What Is a Peltier Marble?

Kinds of Marbles

• Peltier made agates, or marbles that look like brick or slag, along with the National Rainbo line. The National Peerless and Peerless Patch are Peltier marbles. Many comic marbles were Peltier production, and Peltier advertised to produce advertising marbles for bakeries. Banana cat's eye marbles were part of Peltier production. Peltier made marbles sold by other companies as well as its own. Marble King packaged Peltier marbles in the 1950s and sold them under the Marble King name, reports Dean Six in "American Machine-Made Marbles."

Size

• Peltier is credited with making all sizes of marbles, but made more peewees than other American marble makers. Peewees are marbles that are 1/2 inch in diameter or smaller. If you are attempting to identify a peewee marble, think of Peltier first. Large cat's eye marbles with the banana shape from end to end are often Peltier marbles.

Colors

• Early Peltier marbles were colorful, with slags and opaques in outstanding colors and color combinations. Peltier made a series of marbles they called "name" marbles that they named for the brilliant colors. Superman, ketchup and mustard, liberty and Christmas tree were some of Peltier's "name" marbles. In an attempt to compete with Japanese cat's eye marbles, Peltier made cat's eye marbles that looked like banana shapes inside clear glass, starting in 1955. Red, yellow, green, blue and white were colors of the banana marbles. According to Dean Six, lavender, brown and orange Peltier bananas also exist.

Identification

• Some types of Peltier marbles are difficult to identify as Peltier products. The patch is one that is difficult to identify with certainty since other companies made marbles similar to the Peerless Patch. Joe Street at JoeMarbles.com suggests that an experienced collector can identify Peltier swirls and ribbons. Colors help identify the name Peltier marbles. Packaging is also helpful in identification. M. Gropper & Sons was a jobber for Peltier and many of the remaining boxes have the Gropper name as manufacturer.