 out of that game. Or he could shoot as shown in Fig. 8.

FIG. 8: Child No. 2 hits a marble but does not knock it out of the ring, yet his shooter goes though the ring and stops outside where he may pick it up. The target marble remains where it stopped in the ring, and as No. 2 did not score, it is now the turn of No. 1 to shoot again.

FIG. 9: No. 1 "knuckles down" inside the ring where his shooter stopped (Fig. 5). he is going to shoot at the marble nearest his shooter. By hitting it at the proper angle and knocking it from the ring he can get his shooter near the center of the ring for his next shot. Play alternates until one player has knocked a majority of the marbles out of the ring.

Akro Agates

 Akro Agate Company was started by Dr. George T. Rankin, Gilbert C. Marsh and Horace C. Hill. The story of the beginnings of the Akro company are told in the words of Gilbert Marsh below, as appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal.

 The "Akro Agate Company was started by Dr. George T. Rankin, Gilbert C. Marsh, (President of "Wagner-Marsh Shoe Store"), and Horace C. Hill, (Former employee of "Navarre Marbles"). Marsh and Rankin supplied the capital and Hill the expertise. After a couple of years showing success, they decided to purchase a larger building and expand their operation, In late 1914 the company moved to Clarksburg, WV. The Clarksburg site was chosen for several reasons. Most important was the abundance and availability of natural gas and sand. Both are very important in the glass making industry. At this early stage, Marsh, Rankin, and Hill, weren't able to build a plant, but they found an existing plant that was vacated. The building formerly housed the "National Aluminum Company". It was an ideal site, since it was located beside railroad tracks, with a side rail to the building for loading. At this time they rented the building and began operation. "Akro Agate" first appeared in the"Clarksburg City Directory" in 1915, as manufactures of toy marbles, caster balls, and glass balls for lithographers use.


Akro Agate Logo

In my research of Akro, I have found the amount of information available to be greater than my research into Hazel-Atlas. I surmise the reason as that Akro was owned and operated by the same corporation for its more than forty years of existence. Hazel-Atlas, by comparison, was the second incarnation at its location and was later bought by Continental Can. Company records for the previous manufacturers were not well preserved by the new owners and as such, much of its history was lost.

The primary product Akro produced through 1930 were glass marbles. Because of competition and two major patent lawsuits that Akro lost, it began to diversify in the early 1930's. They began to make ashtrays and small containers. They further diversified in 1936 when the Westite plant in Weston, West Virginia, was destroyed by fire. They bought their molds and introduced lines of flower pots, planters, and vases. Toward the end of the 1930's they introduced a line of children's dishes with little success.

Akro found greater success with its line of powder jars in the early 1940's. Their Scotty Dog and Colonial Lady were hugely popular and were their most successful line. World War II proved to be a boon for Akro as cheaper Japanese imports were cut off. This led to a greater success of its children's dish line.

Scotty Dog

Colonial Lady

The end of Akro came as the war ended and plastic and metal toys became cheaper to manufacture than glass. As sales continued to plunge over the next three years, Akro decided to cease production. On April 24, 1951, Akro Agates closed its doors for good.

Akro sold their marbles in both the Sears Spring & Summer Catalogue and the
Fall & Winter Catalogue from 1922 until 1935.

 Questions for consideration:

1. Why did Akro choose to move to Clarksburg?

2. Sears sold Akro marbles through its catalogue for over 13 years. How were catalogue's used differently then than they are now?

3. Why do you believe Akro's line of children's dishes would be a poor seller in the 1930's?

4. Why did the children's dishes become more popular during and after World War II?

5. What eventually spelled the demise of Akro?

West Virginia Natural Resources For Glass Production

West Virginia has been called almost heaven for its beautiful mountain views and abundant natural resources. While coal is the best know natural resource in West Virginia, it is also blessed with timber, natural gas, oil and water, among others. It was these natural resources, along with available transportation and nearby skilled artisans that made West Virginia a logical and great choice for glass production at the turn of the century.

Natural resources were one of the major draws as businesses looked to locate their glass producing facilities. One of the main ingredients needed to make glass is glass sand. Morgan County in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia sits in the Oriskany Sand formation that runs from New York state to southern Virginia.

Another available natural resource is that of natural gas. In order to make glass, heat is needed to turn the its ingredients into glass. West Virginia had cheap natural gas (.10 cents per thousand cubic feet in 1899) in abundance and coupled that with cheap land prices to lure glass manufacturing plants.

Transportation was another important consideration in locating in West Virginia. Northern West Virginia benefited by its proximity to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Zanesville, Ohio, two glass producing areas. It also benefited from the Northwest Turnpike (today US 50) that ran though the Appalachian Mountains. It will further benefit from the extension of the B & O  Railroad opening previously isolated areas of the state. Other areas, such as the Teays Valley, will benefit from the Midland Trail (US 60) and the C & O Railroad.

