Why does a grown person collect antique marbles? It is easy to comprehend the aesthetic and comforting notions of someone that collects an antique, yet functional thing like an antique chest, or an accessory like vintage jewelry. In addition to serving the style and decor of a house, you can still put clothes in the old chest; you can wear the jewelry.
But why does a grown person collect antique marbles? One explanation that jumps to mind is that which holds your attention as an adult starts in childhood, but I can’t start there to explain why people collect antique marbles. Even as a young boy I never got the fascination with marbles – or anything that involved collecting and keeping and assigning value to little glass balls, picture cards of baseball players, or pennies. So I am approaching this question as an outside observer with no “marble passion” of my own to try and foist upon you.
So, let’s break down “why collect antique marbles” from the beginning; I think there is a point to it that starts way before the vintage collecting begins. So, let’s start…
The first thing that attracts a person to marbles is the simplicity of the game learned as a child. You didn’t need a rule book and you certainly didn’t need an adult to “coach” you. To play “ringer” you simply drew a circle that was about 10 feet in diameter, picked a marble to be your “shooter”, lined the other marbles up in the middle of the circle to form a “plus sign” and then followed very simple rules where each player took turns “knuckling down” and using their thumbs to propel a shooter marble to knock another marble outside the ring. The kid with the most marbles knocked out of the ring at the end of the game won.
If this were it most kids would have quit this game shortly after learning it because it is tedious and boring after a while. Only so many times of “I win” will do the trick for any game. Those that stay with it do so because of “keepsies” – which means when I knock a marble out of the ring, I get to keep it. Doesn’t matter who brought the marble to the game, it’s going in my bag. Now the game becomes more than an alternative to CandyLand; you are now “playing for all the marbles.”
After a while, simply having more marbles in the bag doesn’t thrill like it did, especially as the child grows older. Somewhere around adolescence, through happenstance or steadfastness to the game, the older child becomes aware that each marble has distinct value. Maybe a trader’s magazine wandered across in the hobby store, or an older relative who thinks that green glass marble with the unique swirl design may be “worth something.” Now the game is changed again. The marble bag no longer is just an aggregate number; it has become a collection of individual trophies.
Monetary value is discovered. The simple game of ringer is no longer played. Instead, something more satisfying has taken its place – the “game” of collecting. The game where each marble is inspected, assessed, recorded, reported upon. Something for which you can subscribe to a trade magazine, join an internet forum, and attend a club meeting. The marble becomes the object upon which you can build a specialist knowledge of something that is appreciated and admired by those that play the same game.
It is here that we come to the antique marble and it is here that the enjoyment of this simple object is fully realized for the adult. This is the point where monetary value is assigned according to historical and aesthetic significance, a pure appreciation of the connection to the past and the individual craftsman, long gone. “Where did “this one” come from?” “Ah…I recognize the swirl and diameter.” “Must have come across with a little German boy in the early 1800s.” “This is the only place those were made.” And so on…
A simple object, beautifully crafted from another time and place. Something of lasting value…to know about…to hunt for…to be thrilled when found…to buy at a bargain…maybe sell for a lot more.
Maybe I should have played marbles…