A marble is a small spherical toy often made from glass clay steel plastic or agate these balls vary in size.
Different types of toy marbles.
Marbles have been made of all kinds of materials throughout history.
The process for making marbles has changed over the years as new materials and technologies spread.
Marbles have been a toy since the 1800s and became collector s items starting in the 1940s.
Whether produced by a device or by hand specific types of marbles possess recognizable colors and designs.
More recently they have been made of actual marble clay porcelain glass and steel.
Most commonly they are about 13 mm 1 2 in in diameter but they may range from less than 1 mm 1 30 in to over 8 cm 3 in while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over 30 cm 12 in wide marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles.
Vintage marbles were made by a variety of manufacturers in many different colors patterns and styles.
At first they may have been simple round stones or clay balls.