“BALL PERFECT MASON” FRUIT JARS
The Ball Perfect Mason was a brand of glass fruit jar (canning jar) made by the Ball Bros. Glass Manufacturing Company. Ball Bros was based in Muncie, Indiana. (See Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company page, for a brief summary of that glass company). The BPM was the most popular brand of jar for home canning ever produced in the United States. Hundreds of millions (probably well over a billion or more!) were made, and these jars have been used by home canners throughout much of the 20th century.
Ball Brothers also made many other styles of fruit jars, such as those marked “BALL IMPROVED”, “BALL IDEAL”, “BALL MASON”, “BALL SPECIAL”, “BALL SURE SEAL” and their “BALL STANDARD” (a type known as a “wax sealer” jar). Those other types of Ball jars are not discussed here as they deserve in-depth articles of their own.
In general, most fruit jars in aqua or “Ball Blue” glass marked “Ball Mason” date from before the introduction of the Ball Perfect Mason. (Clear jars marked “Ball Mason” were made in the 1960s and 1970s).
(IMPORTANT NOTE – MODERN REPRODUCTION ISSUE JARS: please see the paragraphs with info farther down on this page describing modern repro / reproductions of this jar, including the “AMERICAN HERITAGE COLLECTION” introduced in 2013, and the new “Collectors Edition” BALL PERFECT MASON jars being sold as of 2019).
The Ball Perfect Mason jars are commonly seen for sale on the secondary market at antique malls, farm and estate auctions, flea markets, thrift stores, rummage sales, yard/ garage sales, and on online auction sites such as eBay, etsy and other sites.
The very first jars marked “BALL PERFECT MASON” are believed to date from approximately 1913, with production continuing to about 1960. Many slight variations in lettering style, glass color, base markings, etc., exist, and this particular type of jar presents a wide field of study for fruit jar collectors, glass historians and even those interested in vintage Americana in general. Typically, most of the Ball Perfect Mason jars were made in half pint, pint, quart, and half-gallon sizes. Several “off-sizes” were also produced, although in much smaller quantities.
Most of the earlier versions were round (cylindrical) in shape, and some of the later types are square (with rounded corners) in design. Some variants have eight vertical raised bars or lines (“grips” or “grip bars”) along the sides, added to assist in handling the jars while they are wet. The jars with grips were introduced in about 1933. (Any Ball Perfect Mason jars in aqua or Ball Blue with the grip bars date between c.1933 and 1937).
Molds
Ball Perfect Mason jars were made entirely on automatic jar blowing machines. Each machine in the factory had a number of identical molds installed on them, and so very large quantities of jars could be produced in a fairly short period of time. Many different jar molds (thousands) were used over the many years’ time these jars were being produced.
Each mold was hand-cut (hand-engraved) with the lettering incised backward into the inside surface of the mold, which of course resulted in the embossing (raised lettering) which is seen on the surface of the jar. Very close inspection and comparison between different older jars (that may appear to be exactly the same) will show that it was very difficult, if not nearly impossible for all of the lettering (including the cursive “Ball” lettering and the “block style” lettering underneath) to be engraved absolutely identical from one mold to the next. Many slight variations are seen, with the exact lettering orientation just barely noticeably different from one example to another, such as the spacing, height, width and depth of cut of individual letters. Also, there were a number of variations in the way the Ball name logo was written, those changes occurring several times over the space of several decades. (See the chart farther down on this page).
ADVERTISEMENT
Most of the typical earlier Ball Perfect Mason jars in aqua or Ball Blue are marked with a mold number between 0 and 15 on the bottom. On some jar variants, (such as the first BALL embossing variant on these jars, “Logo 5” in chart shown below, used circa 1913-1923 on BPM jars), the number may be accompanied by a letter to the right, such as A or C.
Usually, the automatic jar-making machine had eight or ten mold cavities or “positions” for the molds. Thus, the single digit numbered jars are more commonly found. A set of molds included numbers above “10” as the higher-numbered molds were typically used as replacements on the machine.
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 a particular machine. The embossed numbers may vary considerably in size, shape and “style”. Some numbers are actually quite ornate or “stylized” and others are rather plain and ordinary! Since the numbers were engraved backward into the mold by hand, there is often some noticeable crudity to their styling.
Some jar collectors (and others who are not strictly jar collectors) may search for one example of each number between “0” and “15” – in order to assemble a “16 jar set” for use as kitchen canisters, storage jars, etc. The mold numbers from 11 through 15 seem to be the hardest to find. (See my paragraph farther down on this page about the “Number 13” BPM jars).
