On November 30, National Mason Jar Day commemorates an ingenious invention that’s been bringing families together for generations.
Simply by opening a jar of fruit preserves or spicy salsa, we enjoy the flavors of summer in the midst of winter. For those who love to pickle, the Mason jar makes it possible to pickle just about every fruit and vegetable in the garden. From green beans to watermelon, we can make it sweet or spicy!
While some forms of food preservation have existed for centuries, it wasn’t until John Landis Mason’s patent #22186 for an “Improvement in screwneck bottles” was issued that home canning became a safe reality. The young tinsmith from New Jersey had created a revolutionary design.
Then after the patent expired, many companies such as Ball brothers, Hero Fruit Jar Company, and Consolidated Fruit Jar company took the opportunity to bank on the design. Ball brothers exceeded at their products by introducing newer designed based off of the original, one of which was called the “bead” jar, between 1910 and 1915.
- Mason, who was a tinsmith, actually invented the lid first
- Ball Canning is one of the most popular of the Mason Jar brands. They make 17 jars per second!
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Antique RARE 3-L Ball Mason(less) Quart Amber Honey Swirl Circa 1896-1910 (Pinterest/Judith Sax Mason Jars are very collectible – one went for over $1000 on etsy. While another went for $3499 on Ebay.
- If you laid all the Mason Jars that were sold in 2015 end to end they would circle the earth
- Even though Mason jars can be purchased at just about any store these days and have a multitude of uses, their creator, John L. Mason, didn’t make any money off of them. He patented his invention in 1858 (at the age of just 26!), but the patent expired in 1879. Since most competitor brands didn’t start making Mason jars until after 1879, he didn’t see any of the profit.
- It’s said that Mason also patented the first salt shaker.
- The logo on a Mason jar can help you figure out when it was made.
- It took the Ball® company 10 years to trademark a logo. Ball® didn’t trademark its now-iconic logo until 1904, even though they had been using one since 1894.
- Those numbers on the bottom of Mason jars? They represent mold numbers. In other words, it identifies “the position that the jar mold was held on the glassmaking machine,” according to Jarden Home Brands.
- The Universal jar is one of the most valuable Mason jars for collectors. The jar was produced around 1937, and no more than 50 were ever made. The Buffalo Jar in amber is even rarer; only four are known to exist.Sources:
