If you lurk on glass sites you may see the acronym “HMW2”, for Hazel Marie Weatherman Book 2. Book 2 real title is Colored Glassware of the Depression Era, Book 2 as it is the second volume from the glass book pioneer. This is hands down one of the most interesting, enjoyable books available. It is also very useful to identify patterns you are not sure of, or those from companies that get short shrift in the better known depression glass encyclopedias.
Mrs. Weatherman fell in love with colored glass in the 1960s and found others who shared her passion. She did not find any reference books, nor was there good, reliable information as to who made each pattern, or even the real name for patterns. She mentions that people called Cameo “Ballerina” or “Dancing Girl” – and they still do use those nicknames – because no one knew that Hocking sold it under the pattern name “Cameo”.
Mrs. Weatherman made several trips from her home in Oklahoma to the glass companies in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to meet with glass companies and research in their libraries. The result was a Colored Glassware of the Depression Era – Volume 1 that was highly popular, covering most of the major patterns, and a slew of unknowns or miscellaneous pieces in the back. She wrote Book 2 a few years later to share new information from her research and to name some of those mystery pieces.
Book 2 is not a pattern guide in the sense of listing all pieces or providing photos or pricing information. In fact the book is scanty on some very popular patterns that were fairly well known when she wrote Volume 1, and covers pieces that had been found since that first book or new information about colors or names.
Book 2 is excellent for companies’ wares that you might find only occasionally, such as Akro Agate or patterns which are poorly documented like the umpteen Jubilee-like cuttings from Standard or Lancaster. I found it excellent for Imperial Glass because it has patterns that the Imperial Glass encyclopedias do not cover, like Lindbergh.
I would not make this the first glass book you purchase. For that you want a standard guide like Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass by Gene Florence. But after you have a couple basic books then this is an excellent purchase you will enjoy having. If you (like me) like to give forlorn, nameless glass a home, then this is indispensable!