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The history of preserving our food, thecontainers and methods go back to theGreeks & Romans. These potterycontainers used straw, rags, and leather,sealed with clay, resins and natural waxes.

In the early 1700’s, homemakers usedcrude glass and earthenware vesselssealed with corks, plugs and parchmentpaper to preserve food. The earliest jarswere wax seal. Closures were corks,dipped in sealing wax. When corksweren’t available, they used corncobswrapped in paper or cloth. They also usedegg paper for preserving fruit. They woulddip several layers of parchment paper inegg whites and tie them over the mouthof the jar. When dry, it would seal so tight,it was preferred over self-sealing caps.Can you imagine how hard it was to keepfood from spoiling?

In the early 1800s there was nowholesome way to preserve food forarmies in battle. Napoleon was desperateto find anyone that could effectively comeup with a way to preserve food. He offered10,000 Francs to accomplish this feat.Nicolas Appert, a French chef, devised thefirst recognized method by processingsealed glass containers in boiling water.It would be fifty years later before canningbecame commonplace.

In 1854, James Spratt, Cincinnati,Ohio, came up with the first groove-ringwax sealer. His was a replacement forsoldering tin cans. (Soldering tin cans wasshort-lived because of spoilage & rancid

FRUIT JARS...A History Worth Remembering

by Melissa Milner

taste.) He used a tin can with a screw capas the primary seal followed by a wax sealover the edge of the cap. It was still lessthan desirable because the tin affected thetaste.

In 1855, Robert Arthur patented theglass groove-ring wax sealer. His patentcalled for wax to be poured in a groovearound the mouth of the jar. All a personhad to do then was heat the lid and pressit into the wax. Glassmakers produced theglass wax sealer until 1912.

The very early glass jars were pontiled.After blowing the jars in a mold, an ironor glass rod was stuck to the base to holdthe jar. Then the top was added. The markleft on the base is called a pontil. Thesejars predate the Civil War.

The term Mason jar came from itsinventor, John L. Mason. His famouspatent was a glass container with adisappearing thread molded into its neck,a zinc lid and rubber seal. This is thefamous Mason’s Patent Nov. 30th 1858.These 1858 jars were produced as late as1920! The Crowleytown Masons arebelieved to be the first of the 1858 jars.

In 1859, Mason sold five of his patentsto Lewis R. Boyd and his company; TheSheet Metal Screw Co. Boyd is mostfamous for his milk glass liners for thezinc lids. This was important because, forthe first time, it separated the metal lidfrom the contents of the jar. Boyd andMason were partners for a short time inthe Consolidated Fruit Jar Co. Many other

companies made their jars. (Clyde GlassWorks and Whitney Glass Works were justtwo.)

One of Mason’s biggest competitors ofthe time was Salmon B. Rowley. Rowleyspecialized on lid design and listed everydate possible on his lids and jars. Someof the jars associated with Rowley areHero, Gem, Pearl, Crystal and PorcelainLined. Rowley’s idea was a top-sealingjar with a metal or glass lid straddlingthe ground lip, held down by a zinc band.

Jars with stoppers were also popular.These jars had either bell-shaped openingsor a depressed mouth. Some of thesestoppers were the J. D. WilloughbyStopple (1859), the W. W. Lyman Stopper(1862), C. F. Spencer Stopper (1863) andthe Kline Stopper (1863).

The Millville Atmospheric Jar (1861)is an example of the thumbscrew jars thatwere popular around the time of the Civil

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War. It consisted of a yoke style iron clampwith a thumbscrew in the middle. Thethumbscrew held a glass lid & rubbergasket in place on the jar. John M. Whitallof Philadelphia, PA invented the Millvillejar. The John M. Moore & Co.Manufacturers Fislerville, NJ (1861) isanother example of the thumbscrew jar.

In 1882, Henry Putnam came up witha new kind of jar. The patent for theclosure belonged to Charles de Quillfordof New York City. It was a toggle-typeclosure for beverage bottles. It had a tie-wire around the neck, securing the leverwires to the jar. The Lightning jars werepopular because the glass lids preventedthe food from coming in contact with anymetal. The metal lever wires were cheapand the lids easier to seal and remove. Thename Lightning suggested the jars werefast and easy to use.

