Going through my kitchen, it is surprising to see how many Mason jars I have. When Jars saw an article in an older magazine on collecting and dating jars, I had to dig mine out just to see what might be there. As I have said before, I was the one in school jars gleeful when research papers were assigned while everyone else was groaning. I just love looking things up and learning. Did you know that Mason is not a manufacturer of glass jars, but the name of the man who invented the canning jar itself? John Landis Mason patented the jar design with a screw on lid for home canning in The rubber ring on the lid provided the seal.
Dating Ball jars, you can jars them by looking at the logo, as it has changed many times. This points to this jar manufacture anytime after Might be a few years old, but could be modern. Nothing special. I was surprised to find that although Ball is the leader in the home canning industry, actually it was Alexander Kerr who revolutionized home canning. He used a patented combination lid and seal invented by Julius Landsburger to create a flat lid in that fit the Mason jar. It is more difficult to find information on Kerr jars.
An article at the Society for Historical Archaeology was mason source for these notes. The lack of imprint on the bottom and the presence of mold lines leads me to believe that these jars are no older than s. Mason the s, Kerr had diversified into many packaging areas, and their glass jar manufacture was losing money.
It is interesting to note that the Ball Corporation purchased the Kerr glass manufacturing plantsand immediately shut down two of them. I found several Atlas jars, and thought they might be special, until I ran across an article that they were currently manufacturing glass jars for tomato sauce. Dating enough, I had one in the pantry.
Having Fun with Mason Jars
So those could go to the recycle center and give me a bit more room on the shelf. These are a bit larger than Ball or Kerr jars as ball are made in metric sizes. This means that jars will fit into a canning pot, but each one holds a bit more. In my research, I found that these lovely fruit embossed jars were made by the Golden Harvest company as well. This one has strawberries on one side…. Just for fun, here are a few of the ways I use Mason and glass jars.
I have no idea who mason this wonderful locking lid jar with embossed fruit, dating I like it. Mason side has grapes and cherries. I made Mason Jar Candle holders with interchangeable fills. Filling the base of one with red flowers, and using another for live hydrangea cuttings made a nice addition to a patriotic tablescape. I use them to keep asparagus in the refrigerator too, treating them just like flowers keeps them fresh longer. This way I can cook just half of a ball at a time for two meals, both made fresh and a few mason apart.
This one is an antique Ball Jar with a locking lid that I use for storing dried or roasted tomatoes. It is called a lightening jar.
The two piece wire bale holds a glass lid with a gasket between the jar and the lid. The word Ideal was used from to The looped B and no line underneath further narrow the date to the decade of to See this wonderful article on collecting and dating Ball Jars published by Country Living. There is a chart showing all the logos for Ball, along with dates.
The photography is really wonderful on this article, and you may have a valuable treasure in your closet and not know it! More information can be found on dating Mason jars in these articles. In the sewing room, I have buttons in jars. If you are looking for a few fun books on jars, I am planning to make a couple of the projects in this book — Jazzy Jars: Glorious Gift Ideas. There may be one or two dating for Autumn Jubilee. Yes, I am starting to think about that.
See more ideas for Mason Jar Craftsincluding fairy lights for them on Amazon. That was interesting. The title caught my eye! I have quite a few Mason jars consider, free dating sites hawaii shall jars of them were bought for canning after Some belonged to my grandmother and the rest are mine.
We mostly can bread and butter pickles, salsa, and jalapenos. My way dating not having to take them to the Goodwill store!
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LOL The ones that are more special get sewing stuff put in them. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with yours this fall. Ball looks organized and very nice. Such useful things around the house. I always got a kick out of going to a certain restaurant and the drinks were served in piint jars…was that Cracker Barrel?
Jillhardener onlyfans sure. We also buy middle east dating sites and ball for chicks that let you screw on a regular dating old one is metal, and new ones are red plastic, LOL.
Again, very simple and handy! Thanks Carole! My family has used the small mason jars for drinking glasses for years. What a great discovery … I love them! They look so much cuter ball the table than the big containers of cheese. Those delete all dating sites on my phone in my pantry filled with rice, beans, cornmeal, grits, cream of wheat, etc.
I have a walk-in pantry and like to step in and see what I need in ball jars at a glance without sorting through boxes. I can green beans, tomatoes, and bread and butter pickles and pickled beets. My daughters take home mason canned food to two other states. When I go there jars they come back here, they always have a box of empty jars for me all packed in paper knowing if they return the jars, they go home with filled ones. Canning jars have mason been a part of my life. My grandmother and my mother used to can chicken and beef.
Jars are a wonderful thing!! Nice information, Carole! Yes I a bunch of these. I love the table setting. Pretty I have a few mason jars, I keep my glue bottles in them. I use others to store little bits, I do not have any old mason jars though. LOL At any rate, loved the article. Thanks for sharing all the links.
I surely do miss her! Who knew?!? Thank you for the education. I had quite a large collection of blue vintage Ball jars with glass lids and wire cougar dating tips. I had always used them for storage of dry ingredients. What a cool post, Carole!
I love storing items in jars and have always saved some of those special ones.
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I never thought of value just dating I like the shape and writing etc. Thanks for the info too. Great ideas for the jars, some of which I already do. Your collection is wonderful. I have a lot of jars, none of any special value beyond their intended purpose of storing things. I was surprised to find them in short supply now at the grocery! Very interesting! I never thought full california in campgrounds with hookups researching their age.
So fun to read this wonderful blog post and see all the uses for these jars… I have a lot of them! Do you have any tips for how to keep the lids from rusting? I use Mason jars all ball time.
I freeze tomatoes and fruit in them. A wonderful post — thank you for such great info.