We know Hazel Atlas from their wonderful depression era patterns: Royal Lace in green, pink and blue, Moderntone in glorious blue, Florentine 1 and 2 in green, yellow, pink and clear, plus Cloverleaf, Ribbon, Ovide, Colonial Block and more. Besides these patterns Hazel Atlas made a slew of kitchenware and occasional pieces, plus snack sets, tumblers, mugs and pitcher sets, even glass car battery housings!
This book, Hazel-Atlas Glass: Identification & Value Guide, Second Edition, covers the major patterns and gives examples of kitchen and utility glassware that the Hazel Atlas company made from around the late 1920s into the 1970s. The pattern write ups are quite complete, although if you also own his Collector’s Encyclopedia of Depression Glass you won’t need this Hazel Atlas book for the dinnerware patterns.
This book is most valuable to show the glass that isn’t part of a recognized, named dinnerware pattern.
There is no way one book could include an example of every piece or decoration, but Florence does a good job showing typical shapes and decorations. He shows bowls in one or two colors each, thus allowing you to recognize common colors and styles.
I especially appreciate the pictures of those ubiquitous pieces we find everywhere that are not marked HA. For example, Hazel Atlas made small square bowls with ruffled rims and pressed diamonds on the outside. You’ll find these at almost every flea market or antique store and it’s great to know who made them. Lots of Hazel Atlas kitchen glass, jars and tumblers are marked with the HA, but many are not. I have had several green bowls that were marked and pieces with ivy designs that were not marked, but both were from Hazel Atlas.
One reason I decided to feature this book is a couple people posted Hazel Atlas glass looking for identification help. Lisa posted this small bowl recently, and although I knew it was Hazel Atlas I didn’t know the pattern name. (It is X Design, a name that is so perfect.)
Some time ago Lisa posted a cup, which is Hazel Atlas Moderntone but the shape was new to me. Florence shows this tall mug in his book plus has some striped white Moderntone. It’s always nice to confirm an identification.
Overall I recommend this book Hazel-Atlas Glass: Identification & Value Guide, Second Edition if you enjoy kitchen glass or you want to identify the mystery glass you find at flea markets or estate sales. Pictures are good, although they could be a little larger. The pattern piece listings are helpful.
Of course you have to take the prices with a grain of salt. Most prices were reasonable, about what I would sell something for online, but prices change. People discovered so much glass that pieces that were once thought scarce have now emerged in such quantity that prices in general tend to be softer than say before about 2002. Florence published his second edition in 2008 when prices were nosediving. It’s wise to check websites before deciding on a value for glass given the variation in the last 10-12 years.
So with the caveat about pricing, this book is good and useful to us glass lovers.