The final pieces of the puzzle would be the artisans needed to produce the glass. Neighboring states, especially Pennsylvania and Ohio, had an abundance of skilled craftsmen that could come to West Virginia to work in the glass industry. Artisans and craftsmen from Europe would also follow from countries like Spain, France and Belgium.

The culmination of these resources and people helped West Virginia to claim more than 15% of the glass manufacturing in America in the early 20th Century.



Workers drilling sand in Morgan County at the Oriskany sand seam.

Glass Making Chemistry from a Social Studies Teacher

When I began this class I believed that glass was made using sand and heat. I saw in the movie Sweet Home Alabama where the actors used metal rods in the beach sand to attract lightning and make fulgurites (hollow glass tubes formed in the sand by the lightning's heat).

Fulgurite

Therefore, it made sense to me that this was how glass would be made, sand and heat. While it does appear that this is a method of making glass, it isn't that common due the the extreme temperature necessary to heat the pure silica sand (1200 degrees Celsius). The more common methods of making glass today involve adding other materials to bring the transition temperature down. The transition temperature is the point at which the silica changes states from solid to liquid.

In the Soda-Lime glass making method, sodium bicarbonate is added to the silica or glass sand to lower the transition temperature . The problem with adding sodium bicarbonate is that it is water soluble.  Other chemical compounds such as lime (calcium oxide), magnesium oxide, and aluminum oxide are added to the glass to counter the water solubility. The finished product is 70-74% silica. Soda-Lime glass accounts for about 90% of all glass produced. Another product added in glass production is cullet or recycled glass. Using cullet is environmentally friendly and uses less energy and raw materials in glass production.

Once the glass has achieved its final shape, it must be gradually cooled in a process called annealing. In the annealing process a chamber with the glass in it is heated to approximately 580 degrees and then is cooled over a specific amount of time. Cooling too quickly will cause the glass to stress.



Glass containers being formed

Questions for consideration:
1. Soda-Lime glass has a greenish color. How do you think they get the above bottles to have a brown color?
2. What do you believe will happen if you cool the glass too quickly?
3. What are sources in you school and community for cullet?
4. Research the chemical compounds used to make glass discussed above. What other uses are there for these compounds? Some may surprise you!

Artisans at Lafayette Glass, Clarksburg

In reviewing the history of glass production in America and in particular West Virginia, I see that the early producers of glass would have been artisans. This was because historically glass production had been the work of artisans that were skilled in the arts of creating and sculpting glass. Olga S. Hardman wrote the following description of the methods to produce plate glass prior to automation in her article: The Lafayette Cooperative Glass Plant.

The Lafayette began as a pot furnace operation, i.e., the glass was heated in clay pots. Sand, potash, limestone, coal dust, and cullet (broken glass) were placed into the pots and heated until molten. This material was then gathered onto steel pipes, which were 3/4" in circumference and 58" long, by a "gathering boy." It required gathering 3 or 4 times to get a sufficiently large lump (20 to 30 pounds.) The gathering boy then took this molten mass to a cast iron block where the "glass-blower" blew a ball to a 42" circumference. The glass blower's helper, called a "snapper," would then carry the ball up to the blow furnace where the ball was heated again and the blower began the process of forming it into a cylinder. The blower would then swing the cylinder (called a roller) in a shaft in the floor (called a swing hole.) By blowing, turning, swinging, and intermittently reheating the glass, the desired cylinder length of 55" to 60" was achieved. The cylinder was then split open on one side and then taken to the "flattener" where it was flattened in the flattening oven. After cooling, it was then ready to be cut to desired window size by the "cutter." If your home was built at the turn of the century, the glass for the windows in your home was probably made by this method.

1908 Postcard of the Lafayette Glass Plant

When we look at glass production, we just aren't looking at a factory producing glass though, we are also looking at people and their various cultures and what they brought to our communities and country. Many of the workers at the Lafayette plant came from the European countries of Belgium, France and Spain. Not only did they bring their knowledge of  glass with them to West Virginia, but also their culture. This included French pasties and cookies such as the "galette." They also brought their music with them and the love of bands. They formed concert bands and had social halls to play and dance.

1907 Postcard featuring the Lafayette Concert Ban

 The Lafayette plant survived a fire and a world war, but was eventually closed after a price war with Pittsburgh Plate Glass drove them out of business.

Today, you can see Scottish heritage in the May 3-5, 2013 Scottish Festival and Celtic Gathering being held in the Bridgeport/Clarksburg area.They will showcase Celtic music, The West Virginia Highland Dancers and have Scottish Heavy Athletic Events.

Dancer with bagpipe accompaniment

Questions for consideration:
1. Why would skilled artisans from Europe choose to come to America to practice their trade?
2. How did their culture and experiences impact West Virginia and particularly Harrison County?
3. Imagine you are a "gathering boy." What would life be like for you as you worked at Lafayette?

