Ellenboro, West Virginia: Hillybilly Marble Maker Sam Hogue

My daughter and I stopped in and watched Sammy create amazing marbles. He is truly talented and so humble! Go support him and stop in to say hi!

If you're anywhere near northwest West Virginia, take a side trip to this guy's home and workshop. He's a real hoot and you'll be fascinated watching him make glass marbles. Working with molten glass is quickly becoming a lost art; see it while this old-timer is still around to do it. I spent a great couple of hours there and and I highly, highly recommend it.

We were on vacation and decided to visit Sam and his marbles. We are so glad that we did! He is very passionate about his creations. He talked all about his life working in a glass factory and his progression to creating these works of art.

Spent well over an hour here. Sam Hogue loves his craft and loves talking about it. Meeting him was the highlight of our week-long meandering around West Virginia.

When we arrived we caught Sam doing a little jig outside of his shop. He was friendly and generous and even gave us a tour on Sunday when he hadn't planned on working. It was a bit hard to hear soft spoken Sam over the blaring bluegrass music. He showed us buckets and buckets of his machine made marbles. Then he even accommodated us by hand-making some marbles for us. It was a fascinating tour and he even gave our kids some freebies! I highly recommend taking a detour for this one.