Lee's Legendary Marbles and Collectables is a museum in York, Nebraska.[1] The museum specializes in displaying, storing and sometimes selling parts of a toy marble collection Lee Batterton amassed over 70 years.[2] In 2023, it was officially recognized as the World's Largest Collection of Marbles.[3]
History
The museum was founded in 2001 by Lee Batterton, who began collecting marbles in 1954[3] in the United States and later continued while living in Germany.[4] He was raised in Oklahoma where his collection began, but moved to Germany for his work as a grain elevator repairman.[4] Germany was the first country to create a way of mass-producing marbles, so German marbles are sought after by collectors.[5][6] Marble production in America began in Akron, Ohio, in 1884, and became mass-produced in the same place in 1900[7] with the help of Samuel Dyke.[8] Collecting marbles continued to rise in popularity throughout America after the turn of the 20th century.[9] An article written in 1936 about marbles in America mentions the popularity among children of collecting them, an early documentation of the practice.[10]
Lee was born on April 18, 1933, and died on March 8, 2024, in York, Nebraska.[11] He created the museum on recommendation of a fellow marble-collecting friend in 2001.[12]
Collection
Lee's varied collection of marbles has been recognized as the World's Largest Collection of Marbles by the World Record Academy, consisting of over 700,000 marbles.[3] Many of the marbles housed in the museum are kept in display cases,[4] but Lee claims that when he began collecting marbles he would store them in jars.[13] Many of the less valuable marbles are still kept in large glass jars at the museum today.[14]
