I would like more info on that one too. What you may have are jelly jars that were made to seal with paraffin. I can say that the clear Ball Perfect Mason jars all date after 1937, when the color was changed from aqua or Ball Blue to clear glass. Is this true? All I can tell you is the jars marked Ball Mason were made throughout the c. 1901-1913 time period by Ball, and is the immediate predecessor of the Ball Perfect Mason jars. Would you know 1) if this jar is rare? If I were you, Id go ahead and use them for your herb garden, or as kitchen canisters, vases, containers for marbles, buttons, etc, or as general home dcor. Also, thank you for including a link to your jar you are asking about. The word Sanitary is in all capital letters, is italicized, and appears below the Ball logo. Best regards, These new jars are being imported from China, India and other countries in Asia. This bottle base has 1949 date code to right. The main exceptions would be the more modern logos which have often remained in use for multiple decades. Other colors are known, but not so easily found, including cornflower blue, straw yellow, olive green, olive amber, blackish olive, dark yellow amber, light green and medium green. However, if theyre valuable, maybe I should reconsider. David. Since then, masons patent has been freed and many different brands have produced such jars. You have the half-gallon size. Smaller Ball Perfect Mason (Pint?). The glass has an extreme rippled look to it. Bootleggers used Mason jars to smuggle alcohol, so they altered the form to indicate the difference from the original coffee dispensers. All websites talk about number embossing to determine batch or manufacturer location. In the above article, it states that the new reproductions are Perfect Mason but I purchased a set of the new amethyst pint jars and the side has a dropped A underlined Ball with IMPROVED beneath. Keegan, Ball Brothers Glass Company made a wide variety of containers besides their better-known fruit jars. Read more. Thank you, Bryan, its one of the recent repro jars. I just refrigerated and ate the beans and threw all the lids away. Many of them bear mold numbers on the bottom, usually one, two or three digits. Older materials that pre-date the 19th century are Canning jars. Jeremiah, most jars bearing the BALL brand name are not handblown they are machine-made (either on semi-automatic machines from the 1890s or fully-automatic, early 1900s). (Ive been told that the current edition is sold out, but a NEW updated edition is scheduled to be released in January of 2023! amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "adigirhea06-20"; They are (so far) made of light cornflower blue glass, amethyst and true green. Although it is possible a few atoms of iron will leach away from the glass into the food over long periods of time, this would not be harmful. $10-12.00, Ball Ideal David. The RED BOOK Lists thousands of variations. . MADE-IN-U.S.A. Hi Medolark, Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I know its machine made due to the seams down the sides. A date isnt a foolproof indicator of the manufacturing year. 1/2 Pint, Lightning Seal, c. 1900-1925 Are there reproduction Ball porcelain lids? Thank you for your time. https://www.ball.com/our-company/our-story/original-history-timeline. One of the most common error jars is a Ball jar with a misspelling of the word Perfect, and common variations include perffct, peprect, and perefct.. My mother said they were old and collectible. I have an antique canning jar that holds almost 8 cups that I think might be rare because I have searched online and Ebay and have never seen one like it due to the unusual LOGO. Click here: Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company. Ive been searching the internet to find information on reproductions. WebVintage Ball Perfect Mason Clear Glass Canning Jar w Zinc Lid circa 1923 - 1933 - No. Fortunately, mason jars are only about a century and a half old so dating them doesnt involve anything overly complicated and scientific. 12 offers from $43.80. Plus, did you know that older mason jars can have quite a bit of monetary value too? Ill gladly post or send pics. Made in USA under the picture. Vintage & Antique Mason Jars Guide - Dating Ball Canning Jars Do you have any idea what the F represents or where I can find information on that? If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. Caitlin, I have a jar I believe to be half gallon size. (So I assume there are lots of jars out there with those letters as well as B, D, E, F and G.) Mason jars are a symbol for the American how-to spirit and heart of the home. (I compare it to blowing a large bubble gum bubble, partly sucking it in for a split second, and blowing it back out). Instead, the base of the new jars is relatively smooth although there may be a faint, poorly defined mold seam. Later on, the Ball manufacturing company added other colors to the design. Note: for a bit of information about the off-size BALL PERFECT MASON jars that are occasionally found, please check the COMMENTS section farther down on this page, and read the queries from Lee and Michelle, posted November / December of 2015. The Ball logo is post-1962. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 712,745 times. The markings and characteristics are similar to the Pint size jars described above. The production of the first Ball branded glass jar in 1884 by the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company in Buffalo, New York marked the beginning of a fascinating history. Irregular screw sizing. Im curious though about the letters HI printed underneath the word Mason next to the bottom of the jar. The very first jars marked BALL PERFECT MASON are believed to date from approximately 1913, with production continuing to about 1960. Thank you so much for your help. With your knowledge of the types of Antique Mason jars, youve conquered half of the obstacles youll face in identification. Still, this is in no way insignificant considering that most people just throw them away for nothing, as if they are any ordinary old glass. I bought some older lids at an estate sale, not that old, probably from the 60s. HERITAGE They are marked (on front) BALL PERFECT MASON, on rear 1913 1915 / 100 YEARS OF / AMERICAN / HERITAGE / MADE IN U.S.A. . Eclipse: These wide-mouthed jars were made between 1926 and 1952. Are My Old Stamps Worth Anything? Collecting Vintage & Antique Bottles The 1913 1915 embossing (given above) readily identifies these as new production. Im afraid I dont know a lot about the minor variants of those Grid jars. I dont know how common the 41 jar would be, compared to other mold numbers seen. Hope this helps, Evaluating Condition, Rarity & More. Now knowing that is from between more or, "The illustrations along with the description makes it clear which characteristics are key to determining the, "This article was very I formative. Can you tell me anything about it? The four standard sizes are Pint, Half-pint, Quart, and Half-gallon. Last Updated: August 17, 2022 I have many many of these the Red Book (Leybourne) values them at $1-4 depending. The Owens scar is always present and virtually diagnostic on the original authentic jars. Hi Tim, There are many, many variations of mold numbers on the base of those jars. However, in your excitement, please remember to examine the details. and E-Z Seal by Atlas at $60. In response to the complaint of food spoiling in metal lid mason jars, Hero improved on the previous mason jar design in 1870. Lightning jars, so named because they could be easily and quickly opened, solved the problem of canned foods acquiring a metallic taste due to contact with a metal lid. However, longtime fruit jar researcher and glass company historian Dick Roller stated that the Ball Mason jars date from approximately 1901. A keyword search of ghost embossing on google might bring up better info. