What is the history of yellow footed boopie glass from anchor hocking?

Answer 1

If you are researching the item you will find more information under the patterns real name: Berwick

The "boopie" name is slang created by writers and collectors and most popularized by Hazel Marie Weatherman. She wrote and published several books in the 1970's on depression era glassware. While her books are fun and still considered interesting reading for todays glass collectors, she had an unfortunate habit of naming patterns based on her opinions and preferences and not based on the manufacturers names, which makes it difficult when trying to research the history of an item.

The inspiration for Berwick came from the Candlewick design:

The Imperial Glass Company was started in 1901 by riverboat captain Edward Muhleman. He moved his new glass company to Bellaire, Ohio (also known as glass city), close to the river and trade routes. By 1936 they were a nationwide brand and well known for their Candlewick design. Candlewick continued to be manufactured into the 1950's.

A competing company The Anchor Hocking company was started in 1937 with a merger between Anchor Cap, the Closure Corporation and Hocking Glass company. They first became known for their Royal Ruby collection in 1939.

By 1950 they had created the Berwick design to compete with the Candlewick design (from the Imperial Glass Company). While Candlewick was discontinued sometime in the mid 1950's; Berwick continued to be manufactured for several years after.

Novice collectors and sellers often confuse the two (for example you will find many auctions listing Candlewick as Boopie/Berwick and vice versa, or worse using the names interchangably to refer to the same item)

Candlewick (the original pattern) has balls that do not run together or touch each other, they are full circle balls with very little space in between, giving them a very fragile appearance.

Berwick (aka Boopie) has the balls touching each other without any space in between, they appear almost welded together. This subtle difference is the key to telling which company produced the piece and whether or not its Candlewick or Berwick.