Underlined Mold Numbers
Some Ball Perfect Mason jars bear mold numbers with a line placed underneath the number. Although it seems the purpose of the underline would be to differentiate between a “9” and a “6”, that can’t be the real reason for all such underlines, since all of the numbers up to and including “10” are also found with an underline. I’m not sure why this was done, but my “pet theory” is that the underlines were added to some mold sets merely to identify and differentiate the molds of that set from the molds from another set (in use at the same time) installed on another machine within the same factory.
Incidentally, the digits “9” and “6” can usually be distinguished even WITHOUT an underline: the “9” nearly always has a gently curving downward stroke or “tail” that tends to be fairly vertical and does NOT curve around to form a “hook”. In contrast, the “6” will almost always feature a final stroke that does curve around as a “hook”, creating a character approaching the appearance of the lower case letter “g”.
Some mold numbers were engraved so they appear backward on the jar, such as the “backward 4” shown in the photo below. This error was actually caused by the mold maker engraving the number “4” correctly into the inside surface of the mold. (In order for the number to appear correctly on the finished jar, it must be engraved backward into the mold).
If a random sampling of these jars are studied (for instance, just looking at a selection of only those marked with a number “2” on the bottom), it may be seen that the numbers typically appears slightly different, in fact “unique” in their exact appearance, from one jar to the next. It may take a while before exact duplicates are found – that is, finding two jars that were both made from one individual, specific mold.
This is one of the aspects of collecting these jars that can be fun and intriguing (or boring to some!) if you are “into” studying fine differences in these jars – somewhat akin to the practice of collecting coins and comparing their minor “mold” or “die” variations.
Off-Sizes
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. Thank you!
Glass Colors
The great majority of the BPM jars were made in bluish-aqua or “Ball Blue” colored glass. (Ball Blue is the standard color of these jars, a somewhat “more blue” shade of aqua). Later versions, after 1937, were usually made in clear (colorless) glass, and some (usually from the 1950s) in brown amber.
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. Some of these colors might be known under other/different names – depending on who is describing them! There are various shades and tints of these colors out there. If you have the opportunity, you might try attending an antique fruit jar and/or bottle show, where some of these unusually colored jars may show up for sale or in displays.
Fake REPRODUCTION / REPRO Ball Perfect Mason HALF-PINT size jars in Ball Blue – these can be very deceptive!
(This section was added June 16, 2021 – Some info below is courtesy of Linda White, one of the administrators of the Reproduction Fruit Jars discussion group on Facebook. Thanks, Linda!).
Although the original pint, quart and half gallon BALL PERFECT MASON jars in aqua or Ball Blue glass are very common and easily found, the original, authentic older HALF PINT size is considered to be quite scarce and difficult to find. Unfortunately, several years ago a number of newly made repro jars of this type and size began to surface in the United States. This may have first shown up around the year 2010 or thereabouts. These reproduction (fake) versions were NOT made or sold as official BALL products in regular retail outlets, unlike the modern reissues made by Ardagh Group that I discuss elsewhere on this page. These reproduction jars appear to have been produced in a concerted effort to mimic the look of the original c.1913-1923 half-pint jars, and were presumably made in an effort to capitalize on the scarcity of the older ones, and thus deceive jar collectors into believing they were old and authentic. They are believed to be imports – probably from somewhere in Asia – possibly India or China.
There are several minor differences that should be noted carefully as these reproductions can be hard to spot and they look very similar at a quick glance:
1) Although there is a mold number on the bottom (similar in “look” to the mold numbers on the originals) there is no Owens Scar on the new jars. The Owens scar was formed as part of the manufacturing process, and is a somewhat variable but generally rounded scar consisting of a thin, sharp, clearly defined “seam” or “line” that encircles part of the bottom. The seam may be somewhat “feathered” or “frayed” along the edge. The Owens scar is always present and virtually diagnostic on the original authentic jars. Instead, the base of the new jars is relatively smooth although there may be a faint, poorly defined mold seam.
2) The newer jars (not always, but usually) tend to have a considerable number of micro-bubbles scattered through the glass, which is not seen in the old jars. The old jars might have a few isolated bubbles, but not lots of tiny bubbles throughout all of the glass. The bubbly appearance of the glass is reminiscent of some glass decor items that have been imported to the US from such countries as Mexico, Spain and China. No one seems to know where these repro half-pints were made, but it is assumed they were made outside the US, possibly in China or India.
3) The weight of the new jars is very close to that of the old jars, but in many cases the newer jars are just slightly lighter in weight.
