An Illustrated Guide. Read - so-so

Gene Florence is one of the world's foremost authorities on the subject of antique glassware with over sixty books to his credit. His scholarly descriptions are detailed and filled with information that is invaluable to the professional dealer as well as the budding novice. He frequently includes interesting personal notes along with his descriptions that make for interesting reading and serve to encourage the hobbyist in their searches for "that one certain piece."

Gene Florence's many pictorial guides to collectible antique glass are all wonderful and this beautiful sixth edition illustrated value guide to collectible glassware from the 40s, 50s and 60s is no exception. It contains hundreds of pieces of antique tableware and accessories with details on the glass companies that made them, the history, the availability, individual pieces, price ranges, colors, patterns, etc. The photographs are all clear, in full color and very useful for identification purposes. Photographs are presented in mostly full-page layouts with some half-page layouts. Some vintage photos of advertisements show a few of the collections in their entirety. Sometimes Florence includes the original packaging cartons and other trivia that I find of interest as well.

I think this book is essential if you are planning to start collecting antique glass from this time period because you can see what pieces were produced and you can learn how feasible it will be to collect complete sets. There is valuable information about the reproductions that can be a stumbling block for newcomers to the hobby. Florence occasionally makes note of regional distribution trends that may help a collector in finding an illusive piece of glass by steering them in the right direction for their search. If for example, the green color of a certain pattern was most popular in the southern United States one might have a frustrating time locating it up north where perhaps the blue color was the favorite.

Gene Florence is responsible for my own total addiction to this fascinating hobby. I love his guides and this one in particular because his thorough research and enticing descriptions capture my imagination and whet my appetite. I fall in love with a certain pattern by looking at the wonderful photographs and then his conversational and enthusiastic descriptions set me hot on the trail to seeing the actual pieces he illuminates.

Glass collecting today is often done over the Internet and I have found that some dealers sell antique glass with little knowledge of the particular patterns, their dimensions, or their distinctive qualities. It is easy to get similar looking pictures confused and end up with pieces that do not belong in your collection. Sometimes descriptions are in complete error. This book is an extremely helpful, professional guide that can prevent costly mistakes. It is also just plain fun to read up on the old historical pieces, such wonderful Americana art.

My husband just bought me my first place setting of the beautiful teal colored Christmas Candy made by the Indiana Glass Company that is featured on the cover of this book. He happened upon several pieces newly displayed at an antique mall that we occasionally visit right here in our home town and recognized the pattern from seeing it in this book. Not as familiar with glassware as I am he never-the-less felt comfortable purchasing it because he knew he could rely upon the expertise of Gene Florence and thus his surprise gift would not end up being a "surprise" of a different sort. I'm sure he would issue this warning: Caution! You may get bitten by the antique glassware bug just by paging through this lovely book. Have fun at the garage sales, antique stores and malls, antique shows, and auctions, but don't leave home without this book! Check out Gene Florence's other great books, too. Another personal favorite of mine is Kitchen Glassware of the Depression Years. ( )