Depression Glass has been loosely defined as the cheap, mass produced colored glassware manufactured during the Great Depression which gripped this country from 1929 to 1939. There are some patterns which started a bit before that time and continued for a while beyond and also a few which started during and then continued to be made for a few years afterward. The major manufacturers who produced the majority of today's Depression Glass were the Hocking Glass Company, Federal Glass Company, Jeannette Glass Company, MacBeth-Evans Glass Company, Hazel Atlas Glass Company, Indiana Glass Company, U.S. Glass Company, Lancaster Glass Company and the McKee Glass Company. There were numerous other smaller glass houses who made different items and left little or no documentation behind upon their demise or absorbtion into the larger companies. The items in this category are either unknown or unidentified patterns or makers and there are also patterns from the larger companies that are occasional pieces or just in sets such as water, berry or dessert.