Fruit Jars

H

Harold R

501 Club
Not even sure if that's the correct term for these, but I found several, (about 100) in my Dad's attic all boxed up. They were wrapped in newspaper dated in the late 1980's, which is when my grandmother passed away. So, with she being of that generation where they knew how to can vegetables.....they must have been hers. I'm guessing they date post WW2. I've googled them and it seems there are many collectors of them, and depending on the name, size, color of glass, etc, they have some value. I'm not sure if seals can still be had for them or not. I certainly don't want to be older, but I would have loved to see my grandparents use these. Going to hang on to them, maybe clean them up and put some jelly beans in them. 8) :D

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Harold, if they take a rubber gasket like the new ones do, I'll bet you can find some where they sell canning supplies. We have a few of the new version that my wife keeps nuts, pasta, etc. in.

Bob
 
Jar gaskets/rubbers are available in local grocery store.

Those jars are great for making small amounts of pickled vegetables.
 
Harold:

These are interesting items. And yes I certainly remember them from my Grams. She did all kinds of canning and preserves. We don't have much left from the old farm, mostly memories but they are good ones and the taste of fresh preserves and jams still linger in my olfactory memories.

Seals for these jars are still available. We had a local shop that deals in canning supplies and they can get seals for almost any of these older style. Bernardin makes a bunch as well as Ball, Mason, Viceroy and Liberty are some of the popular brands for the older jars. Check out AllAmericanCanner.com

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This was an interesting hit: Common Misconceptions About Fruit Jars

One thing I have learned is that the colour of old glass jars is determined by the different minerals that may be in the mix. Zinc turns purple after years of exposure to the sun if I remember what I leaned on the History Channel is correct. Many of these jars are very, very valuable. I would be doing the research on em. :D
 
The blue ones with the screw on tin/ lead tops with the glass in the top were made in 1858 by Mason
I am not sure when they stopped making the lead/ tin tops
I had a book on them but can not lay my hands on it, I use to be a picker 30 some years ago :D
bought and sold a lot of stuff
Boss
 
I can all kinds of stuff...and caning is making a huge comeback. I use the blue Masons with tin caps for storing unused corn seed and pumpkin seed. Probably have hundreds of those Atlas and Mason jars...all sizes
 
Canning jars, fruit jars, call them what you want to. I would doubt they are post WWII. The tin/lead lids were in use by then. I'm quite sure the two piece lid/sealing rings were in use by then. I can't remember that far back but I think mother was using both later kinds by 1950. Vern
 
The wire bale is, in my estimation, pre-WWII. I never saw any of those new during or after WWII. Screw-on rings and sealing lids were and are the norm in my area. While the rings would fit glass mayonnaise jars, those jars would often not survive the canning process and only the desperate or uninformed used those for canning. The sealing lids offer an easy check for a good seal, both at the time of the canning and thereafter.
My folks felt that the Ball lids were better than the Kerr brand. Storekeepers called them "Kerr tops". We used the discarded ones for toys.
 
Those lids used a rubber sealing ring that the lower skirt compressed against the flange of the jar. The girls used the glass insert from discarded ones as "playhouse" dishes.
 
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