The Atlas E-Z Seal is a variation ofthe lightning jar. The Hazel-Atlas Co.,makers of E-Z Seal and Atlas StrongShoulders jars was in business from thelate 1800s to 1964. The shoulder seal jarscracked a lot easier because of the pressureof tightening the lids and gaskets down

on the shoulders. The Hazel-Atlas Co.came up with a jar that sealed on a raisedlip, thereby reducing the pressure to theshoulder of the jar. That’s how the AtlasStrong Shoulder got its name.

In 1903, Alexander Kerr and JohnGiles founded the Hermetic Closure Co.,Chicago, Ill. to make metal lids and springclips. In 1904 Kerr changed the name tothe Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company.Kerr came up with the idea of a lid with apermanently attached gasket and athreaded metal ring to hold the lid down.This was the first of the type of lids usedtoday. Kerr is associated with theEconomy jars and the Kerr Self Sealingjars.

What history of fruit jars would becomplete without the Ball Company? Inthe early 1880s, William Charles Ball, hisbrothers, Edmund Burke, and GeorgeAlexander began making wood jacketedtin cans for the storage of oil, lard andpaint. In 1883, they switched to glass andthree years later to fruit jars. Theircompany became successful by mass-producing and distributing trainloads offruit jars. They took over smaller

companies to grasp control of the industry,many times closing the plants soon afterpurchasing them. The license for theOwens Automatic Bottle Making Machinewas obtained when they took over theGreenfield Fruit Jar and Bottle Co. Thissignificantly reduced labor costs andincreased production. They also had awaste not policy. They reworked old moldsand used every resource to produce more.What jar collector is not familiar with theBall Perfect Mason? There were millionsmade!

There have been many significantcontributions along the fruit jar history. Ihave highlighted only some of them.When I think of my jars, I consider allthe places the jars have been, the earlysettlers carrying these jars from place toplace in wagons. The women workingover wood cook stoves or just a large kettleand a fire to preserve the food. Some ofthe older closures were so intricate it musthave been difficult to fasten the closurewith the hot contents of the jar. It is amiracle any of these jars survived.

There are thousands of varieties of jars.Value depends on many things such as

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scarcity, color, crudity, closures, size anddemand. A good value guide is “TheCollector’s Guide To Old Fruit Jars RedBook 9" by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr.Many of my fellow collectors haveexcellent websites on the Internet. TheYahoo E-Group is a site where expert andnovice collectors alike give and seekadvice. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fruitjars/) Another informative site isFruit Jars.com. This site has informationon reproduction jars, irradiated jars, manyof the old patents and much more.

No matter what the reason forcollecting fruit jars, it is a very excitingand enjoyable experience. There is a pricerange out there for everyone. I’m alwayslooking for “my next favorite jar”.

Canning is a passing way of life in ourmodern society. Hopefully, there willalways be people to collect fruit jars and“preserve” a wonderful history.

References:Hinson, Dave. A Primer of Fruit JarsToulouse, Julian Harrison. A

Collectors’ Manual - Fruit Jars

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Photos:1. Just one display wall of Melissa

Milner’s’ collection of fruit jars.2. Stoneware Mason Fruit Jar.3-4. Copies of patents for J. L. Mason’s

“Glass Jar” and “Screw Caps and Rings.”5. Heavily whittled early pontiled

corker.6. Half-gallon Lafayette jar, with

matching lid.7. Wood case for a dozen Mason fruit

jars.8. F.B. Co. (on base) quart jar, in

yellow-amber.9. Display of other stoneware Mason’s

and wax sealers.10. Ball quart jar in an uncommon

green color, with amber swrils.11. Amber Mason “Cross” jar, “Pat

Nov. 30, 1858.”12. Ball Perfect Mason in rare deep

amber color.13. Improved Mason in deep amber.14. Green Hartell’s jar. Around the

edge of the lid: “Hartell’s Glass AirtightCover. Patented Oct. 19, 1858.”

15 Tradecard for Mason’s case.16. Half-gallon Griffen’s. “Pat. Oct. 7,

1862” on lid.17. Midget Franklin fruit jar with the

correct two-prong lid.18. Gilberd’s Improved “Star” jar. The

wire closure goes all the way around thejar.

19. Mason’s Pat. Nov. 30th 1858“Crowleytown” jar. This is the first jar thatactually came out after the patent.

Melissa Milner230 Rock House Road

Johnson City, TN 37601(423) 928-4445

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