Fruit Jars

The preserving of fruits, vegetables and meat is a relatively recent endeavor. It has only been about 200 years since a Frenchman by the name of Nicolas Appert discovered a way to keep foodstuffs from spoiling, thus aiding the efforts of Napoleon's army.

In the United States the preserving industry really got going in the early 19th century with the development of various types of vessels to hold food for home use. Tin cans were used at first but proved, at that time, to be unsatisfactory. The use of glass jars was found to be much more desirable and about mid-century the canning jar industry took off.

The inventions that were to revolutionize the canning industry are what makes this hobby so interesting. Many of these so called improvements to the sealing methods were so useless that the jars made in those styles have become rare, sometimes extremely so. The "closures" as we call them are, in our opinion, the most fun part of collecting. Of course, rarity and the colors are what drives the value of any given style but other factors play a part as well.

We personally do not have a great variety of different closures or color but we certainly enjoy what we have and like to share them with others. A few of the jars shown below are relatively scarce. Please cruise through our pictures and enjoy yourself.

	Left: Cork sealed wax sealer with Iron pontil. Circa 1855-65. Quart. Unknown maker. Middle: Globe Amber color, Lightning type closure. Patented 1886. Quart. Maker: HEMINGRAY Glass Co. Right: Millville Atmospheric Patented 1861. Scarce square shoulder. Pint. Maker: Whitall, Tatum Glass Co.
Left: Potter & Bodine's Air Tight Wax sealer. Patented 1858. Barrel shaped quart. Iron pontil. Maker: Bridgeton Glass Works, N.J. Middle: Beaver Glass insert and metal screw band. Quart. Circa 1900-10. Canadian sealer. Maker: Ontario Glass Co. Right: Economy Amethyst color. Rubber seal on lid. Patented 1903. Quart. Maker: Kerr Glass Co. First all machine made jar.
	Left: Lightning Yellow amber color. Lightning closure. Patented 1875 & 82. Quart. Maker: Various glass houses using the Putnam patents. Middle: Lightning Variegated, multi shaded amber color. Quart. Right: Lightning Red Amber color. Quart.
Left: Lightning Dark amber color. 2 Quart or Half Gallon. This size less common than the quarts. Middle: Lightning Yellow-Green or Citron color. Quart. Very scarce color. Right: Lightning Dark Apple Green or Citron. 2 Quart or Half Gallon. Scarce color and size.

E-mail	Guest Book	Collections	The Story	Insulators
Fruit Jars	Bottles	Nails	Items Available	Home