4) The “BALL PERFECT MASON” lettering is somewhat weaker and more “sloppy” or “smeared” in presentation, especially noticeable when comparing the new and old side-by-side.
5) There is virtually no base wear, nor any light scratching on the surface of the glass which would normally be seen (at least slightly) on most old jars (although base wear can be faked).
6) The glass looks shiny and “new”.
Here is a link to a discussion of these jars on the “Reproductions Fruit Jar Page” on Facebook:
Ball Half Pint Repro Jars – Discussion on Facebook
Error Jars
A number of “error jars” are found among the Ball Perfect Masons, including examples found with the embossing missing a letter (or letters), or with a word misspelled, such as “PERFFCT”, “PEPRECT” or “PEREFCT”.
A listing of many of the Ball Perfect Mason jar variations, including error jars, can be found in the “Red Book”, a price guide used by fruit jar collectors. In general, Ball Perfect Mason variants are listed in the Red Book from #270 to #295-6. (I am using the No. 11 edition. Older editions of the Red Book have different numbers assigned to the jars, in the 300 range). There are no doubt minor variants/errors that are not currently listed in that guide.
Some jars have embossing that is unusually faint (sometimes, all of the embossing, or just one or two letters within a word) and this might be due to accumulated debris (such as remnants of accumulated mold paste) having partially filled the engraving of the lettering on the mold at the time the jar was produced.
ADVERTISEMENT
Number “13” Jars
Some Ball Perfect Mason jars are found with the number “13” on the bottom. As mentioned earlier in this article, most Ball Perfect Mason jars are typically found with a mold number ranging between 0 and 15, so naturally some percentage of them will carry the number “13”. Rumors have circulated for years (and have especially been promoted on auction sites and by flea market and antique mall dealers) that superstitious distillers of illegal whiskey (“moonshiners”) were hesitant to use jars marked with a 13 on the bottom. According to the stories, they threw them away, or intentionally broke them, fearing their enterprise could otherwise be met with bad luck. Sometimes the story accuses ordinary housewives of having done the same thing if they were especially superstitious.
Personally, I think most of the stories are hogwash, although I wouldn’t doubt that it happened on a very occasional basis, and just often enough to provide impetus for an urban legend (rural legend?). Most myths and legends are based on a kernel of truth, and this may be no exception to the rule. (However, keep in mind that fruit jars cost money, and the average farmer or housewife, often continually stretched to the limit with their household budget, would have never destroyed a jar merely because of the number on the bottom). Most home canners would have paid little or no attention to the markings in the first place.
Some dedicated and experienced antique jar collectors will say they think the number 13 jars are just as common as jars as those with other numbers. I don’t think this is true. There is a definitely noticeable difference in the numbers of #13-marked jars compared to the other numbers — they ARE somewhat less common. I’ve 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 30+ years. However, the mild scarcity, in my opinion is NOT REALLY STRONG ENOUGH to warrant the high prices which are often asked for these jars on online auction sites. Of course, value is a very subjective thing and many collectors may not agree with my opinion on this subject.
Also, it seems evident that the mold numbers 11 through 15 are ALL somewhat scarcer than mold numbers 0 through 10. This is presumably because fewer molds were produced with the mold numbers 11 through 15 — thus fewer total jars made. I believe that many if not most of those higher-numbered molds were replacement molds on the jar making machines.
It seems evident that many of these jars are now saved by non-collectors or casual glass collectors (and “culled” from large groups of common jars) merely because of the number on the base. This “culling out” of #13 jars from among the “general population” of jars (and stashing them away) has certainly increased the perception of their scarcity. And the perception of relative scarcity can be enough to increase demand – and the demand for an item can then cause an increase in prices and perceived “value” – the old concept of Supply and Demand comes into play here.
They usually do sell on auction sites (if priced low enough) for several reasons- but typically because of the belief in the rumors, along with the general public’s fascination with the number 13 and its connection with the “dark side” of life, the theme of “being unlucky”, and the perceived connections with the supernatural, the occult, etc.
ADVERTISEMENT
New “REPRODUCTION” Ball Perfect Mason Jars: the “AMERICAN HERITAGE COLLECTION”
NOTE: In recent years (beginning circa 2013) a new type of BALL PERFECT MASON jar has been issued, primarily sold through department/grocery stores such as Walmart, Target, Kroger, and others, and online venues such as Amazon. These commemorative jars are being produced in a lighter, brighter blue color— not quite the same shade as the original jars.
