Marble Makers In West Virginia

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Marble makers in west virginia. While marble machines were built in the 1990s at mid atlantic it appears that playing marble production occurred mostly in 2001. Akro agate was among the nation s most productive marble makers remaining in business until 1951. He s a real hoot and you ll be fascinated watching him make glass marbles. Working with molten glass is quickly becoming a lost art.

See it while this old timer is still around to do it. The museum of american glass in west virginia this museum celebrates wv s rich glass heritage a big part of which is marbles. There are still a few companies mass producing toy marbles. Hillybilly marble maker sam hogue.

Like other glass producers the company was attracted to west virginia because of the abundance of glass sand and natural gas. The company produced stemware table glass and similar items. Mid atlantic went out of business in the mid 2000s. The founder was oris hanlon who had previously worked at heaton agate company with financial support by dennis farley and john sandy.

Made in america established in the late 1940 s marble king marbles are highly recognized and respected worldwide. Howdyshell the 63 year old owner of marble king inc says an abundance of glass natural gas and cheap labor attracted the earliest marble makers to west virginia. If you re anywhere near northwest west virginia take a side trip to this guy s home and workshop. One major marble manufacturing company is marble king located in paden city west virginia which was featured in the television shows made in america some assembly required and the colbert report.

Currently the world s largest manufacturer of playing marbles is vacor de mexico. The wvmcc was not intended to be limited to only west virginia marble collectors or west virgina marbles alone. The company makes 90 percent of the world s marbles. Glasfirma formerly vacor de mexico general informational sites.

The cairo novelty company was founded in 1946 in cairo west virginia. It began producing marbles the following year. Discover for yourself why we are known for our tradition quality and history with a visit to our interactive museum and expanded gift shop. The organization welcomes collectors from everywhere and appreciates every type of marble including but not limited to stone clay glass handmade machine made and contemporary along with all related marble memorabilia.