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I know they have a following and in the past I've mentioned my family connection to them. Came across these 2 pictures, thought others might appreciate.

My Great-Grandfather on the right - not a great pic but is what it is. This was the knife shop in the heyday - 1920's



This is him much later at the lathe/metal shop



He was there a long time, his son in law took over his duties there eventually.

Cool man thanks for sharin 👍

Your ancestors are probably rolling over in their grave over the changes at Marbles.

Cool pics and info.

I'm sure they are - Paul, the guy in the pics died when I was 3, didn't know him that well but Uncle Bob (Robert Young) - I remember very well. He had some old Marbles blade blanks squirreled away from back in the day and that's what he used to make knives for us family.

There's probably 40+ years between the two pics.

Robert Young was your uncle? I have/had several of his knives. Met him once at a knife show in Escanaba I believe, what a great guy!

IIRC he use to refurbish old Marbles knives too.

Yep. Uncle Bob sure could put an edge on knives. His wife, Betty was my grandmother's sister and the daughter of Paul in the pictures. He always reminded me of Bob Munden for some reason. Great guy. Been gone almost 5 years now.

My great grandfather had a full shop in his basement in Gladstone. Bob n Betty lived in Rapid River. All just a bit up the road from Esky.

He was a great guy for sure. I remember he was like a celebrity at the knife show. Everyone wanted to talk to him and hear stories. I remember I had a few old marbles I gave him to clean up. There was another gent from the same area, can’t recall his name, that introduced me to all those guys. ALL of them were great guys.

Didn’t Bob have a deer camp where he spent all his time? Did your family retain that property? Heard it had lots of old marbles pics

Yes he had a camp. I don't know who got it though. His kids I believe.

IIRC was on Stonington not far from my great grandfather's.

Wow, how cool is that!

I wonder was he still there circa 1944 when my dad's Woodcraft was made?

My great Grandfather?

Most definitely. I have some of his pay stubs from 43 or 41, dont remember exactly but he was there his whole working life.

Dang good chance he actually made it.

Teal,

How big / how many folks worked there in thst time?

How many made knives?

Cool history. Thanks for sharing.

I do not know. Will ask around.

Got more than a few of those old knives in the family, safety axes, cleaning kits and pin on compasses rattling around various junk drawers.

Also was a NIB Gamegetter too. And I mean NIB. Never fired.

thats cool .Teal . i have a buddy that was born in 1946 and he has his dads Marbles knife that he bought in the late 30s

Teal, I have to say that as pedigrees go that one is pretty hard to beat on these fora.

Pretty neat.

Great Grandpa Paul's camp. Stonington Peninsula.