These jars as being sold in sets of 6, and come in pint size only (as of this writing). They are marked (on front) “BALL PERFECT MASON”, on rear “1913 1915 / 100 YEARS OF / AMERICAN / HERITAGE / MADE IN U.S.A.” . Also, there are volume/weight measurements embossed along the side of the jar, including cups, milliliters and ounces. They are being sold along with modern screw bands and lids. The glass is a bit thinner and lighter than the original Ball Perfect Mason types.
(NOTE: in 2014, medium green glass quart size jars were issued, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the “PERFECTION” jars (introduced in 1914)…….the word “PERFECTION” is embossed underneath the cursive BALL. A third color (purple) was issued in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of their “Ball IMPROVED” jars (1915), and is embossed “IMPROVED” underneath the name “BALL”. The purple jars are made in pint and quart sizes).
These jars are being sold for actual canning use, but also for “rustic” or “retro” decorative appeal; are being used as containers for liquid soap dispensers (some ebay or etsy sellers are selling them with special lids for this use); for use in candle making, and for similar Americana “primitive” and crafts projects. Not to mention their appeal as a collector’s item which is virtually guaranteed because of the great popularity of the older jars .
The “1913 1915” embossing (given above) readily identifies these as new production. As time goes on, however, their provenance might be somewhat less obvious to beginning fruit jar collectors.
According to the Ardagh Group website, they are made by that glass manufacturing company for distributor Jarden Home Brands.
ADVERTISEMENT
NOTE: NEW “BALL PERFECT MASON” JARS BEING MADE IN 2019
(This paragraph added April 12, 2019).
New “Collectors’ Edition” BALL PERFECT MASON jars (with the cursive font style used in the 1910-1923 period) have appeared in grocery stores and department stores recently. They are sold through Hearthmark (Jarden’s Home Brands). As of the time of this writing, I have examined some PINT size jars, but I don’t know if they are (or will be) producing quart and/or half-gallon sizes. They are being sold in packs of four. There are a few differences between the new ones and the old originals which can be easily seen. (They are the same, typical “Ball Blue” or blueish-aqua color seen in most of the originals.) There is a small “circled R” underneath the “BALL” logo on the front of the new jars. The reverse side of the new jar bears the embossed phrase “MADE IN U S A”, and below that, along the “heel” of the jar, is a series of raised dots. The base carries a mold number along with the glass manufacturer’s mark used by Ardagh Group, the maker of the jars. This mark may be faint, and resembles a horseshoe or odd letter “U”. (See this mark illustrated in the “U” listings of he alphabetical bottle mark listings on this site). There is stippling or knurling (a pattern of raised dots) present along the contact surface/perimeter of the base. 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. Out of curiosity, I weighed a new jar and old one, and the new jar weighed 10.375 ounces, the old jar weighing 10.75 ounces.
UPDATE 5/20/2021: Just a note that there are also new BALL PERFECT MASON jars in both the quart and half-pint (8 ounce) sizes available. The markings and characteristics are similar to the Pint size jars described above. At the present time (2021) I haven’t seen any in Half-Gallon size, although perhaps they will eventually be made in that size as well.
NOTE: Ardagh Group – North America is currently (2021) the owner of most of the former Ball Bros Glass Company plants . (Ball Bros>>>> Saint-Gobain Containers>>>>> Verallia>>>>> and now Ardagh Group. )
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.
RESOURCES
For a detailed, comprehensive article with tons of background info on the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, written by author/researcher Bill Lockhart (with input from several other collectors/researchers), check out his article ~ (This article also includes an expanded chart of BALL logo variations and estimated date ranges used over the years, as compiled by jar researcher Vivian “Granny” Kath). Click here: Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company
[Edit 4/14/2024]: The original page for Karen M. Vincent’s article “How to Date a Ball Jar” seems to have vanished from the web BUT here is a link to an archived version saved to the “WAYBACK MACHINE” internet archive database: How to Date A Ball Jar
Bob Clay’s article with a timeline on “How to Date Ball Fruit Jars” appears here near the bottom of this page:
http://www.weststpaulantiques.com/galleryofjars.html
General discussion forum for Ball fruit jar collectors: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/balljarcollectorscommunitycenter/
“Ball Jar Collectors” discussion group on Facebook (this is a private group and requires an OK by the moderators before posting). There are over 10 thousand members so far:
Ball jar Collectors on Facebook
For information on values, you might check out the Redbookjars.com site, where the “Red Book” fruit jar price guide for collectors is available for purchase. (I’ve been told that the current edition is sold out, but a NEW updated edition is scheduled to be released in January of 2023!)
Interesting overview article posted on the Ball.com site:
Ball History and Timeline
Basic article about antique fruit jars, written by Dave Hinson
Here is a very good, basic yet rather comprehensive “Question and Answers” article with lots of general information about collectible fruit jars, written by jar collector and researcher Dave Hinson. This covers info on many brands of fruit jars besides Ball. (The original URL of this article seems to be “dead” but I’ve found an archived version of the webpage at the “Wayback Machine” internet archive, and it can be accessed at this web address: Fruit Jars – Questions and Answers – Dave Hinson
Please click here to go to my alphabetical mark listings, starting with “page one”: Glass Bottle Marks .
Click here to go to my website HOME / WELCOME PAGE.
Two other major types of antique fruit jars that are frequently encountered by collectors include the MASON’S PATENT NOV 30TH 1858 type jars and the WAX SEALER type jars.
ADVERTISEMENT
I have a BPM 1 quart with a 4 and an H on the bottom. What is the H??
Hi Tony,
In my article above, I wrote “On some jar variants, (such as the first BALL embossing variant on these jars, “Logo 5″ in chart shown below, used circa 1913-1923 on BPM jars), the number may be accompanied by a letter to the right, such as A or C.”
To be honest, I’m not sure about the exact meaning of the “H” but I believe that jars made on a certain type of jar-making machine bore both a number AND letter. Perhaps the letter indicated the position of the mold cavity on the machine. Over the years, Ball used several different types of automatic bottle-making machines for their production of fruit jars. Perhaps a reader with more in-depth knowledge of the different machines used can comment with better information.
David
I have an aqua Ball jar with 5 dots (arranged like the dots on dice) on the bottom. What’s that about?
Clint, that sounds like a mold identifying mark, serving the purpose of a mold number. I doubt that it has any significance other than identifying a particular mold (part of a series of otherwise more or less identical molds) being used on a jar-making machine.
Hope this helps,
David
I haven’t found anything specific as far as dating for the ball perfect mason jars where the “perfect mason” part is offset. Could you help me with that? Thank you!
Hi Heather,
Honestly, I am not sure about that. My vague impression was that those were among the first of the BPM jars to be produced, perhaps sometime in the 1913-1917 period. But that is only a guess, so don’t quote me. If you haven’t already, you might try joining and posting on the “Ball Jar Collectors” discussion group on Facebook. There are lots of knowledgeable antique jar collectors who are members of that group, and maybe someone would have better information there for you.
Thanks for writing, and take care,
David
I have a blue colored ball perfect mason jar with what looks like a 1 on the bottom but right below the 1 looks like a side way 1 or maybe an (under score ) below the one? Any info on this?
Hi Michelle,
I think you are seeing a Perfect Mason jar with an “underlined mold number 1”. Many Ball Perfect Mason jars do have underlined mold numbers on the bottom. The underline may look somewhat crude or sloppy – like a slash. I often see “9” and “6” underlined which presumably clarifies which number is meant. However, I have also seen other numbers with underlines, so I’m not certain what the purpose of the line would be in those cases – perhaps merely to differentiate/identify the molds (of a particular mold set being used on a certain jar-making machine) from those molds installed on another machine within the same factory, or at a different Ball factory location? I really don’t know.
Best regards,
David
I just bought about 50 jars. One of my jars has the PERFECT off center as well.
I have several old Ball mason jars , I heard that the blue colored ball jars were unsafe for canning food due to something in the color leaching into the food. Is this true? Thank you so much . I have probably more than 500 Ball jars, with all my others I have approximately 1100 total 😁
Hello Debra,
No, that is not true. The blue or light blue-aqua color of old Ball fruit jars (and virtually all other bottles, jars, insulators and other types of similar soda-lime glass with a bluish or greenish tint) comes from the presence of trace quantities of iron in the sand that was used to make the glass. This is what might be called “natural glass” or “common glass” as produced by man. Virtually all sand worldwide contains trace quantities of iron.
Most so-called “common” or “natural glass” will appear in some shade of light blue, aqua or green. Modern clear glass is created by decolorizing the glass (“masking” or counteracting the bluish color caused by the iron) by adding another ingredient (element) in very small quantities to the glass batch.
The iron is “locked into” the glass. 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. (Iron is an essential trace element required by the human body). Because if that were harmful, everyone should stop using steel pots and pans, and iron skillets, which, during ordinary use, release many more atoms of iron than the glass ever could. I hope this helps.
