Hello Larry!
    I have on my desk a letter from you mentioning the finding of those
marbles by the slave quarters. At the time you said (May 7, 1993), "Of the
material so far cataloged, there appears to be about 40 total. Of these
about 5 are glass and the remaining split between stone and clay. Some of
the clay pieces appear to be locally made, but most are the common tannish
brown industrially produced pieces." What would be of most interest in
dating them would be to talk more about what industries or clay sources that
were involved. Were they made from a clay source by The Hermitage or
travelled down river/rails even from catalogs? Basically what are the dates
for THE HERMITAGE, when were the slaves domestically on the site? as you
said "If you are interested in more detailed information let me know..." :-)
By the by I did write Sam Smith and he was very nice in responding, he
mentioned a pottery kiln site by Rector, AK that was interesting. Am sending
my original e-mail call for info. so you get the idea of the information I
need.
 
Diane
-----Original Message-----
From: LMCKEEHERM <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, April 10, 1998 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: Toy Marbles, Cooking Spheres, and ... hem weights?
 
 
>Greetings!
>     OK, here is another possible non-toy use for marbles that I've heard
>about - as hem weights for skirts!  One slave dwelling interior here at the
>Hermitage has produced both a substantial amount of sewing related
equipment
>and a very large collection of marbles - off the top of my head, more than
>forty.  My call is that because the marbles are so diverse, including
>everything from glass to hand-painted ceramic to locally made brick-looking
>things, that these are toys rather than anything else, but the alternative
is
>certainly worth mentioning.
>                    Best,
>                      Larry McKee