Identifying Alley Agate Company Marbles

Find Alley Agate marbles in Hop Ching Chinese checkers sets made through the 1940s. These are solid-color glass marbles, some with faint swirls in the color, like the Chiquita children's dishes Alley produced.

Look for the characteristics of Alley Agate marbles. Flames often have a white background, and the colored lines are thin and somewhat uniform, sometimes with a fine dark outline color. Clearies are clear with no bubbles and patch marbles have abrupt color stops. Some calligraphy-style Alley marbles have dark color lines that fade into the white background, almost like flow blue china of the turn of the century.

Exclude any very large or very small marbles. Alleys ranged from 9/16 to 1 inch. There is no evidence as of 2010 that Alley made peewees or boulders.

Check for neons. Alley marbles often fluoresce with a black light according to "American Machine-Made Marbles."

Look for the special green and blue Alley Agate colors. Many colors produced by Alley were similar to Christensen, and Christensen collectors are finding that some of their marbles are Alley. Alley produced a green not duplicated by other companies, and a Persian blue or robin's egg blue like Heaton and Christensen made. Alley also made a distinctive pistachio marble with a fluorescent green base and black rounds like a corkscrew.