Best Regards,
David
I started canning and fell in love with the jars! I have many aqua jars I use for canning and dehydrated food. I was just gifted a straight shoulder quart (1896-1910) Ball Mason with what appears to be an upside down “s”!
have a jar (square) with MASON on all four sides at top of jar…….on two sides of jar there are indented markings of 1/2 , 3/4, and pint, with room above for probably 1/2 cup more but not marked. It is unlike my other mason jars. What age, etc?
Mom’s mason jar with picture engraved on one side it is clear measurements in cups and ounces this one is 3 cups or 24 ounces. Made in USA under the picture. On the bottom it says Home Products & Columbus Ohio around the edge of the bottom in the center of the bottom it only has these numbers 75 19 what does these numbers mean?
I have a wide mouth half-gallon jar with the registered trademark symbol, says Genuine Sculptured Glass on the bottom, but is missing the B on the Ball logo. Is this a common mishap?
Hi Charlotte,
Yes, it is pretty common to see embossing on a bottle or jar which is very faint or partly illegible. Sometimes during production the molten glass (that was blown under pressure into the inside of a mold) didn’t fill in all the engraving perfectly, leaving “missing” portions on the finished piece. In some cases “mold paste” clogged up the engraving in the mold, causing a portion of the embossing to be missing or “flattened”. In other cases the molten glass was slightly cooler than it should have been, and did not “fill in” the engraving completely. There are likely other reasons. In some cases the mold engraver actually made an error and did not engrave a word, name or phrase correctly, but I don’t think that is the case here.
Hope this helps,
David
I have various (old) Ball (Perfect Mason) jars used for storing dried foods, several are 1/2 gal. Anything older than this I have put away but a 1/2 gal caught my attention while cleaning – it is a 3L Ball Mason with a straighter shoulder design. The mold mark on the bottom is in Roman numerals, IV – which I haven’t seen before. Any info anyone might be able to share would be great.
I have a ball perfect Mason w/ 8 in the middle of the bottom and just off to the side a small 8. Any idea?
PS it blue round 1923/1933 era
Hi John,
For some (unknown) reason some of the BPM jars were marked with a smaller “repeat” of the mold number. I can’t really say why!
David
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. It is round, clear uncolored glass, wider circumference at the bottom and a regular-mouth lid will fit the narrower top. Written across diagonally, the logo says “Standard” in cursive writing and below it, also diagonally, it has what looks sort of like a banner with the word MASON (all in capital letters) written within the banner.
Would you know 1) if this jar is rare? 2) about how old it is, 2) and if it has lead in it? I would like to refrigerate cold juice or leftover liquid coffee in it, if it has no lead in it. Thank you so much for your time and knowledge.
Hi Dianne,
Your jar is not rare, but it is certainly not that common either. It is a type that shows up occasionally at antique jar and bottle shows and on ebay. The value in the “Redbook” price guide shows it as in the $10-25 dollar range, assuming it is in good condition. These “STANDARD” jars with the word “MASON” enclosed in a pennant or banner, were made in three sizes, pint, quart and half gallon. The quart is the most common and valued less, the pint and half gallon are scarcer and valued somewhat more.
The catalog number in the “Redbook” guide assigned to that style of jar is #2712. According to “The Fruit Jar Works” volume 2, written by Alice Creswick, those jars were made by Illinois Pacific Glass Company, of San Francisco, and could date sometime in the 1902-1925 time period.
I found two examples on ebay [at the time this was posted], one pint and one half gallon. Here is a link to an ebay Keyword Search string to find jars that fit that description (although some of the search results will not be relevant) :
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=standard+mason+jar+%28pint%2C+quart%2C+gallon%29&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=standard++mason+jar+%28pint%2Cquart%2C+gallon%29
Those jars are usually found in a very pale light green glass.
BTW, fruit jars were virtually never made with lead in the glass formula. Lead was added to the recipe for high-quality “flint” glassware such as crystal stemware to increase the brilliancy of the glass. Lead glass was the typical glass used for tableware (such as sugar bowls, spooners, tumblers, wine glasses, vases, mugs etc. ) until around 1860 when the new “Soda Lime glass” formula came into widespread use since it was cheaper to make.
‘Common’ lower-grade glass items such as bottles, fruit jars and insulators were typically made with ”soda lime glass” which doesn’t contain lead.
That said, since most glass was made with some percentage of cullet (broken and scrap glass) there is always a tiny chance the cullet used might have contained small traces of lead……but even if there was any, it would certainly not be enough to cause any concerns.
Hope this helps, David
Can anyone tell me about a 3 pint blue Ball jar? It’s not listed on the size or identification charts.
