"Mason" Jars

[Hambone Dave]

Though Delmonico has covered this in the Cosie section (extremely well as always),  I am adding my two cents of research with a tad of specific info that the PC crowd and NCOWers can use in their character documentation.

Prior to "mason" jars folks sealed there food containers by pouring wax over the contents. This worked but the wax seal can crack or separate from the glass thus allowing spoilage. The term 'mason jar' is a generic trademark—named after John Landis Mason's  1858 patent, No. 22,186, for a zinc screw-top lid. The tinsmith's innovation was to create a seal inside the lid, as opposed to attempting to make a lid that was flush with the jar: glassmaking techniques of that era allowed for rough threading, but the tolerance wasn't nearly accurate enough to create the airtight seal needed to preserve perishables. By grinding the lip of the glass until it was nearly flat and inserting a simple rubber gasket inside the lid, Mason achieved a sufficiently airtight seal, and his namesake was born. The light blue (milk glass) was popular and thought to protect contents from sunlight. Others colors were also manufactured: cobalt, red, amber, green.

In the 1880's, another popular closure was known as the Lightning closure, named after the first jar to use it, which was embossed with "Lightning" on the side. More commonly, this is often known as a bail closure consists of a metal wire arrangement with a lever which, when pivoted downward against the side of the jar, applies leverage to a glass lid, clamping it down over a separate rubber O ring. While these jars are still sold for storage, they are now rarely used for canning.

 

[Gus Walker]

   A few miles south of my area in Virginia Mason jars are still quite popular in Franklin county. Althouth i dont think ya could call it canning.    As a matter of fact there's a couple them jars in the electric ice box right now.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

hi.

I was reading about the lighting jars ... they we sure used in the 1950s to close Lemonade and Beer in Europe ...

TTFN.

[Forty Rod]

I worked in several grocery stores when I was a kid.

Certain times of the year Mason jars, lids (both full lids and screw rings with separate sealing lids), rubber rings, parafin wax, pectin, and tons of sugar and salt went out of those stores.

Mormon ladies were well know for bottling anything that grew in the ground, corn peas, berries, squash (nasty stuff when bottled). apple sauce, beans, asparagus, beets, every kind of picked produce known, sauerkraut, you name it.  Jams, jellies, compotes, chow chow, and sauces of many kinds, too.  Never saw salsa or pizza sauce in a jar until I moved out of Cache Valley, though.

I even had an aunt who made root beer that beat anything A&W ever put out, and other sodas were fairly common.

I don't hear about that much any more.

I miss the smells and flavors.

[Tascosa Joe]

+1 on the canned squash.

[River City John]

[Judge Roy Bean]

What about the Kilner jar very simaler to the mason, 1840's ?

[Forty Rod]

I'm surprised you remember those, Yer Honor.  You don't look that old.   

I suspect Ball had a better product and/or a better publicist.