Hi Everyone,
I am moving into the world of collecting cups and balls as well as learning the history of them... I have found that everyone claims to have historically significant cups and balls. Is thier a resource that can give me a run down on how to identify cups and balls, the manufacturer, date, style, hallmarks, etc. How does one obtain an education on this? where does one find a history of the cups and balls as well?
Any information would be appriciated.

Mr Bill Palmer is a walking encyclopedia on C & B.

Bill is a gentleman and always happy to share his expertise.

He will most probably find your post. There is a Cups And Balls Museum (online) of which Bill is the curator. He knows all and sees all about the C&B.

Steve

I will second everyone else's response.
Bill has what is considered the world's largest
private collection of C&B's.

He has my father's in his collection.

I have joined the museum, and also another cup forum... There is so much to learn... one step at a time... Looks like I will focus on history, then identification. So much to learn on my new cup obsession...

Look for some cups Bill got from me in that Museum.

Steve

There isn't one source that will answer all your questions. There is no one book that will give you the information you need. It boils down to asking knowledgeable people, attending auctions to see and possibly handle old sets of cups. Examining old sets of cups will help you identify sets that come your way down the road. You will want to familiarize yourself with current cup manufacturers to compare their cups with the older ones to give you some idea of the subtle differences between new and older sets.

Reading books and journals on magic history that contain information on the cups and balls will give you insights through photos and illustrations of old cups. Old magic catalogs can help you form an educated guess on the year certain cups were manufactured. A study of magic history will arm you with even more information that can help you understand cups and balls sets.

The slow acquisition of cups that are correctly identified into your collection will also help you identify cups that you will encounter in the future.

It is a massive amount of information to accumulate, but you should not be in a hurry. The journey is the best part of all this and you will always discover something you didn't know before.

Leo that is so true... I have been collecting a few here and there... Everytime someone posts a set for sale I study them and watch them and learn... SO far I think some of the most fun was getting a set of Ravel cups and then 2 days later having someone post the RNT cups modeled off of the Ravels... Yep added both sets in a couple days of each other.... but you are so right... so much to learn....