Hazel Atlas Florentine Poppy #2 Yellow Depression Glass Pitcher
Yellow must have been a popular color during the depression because depression glass manufacturers made several patterns in yellow and makers such as Fostoria did extensive lines in topaz.
So what’s the right name for this color? Is it yellow? Topaz? Canary? Vaseline? Yellow is certainly the color name. Hocking called their Cameo and Block Optic yellow. Nothing fancy!
Some glass makers had their own terms for glass colors. Fostoria called their yellow Topaz; check this link for Fostoria June etched topaz glass. They called an almost identical color Gold Tint. Ah yes. Marketing ploys were alive and well in the 1930s! (On a side note Fostoria was known for astute marketing.)
Older yellow Early America Pressed Glass (made in the late 1880s) is called canary but I’ve not seen this term used for depression-era glass. I visualize canary as a vivid, bright yellow and my dictionary defines it as light to vivid which isn’t a lot of help!
Vaseline strictly speaking refers to glass that is light yellow or greenish yellow and glows green in ultraviolet light, but you will see people call anything that glows under black light vaseline.
Yellow is a cheerful sunshine color that looks great in glass. The 1930s era glass isn’t an in-your-face eyesore color, but a pretty, soft pleasing tone that blends well with other colors and looks great by itself.
If you like yellow glass then patterns I recommend:
- Hazel Atlas Florentine #1 or #2, aka Poppy. The pitcher shown is the Florentine #2. These two patterns are identical but on different shapes and come in yellow, green, pale pink and clear. The colors look wonderful together.
- Hocking Cameo also called Dancing Girl or Ballerina. I like this pattern a lot and it is relatively easy to find, comes in lots of pieces and is moderately priced.
- Hocking Block Optic is art deco styling and is also fun to collect with many pieces to find and rather inexpensive.
- Fostoria Trojan etch or June. These are more costly but gorgeous. And fun to collect with plenty of pieces.
There are more yellow patterns, but these are excellent starting points.