Old Marbles

I loved playing with marbles when I was a child.  My brother and I would sometimes play Chinese Checkers with them.  I didn't think much about collecting them at that time, I just loved the way they felt in my hand.  My step father collected marbles in a big way.  He traded and sold them regularly.  The old marbles in the top picture belonged to him.  A few of them are pretty primitive.  My husband also began collecting marbles and still has several jars of them in his collection.  My mother took a real liking to the "Bumble Bees" marbles.  They are the yellow and black marbles in the second picture.  They are also in jars in the third picture.  Whenever my step father would bring in his latest marble acquisition, my mother would always sit down with the marbles and pick out the Bumble Bees marbles and claim them for her own.  She would carefully place them in an old jar and even count how many were in the jar.  She would put a small piece of paper in the jar with the marble count on it.  After Mom passed away, we shared the Bumble Bee marbles with our children.  I think of her every time I look at her collection.  There are creative ways to display and enjoy your marble collection.  Of course, the most popular way is to find an old  canning jar and fill it with marbles.  Another of our favorite ways is to place them in a half gallon Mason or Ball jar and create a lamp with a jar lid lamp kit as shown above.  These lamps make useful conversation pieces.  Although they are not as readily available as they used to be, marbles can still be found at flea markets.