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. $15-20.00, Clear Presto Wide Mouth Canning Jar WebMASON JARS 16 Ounce Wide Mouth Ball Mason Jars | Case of 12 $33.00 Out of stock 16 Ounce Regular Mouth Anchor Hocking Mason Jars | No Lid | Case of 12 $12.99 Add to Cart 8 Ounce Regular Mouth Mason Jars | No Lid | Case of 12 $11.99 Out of stock reCAP 32 oz Plastic Mason Jar $8.99 Out of stock https://www.facebook.com/groups/844269035644710. They have the words MADE IN U.S.A. on the back, and the glass manufacturers mark used by Ardagh Group embossed on the base. Because it's one of the more iconic products of all time, many people are fascinated to know the history behind the ageless invention. (433) $35.00 FREE shipping. If the logo is written in cursive lettering, the jar was made after 1895, which is when Ball switched from block letters to cursive. I run into old moonshine stills all the time. (Source: A Collectors Guide to Ball Jars, William F. Brantley, 1975, page 53). Thanks for taking the time to send me the pics! As far as values, you might try searching ebay over a period of time and noting ACTUAL COMPLETED AUCTION ENDING PRICES, not the sellers asking prices, minimum bids or Buy it now prices. Talk about turning your mistakes into money thats the tale of the upside-down jar. I purchased wide mouth quart jars 12 in the box, 7 only wide mouth the other 5 were regular. $12-15.00, Unmarked Clear Square Jars Ive noticed this through looking at the bases of hundreds if not thousands of typical Ball Perfect Mason jars while browsing at antique and collectible malls and flea markets over the last 20+ years. Some Mason jars are worth well over $1,000. Lee, thats an example of ghosting or ghost embossing, it is seen fairly frequently on older glass insulators, and on the base of some jars and bottles, mostly on older handblown bottles before, generally, 1920 or so. Mason wasnt the only manufacturer to add this patent date to his jars, henceits vast proliferation. Moms mason jar with picture engraved on one side it is clear measurements in cups and ounces this one is 3 cups or 24 ounces. I also found a milk glass Boyds Porcerlain Liner near it. Thank you so much for your time and knowledge. How to Clean & Care for Old Bottles, Aqua Masons Patent Nov. 30th 1858 Sometimes it just so happens that two people land on a particular jar auction, become interested in a particular jar and a bidding war erupts. I just purchased one of these today. (Ball Blue is the standard color of these jars, a somewhat more blue shade of aqua). I can find nothing about it. To learn other ways you can date an old Ball mason jar, keep reading! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Antique Mason Jars Value (Identification & Price Guides), Copper Jello Molds Value (Identification & Price Guides), Antique Rocking Chair Value (Identification & Price Guides). The 2 is a mold number. Thank you very much for your post! Its likely that White Lightning derived its name from the fact that bootleggers used these jars to store their product. When it comes to dating your antique Mason Jar, you can disregard the number printed on the bottom of the jar. I dont think this is true. The Red Book of Fruit Jars is updated each year and has some info on many jars and an approximate value but does not always give dates of manufacture. $15-18.00, Aqua Atlas Strong Shoulder Mason The older types of BPM that date from the 1910s-1930s in aqua or blue were made in the hundreds of millions over many years, so they are considered extremely common. until around 1860 when the new Soda Lime glass formula came into widespread use since it was cheaper to make. The base carries a mold number along with the glass manufacturers mark used by Ardagh Group, the maker of the jars. Note: Because of time and energy constraints, I can no longer answer all emails personally, but you may contact me directly at: dav__erwhi "at" gmail.com. This site is about background historical information for glass collectors. As can be readily discovered, there were many different sets of molds used over a period of many years, with this same series of (up to) 16 numbers used over and over again to identify the molds being used on aparticular machine. Tanya. $15-18.00, Aqua Ball Mason For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. For those who still preserve, do not use older flat lids to process with. As the name implies, these Ball jars had a manufacturing error that had printed their logos upside down quite the rare feature that bumps up their price tag today. Many common food jars (such as originally used for mayonnaise, etc) would fall in that category, and those types of jar are often called packers within the glass industry, and have been made by many glass companies. Oddly, the mold number is not on the bottom. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). I think this jar may be one of these. It is the blue/green color and says STANDARD underlined only under STAN. Triple L Some had a metal cover that just sat on top of the glass with a lip that went down the side of the jar just enough to not slide off. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge! The new pint jars appear to be very slightly lighter in weight than the older ones, but this may not hold true on all jars, since there was some variability in the older jars. I have absolutely no connection with the current distributors of any fruit jars, including those marked BALL or any other brand name. Some have a mold number 46 on the bottom, and they are almost certainly recent imports from China. The Ardagh plant at Winchester, Indiana (where many of the new Ball brand jars are being made) is a former Anchor Glass Container Corporation facility that was acquired by Ardagh. To my attention, we will not be able to save your preferences best! A wide variety of containers besides their better-known fruit jars jars can quite! 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