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Marbles in the News
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Peltier History
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Original Publication Date: March 1, 1975. From the "Daily Times," an Ottawa, Illinois newspaper
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I am researching 20th Century marbles for the museum of Northern Arizona and hope you can supply a few answers I have not been able to obtain. I am interested in the Peltier Glass Company of Ottawa, Ill. I've written to them, but received no reply. I'd like to know when they began making marbles, what brand names they were sold under, what types they produced, and when they were manufactured. Any other information would also be much appreciated. -R.E.M., Flagstaff, AZ
We did feature a story on the firm back in 1969, along with an interview with the owner, the late Duncan (Don) Peltier who died about 2 years ago. Today's Times Tickler is devoted entirely to R.E.M.'s request.
The late Mr. Peltier was the third generation of his family to be associated with the production of glass. Victor Peltier, a French glassworker, came to the United States and established the Ottawa firm in 1886. He wass succeeded by his son, Sellers Peltier, then by Duncan.
The firm is still in operation today on the north side of Ottawa. Only two other firms in the United States produce marbles and these are located along the southeast coast, the Virginias and the Carolinas.
A single machine in the acre large Peltier factory turns out 180 marbles an hour. Cateyes, aggies, rainbows, plains, bomboliers, and pints were all manufactured at one time or another by the firm. Mr. Peltier probably owned more marbles at the time of our interview than any other single person in the world, a collection contained in barrels and bins in his factory's warehouse.
As we recall, the tour through his warehouse was one where the visitor had the feeling of being turned loose amidst thousands of uncut precious gems. The colors of the marbles ranged the entire spectrum. One barrel of semi-flat, planed clear crystal marbles could have passed for a cache of rough cut diamonds.
The firm began making marbles in the 1920's, as we recall from Mr. Peltier's conversation. These marbles were sold under dozens of brand names.
Many of the marbles turned out in his factory were flat and semi-flat rounds while others were glass ovals, beautifully colored and highly polished for sale to hobbyists and craft firms which employed glass tiles and forms in their work.
He said his factory received requests from all over the world for unusual glass and marble products, but many of these jobs were being turned down as the factory was semi-automatic by then, and the cost factor in producing special orders was prohibitive. He recalled for us however, one unusual request which they did fill.
Peltier Glass was asked to produce 500 pounds of sodium phosphate acid based marbles which would dissolve in water. They were to be used for clearing water stored in tanks.
The Ottawa firm devised the formula for the special order and ran 24 hours a day at times to meet the schedule. Added complications called for turning out these marbles in a separate operation as their melting point was 1,200 degrees in comparison to the 2,500 to 2,600 temperature required for regular marbles.
All the way through the production and cooling period, the sodium phosphate marbles had to be wrapped to protect them from moisture which would have made them melt.
At the time of our interview, Mr. Peltier said Japan had entered the glass production trade and exported many marbles to the United States, principally the West Coast. He said the Japanese marbles were of an inferior grade and coloring and the coastal area preferred the American made marble.
The late Mr. Peltier had a chandelier light fixture in the living room of his home, created from a thousand marbles enclosed in metal framework. These marbles were produced in his factory and were clear glass globules heated to a high temperature, then dropped in water to "craze" or crack them to reflect light.
Some enterprising tourists financed vacations to the West Coast by buying a quantity of marbles from Peltier Glass, took them west in their cars and campers, then resold these to marble collectors, hobbyists and lapidarists for polishing into gemstone jewelry. The vacationers made around $600 to $800 through these sales, Mr. Peltier said, and the buyers got a good grade of glass without paying high commercial freight and shipping charges.
The late Mr. Peltier welcomed many visitors to his factory through the years. Many of these visits had amusing sidelights, but his favorite was the following:
A group of women whose husbands were in Ottawa at a convention, were invited by Mr. Peltier to tour the factory to pass the afternoon. After the tour, he gave each woman a box to fill with marbles of their choice as souvenirs of their visit.
The women dove in, he recalled, and when the time came for them to leave, they wouldn't go. The women were all over the plant, gathering marbles, gem glass and getting the workmen to spin glass threads for their collections. He said that the husbands finally had to be asked to come to the factory and persuade their wives to leave.
On display in the Peltier office is a case containing samples of the various glass products manufactured at the Ottawa firm. The displays include tiny fantasy animals created of large and small marbles glued together. Many have "rolling eyes," tiny dark marbles encased in clear hollow glass "eyeballs" which move when touched.
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This submission was made by Peter Caparelli, NY NY on September 21, 2006
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