I emailed the Ball Corp. and Ardagh Group about the date for my jar.
Still waiting…
…does anyone know what date the marking “B17” was imprinted on the mason jars?
Has “B17” on front below “PERFECT MASON” and “B17” on bottom of jar. The jar has grips but no measurements. The jar also has “MADE IN U.S.A.” on lower back end of jar. The jar is clear.
Looks old.
Found it about 3 miles into the woods.
Here is a picture: https://ibb.co/z6ttmn6
Thanks!
Hi Steven,
The “B17” is probably a mold number, so that in itself gives us no information on age. 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. Beyond that, I can’t speculate on the exact year of manufacture on any of the later clear jars. However, just guessing, I’d estimate your jar dates from sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. Longtime, knowledgeable (“Serious”) Ball fruit jar collectors might be able to give us better information on dating, and I invite anyone landing on this page to chime in if they have ANY clues to help narrow down this age range.
Good luck on hearing anything from those corporations. I strongly doubt if you will ever hear from them. (I have sent inquiries to other glass companies with no responses.) To be fair, email inquiries may end up in the inbox of someone in an office who simply has no useful information concerning questions of company history and certain jars made many decades ago.
Much of this kind of information including “finer details” about jars like these were never kept by company officials or employees, IF they were ever even documented at the time.
That said, there may be info out there somewhere that could help with dating. Take care and thanks for your post. Also, thank you for including a link to your jar you are asking about.
Best regards,
David
Fruit Jar Annual is updated every 1-2 years and contains info on most jars including circa dates. Most of the info is from Standard Fruit Jar Reference which was last published in 2011. 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. You could probably visit your local library and have them borrow a copy for you to search. Hope this helps.
Hi Medolark,
Thank you very much for your post and info. I don’t have all of the very latest editions of these books and had not perused them closely to see if we could narrow down the date range for the jar. Hopefully Stephen and other collectors can come up with better info from studying the information published there.
Take care,
David
My friend inherited some Ball jars from her mother in Minnesota. We have not been able to find anything on one clear glass wide-mouth jar in particular.
The markings on the bottom are:
1st line: 715-17
2nd line: Ball 9
and 3rd line: A11
The front has markings from 2 thru 12 oz. The back has markings from 1/4 thru 1 1/2 cup. The Ball logo is post-1962. Do you know where might I be able to find information on this jar or where I can find more of them?
My Mother in Law unloaded a bunch of “treasures” at our house. One of the treasures I stumbled upon was a jar. I can’t find the exact one when doing any research and was hoping maybe someone could help??? It is the old shaped Mason fruit jar. It is the very light blue color that has been described as the classic Mason jar shade of blue. It has the rough seams and there are bubbles in the glass. The part where the lid screws on is rough as well. The lettering on the jar is raised. It has an S, then says Mason’s Patent 1858. The lettering is spelled correctly and the “S” does NOT look like a Z as mentioned in some of the Asian replica’s. The bottom of the jar has the mold number A-3 on it. There are no other markings in it. From what I have been reading I feel like it should have “Ball” somewhere on the jar. Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
[I replied by direct email to this question, and received pics of her jar and the base. I will publish my reply here also].
Hi Davina,
Thanks for taking the time to send me the pics! I looked up your jar variation in the reference book “The Fruit Jar Works” by Alice Creswick (1995) and the jar is listed officially as Jar #1770 in those listings. So, needless to say, any collectors using that book and it’s accompanying price guide “The Red Book for Fruit Jars” would use that catalog number to describe that particular jar variant when communicating with other collectors.
The notation in the book also reads “MAKER UNKNOWN” so I can’t say what glass company would have made it. Lots of these kinds of jars were made by many unidentified bottle/jar makers. Just by the general “look” of your jar, I would guess it dates from sometime in the mid-1870s into the early 1890s, but that is just my guess. The letter/number on the base is a mold identifier, and doesn’t really give us any info on maker or age. The color of the glass is classifed as “aqua”, the most commonly seen color of those kinds of jars.
BTW I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with the Ball Bros Glass Company, and it might even predate their existence.
Hope this helps!
David
Further research on this jar shows that the Ball logo is post-1962. I believe that it is considered a “packer jar”, where glass companies make jars to the specifications of a food packing company like Hormel Foods when they contracted with Ball Company to make their glass Skippy jars between 1962 and 1964. I think this jar may be one of these.