Stolzle Glass Manufacturing Video

While this video isn't a West Virginia or even American glass manufacturing company, this video shows how they first craft and blow wine glasses in their factory. They then use these as their prototype to create automated wine glasses. Very interesting to watch. Reminds me of The Matrix.

Clarksburg Audioboo

One of our assignments this week is to record on Audioboo. Audioboo is an app that allows you to record up to three minutes of audio and then save and play the audio back.
For my recording, I decided to record some information about Clarksburg, West Virginia. According to Dean Six in his book, West Virginia Glass Between the World Wars, The Hazel Atlas Glass Company was the largest and most definitive glass manufacturer in Clarksburg.

listen to ‘Clarksburg, West Virginia’ on Audioboo

Steve discussing a fiasco

Steve detailed the origins of glass  for thousands of years ago through lightning strikes and accident. He also took us through the various cultures that produced glass and what that glass looked like. In the video that follows, Steve explains how Italian artisans created less than perfect works that they deemed fiasco's.




Fiasco or Hot Mess from Joe Thacker on Vimeo.

China vs. The World

I did a little informal research today at my local mall. I went to the glassware section and perused the selection of stemware, tableware, vases, pitchers and ceramics. What I found wasn't surprising, but was a little saddening. I looked at over 50 pieces of glass and ceramics and found only one that was made in America. It was a set of ceramic coasters that were hand painted. The majority of what I found was made in China or as some put PRC (Peoples Republic of China). I found several made in Italy, Turkey, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Most of the non-Chinese manufactured glassware was highly decorated and very specialized. 

Hearing Dean Six speak of what West Virginia and America used to make and seeing the lack of representation today brings his message home. It appears that most people today are more interested in cheap, mass produced items from overseas than American made products that help our economy. I remember "buy American" campaigns in past years that sought to encourage American bought goods. Unfortunately, it appears it was too little and too long ago.

Questions for consideration:
1. Why would products made and shipped from thousands of miles away be less expensive than products made locally?
2. How could America and West Virginia in particular turn this pattern of products and jobs being sent overseas and see a resurgence in American made goods? What barriers do you see to your plan?
3. How could you help revive the "buy American" advertising campaign today?
4. Several Appalachian coal companies have recently signed contracts with China to sell them coal from our area. Obviously, this keeps West Virginians employed in the coal industry. Do you believe this is offsets the loss of other specialized jobs locally? Explain.

West Viginia Next Generation Standards and the Ceramics and Glass Class

The classes we are offered in Cabell County are outstanding. The topics covered, technology provided and depth of instruction are outstanding. All that said, if it doesn't benefit the students of Cabell County it is worthwhile. As a social studies teacher, I see history, geography and economics in the Glass and Ceramics project. From Dean Six discussion of the reasons West Virginia and primarily for my students the Teays Valley were ideal for glass production, to the economic and practical reasons why it has largely died in West Virgina (and the United States). Any time I can make it relevant to their state and their region in particular, we are hitting the 3 R's (Relevance, Relationships, and Rigor) that are at the core of what we do in Cabell County.

The 10th grade NGO's (Next Generation Standards)
SS.10.H.CL5.1  analyze the developments in business and industry including the emergence of new industries and the rise of corporations through monopolies and mergers.
SS.10.E.5   critique the cause and effect relationship between the labor movement, industrialization and urbanization in the United States.
SS.10.G.7  analyze the impact of the environment, including the location of natural resources, on immigration and settlement patterns throughout U. S. history.
SS.10.G.8 analyze the ways in which physical and cultural geography have influenced significant historic events and movements.

This is a timely and relevant topic was we are studying the technological innovations during the later half of the 19th Century and the men who built America. Part of that would be the industrialists that built the class and ceramics factories in West Virginia and how they built their empires. When I speak of glass, I am speaking of the Owens', Kerr's, Ball's and other large scale manufactures of glass and ceramics. There were also many small manufacturers and artisans that contributed to West Virginia's legacy of glass and ceramics productions.Their story is that of our students and our state.

Questions to answer:
1. Why did the glass and ceramics industry choose West Virginia to produce their products?
2. What factors contributed to the demise of glass manufacturing in West Virginia and the United States as a whole?
3. How are glass and ceramics used by you and your family today?
4. What are potential future uses for glass and ceramics?
 

Dean Six Visits-Week 1

We were very fortunate to begin our fist week of study on glass and ceramics in West Virginia with a visit by Dean Six, West Virginia's premier expert on glass production in the state and surrounding areas. Dean informed us of the reasons why West Virginia and particularly the Teays Valley region were ideally suited for glass production. He also showed us examples of glass products produced by various glass makers in West Virginia.

Dean Six explaining why West Virginia was ideal for the glass and ceramics
industries. It has transportation (rail and river), and natural resources
such as coal.

A clear glass bottle manufactured in Huntington, West Virginia.

A brown Coca-Cola Bottle from Huntington, West Virginia.

Six Shootin' Steve and a glass gun-shaped flask.

Various marbles manufactured in West Virginia.