The Moon Marble Company is a toy company that has been making and selling classic toys since 1997.

Common Sense Media ran a two part study about technology use in children ages zero to eight and results showed that usage greatly increased since the first study done in 2011.  Tablet ownership is five times higher, daily use has tripled and the top use remains gaming. In a time such as this how is it that a place like Moon Marble remains a beloved destination to families?

The Moon Marble Company was started by Bruce Breslow. He and a group of friends created the company when they realized the lack of variety in marbles for the wooden marble board games they created.  

“When I went to the local toy store the only thing they had were the green cats eye, but I wanted lots of colors like I had as a kid, like bumblebees, and mustard and ketchup, all those different colors,” Breslow said.

Although some marbles are ordered from marble manufacturing companies, others made by glass artists including Breslow, can be found in display cases and are open for purchase. But The Moon Marble Company has more than marbles to offer; they also offer an array of classic toys and board game, some which are made at Moon Marble. The main room holds everything from Rubik’s cubes to science sets.  Visiting Moon Marble has become a tradition in many families who appreciate the classic toys.

“A lot of people thank me and say we love what you’re doing and keep up the good work,” Breslow said.

Breslow performs eight to ten demonstrations a day in which he discusses the history of marbles, his personal experiences and allows people to ask questions. Breslow’s passion for glassmaking began 17 years ago when he expressed his interest in learning how to make marbles for his wooden board games.

“For my holiday gift my wife bought me this torch and she bought me some glass from Hobby Lobby . . . so I read everything I could about glass work from the library. I came in after the holidays and I set up this torch,” Breslow said, “It’s trial and error, I kept at it. I just started making marbles and like a lot of artists you start making things you can call your own.”

Moon Marble also offers guided tours. During the tours, the group is shown a demonstration, then guided around the store and told the history of various toys and the company itself.

“One time I was making a marble I had a group of daisy girl scouts watching… Right at the end I dropped the marble and it rolled across the bench and I stopped it with my pant leg. As soon as it hit me I burst into flames . . .I was on fire so I grabbed my marble mold and put the fire out then I looked over and [the Girl Scouts] were stop, dropping, rolling and laughing,” said Breslow.

People might also recognize Moon Marble’s toys from the Renaissance Festival. The toy company has been supplying the Festival with hand-made shields and sword for the last 34 years.  

“That actually brings a tear to my eye. . . people will come in and go ‘Ok boys, pick out a sword and shield; this is where papa brought me’, ” Breslow said.

Moon Marble’s uniqueness builds off of the staff’s nostalgia for their childhood.

“I think people like to touch back to their childhood and pass it on, people like myself. I loved these toys when I was a kid the simple toys like on a saturday we liked nothing more than to get a balsa wood airplane and see how long you could keep it flying,” Breslow said.

Although donations are accepted, Moon Marble focuses on passing their passions onto everyone who decides to visit and making their visit a unique and memorable one.

“Quite often when we would vacation, we would go to places where there were demonstrators and they were very nasty like they didn’t want to talk to you unless they thought you were going to buy what they were making.  I don’t really think about that, the money is not my priority. I feel like at The Moon Marble Company we have employees that will answer questions about things. We talk about the past quite a bit, the way things were, throw in some history. I think people appreciate what we do and support us.” Breslow said.