Hello. I have several Ball jars that are off size and I cannot locate seals and rings or lids to purchase. They hold approximately 8 oz. and read Ball Quilted Crystal U.S.A. Are the seals and rings still available? There are no grooves for a rings to screw onto. Is there some other type of seal available? Thank you for any information you can share.
What you may have are jelly jars that were made to seal with paraffin. 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 have a few of them that I bought in the 70’s for my jelly.
I have a Ball THE Mason, green tint, pint jar. It is seamed and the word THE is in the reverse swirl of the M of Mason’. Irregular screw sizing. Any info would be appreciated. For those who still preserve, do not use older flat lids to process with. I bought some older lids at an estate sale, not that old, probably from the 60’s. The rubber from the jar lids deteriorated in the water bath and the jars did not stay sealed. I just refrigerated and ate the beans and threw all the lids away. Probably could have used them for dry storage but didn’t think just tossed, I didn’t want to mix them with good lids.
Chris,
I have answered other queries about those “The Mason” jars, either in the comments section of this page, or the comments under the “MASONS PATENT NOV 30Th 1858” webpage. Sorry I don’t remember where they are! And thanks for the hints on the lids. Good advice! Those older lids are only good for collecting and displaying with the older jars, but definitely not actually using them for canning!
Take care,
David
[Edit – May 15, 2021: Please check out my reply to a comment on a similar jar, at this URL: https://glassbottlemarks.com/#comment-15098 ]
Has any one heard of canning jars with ” little narrower mouth food jars”? I bought some at a garage sale and the lady gave me a ton of lids but only 3 bands. I found 1 box on ebay of bands but cant find any more in fo on these. One box of lids says v 63 arro on it all the others say #63.
The ‘63’ lid and band were made to be used on product jars so they could be canned in during the war years. They are no longer available but I have picked up a number of boxes at yard sales and vintage sales.
Today I found a Ball jar in an old cellar….it’s a pint jar and it says “THE Ball Mason”. Both Ball and Mason are in cursive. Any idea where I can find more information on this? Thank you for your time.
Nan, I believe there are several jars known that fit that description. However, one of them in particular has been asked about before, and is described in a comment/post on the Mason’s Patent Nov 30th 1858 Jars -Summary” page. Within the comments section at the bottom of the page, please check out my response to “Hannah” on June 11, 2018. Thank you!
David
I have a Ball Perfect Mason jar that is different from all others I have seen. It is logo 7, so 1933 to 1962. It is clear. Oddly, the mold number is not on the bottom. It is clearly on the front about 3/4″ below the word “Mason”. It is a number 7. There is no number on the bottom. Everything else looks normal. Does anyone know when they made that jar?
Thanks, Michael
I have some blue jars which are in the Logo 5 category according to the chart. They say “perfect mason” – most have the
words centered but two are aligned on the left. Is there any significance to the alignment of the words “perfect mason”? Thanks,
Laurie, in my opinion there is very little significance. Hundreds of different molds were used to produce those jars and sometimes the mold cutter engraved the lettering in slightly different positions relative to the top line of text.
~David
I want to comment on your message about the unlucky number 13 blue ball mason jars. I’m from the mountains of VA/WV. I run into old moonshine stills all the time. I rarely find one without broken glass all over the place. Of course some blue glass still remains and the most common number I find broken to hell and back is the 13. The old timers, God rest they souls, swore every 13 was broken as soon as their hands touched it. Everyone around here broke them, my grandmother remembers her grandfather breaking whole cases of unlucky jars simply cuz they had 13 stamped on the bottom.
Hi Nathaniel,
Thank you very much for your post! That is very interesting and I appreciate it. I would love to hear from more people who have comments or information on this subject as well. Take care,
David
I grew up shining in these mountains, never seen a shiner waste anything. Some were Superstitious but most of them weren’t, and they were poor and of great faith. From what I have been told by my ancestors and their friends, some of them wouldn’t use them but they came as lots and at the store checked the numbers before they bought them and my great-grandfather used to laugh at this myth, he would say heck I was more worried I’d get a couple cracked jars then anything else, we were so poor I even made special crates with fabric between each jar, packed right to make sure they didn’t break.
He also said a Appalachian wife is not going to let you waste whether 13 is on it or not, as they are very Christian and won’t have a lack of faith like that being passed to the kids. She would use the jar and make it known that God is all you fear.
Knowing my grandma and Mom I believe this to be more the case and the truth. I find thirteen on a lot of Mason jars and I save them, after tax time list them and sell them, most people pay more cuz of this myth, especially Appalachia a lot of the people up here have lost touch with their heritage and know little of the truth and ways of their ancestors. Hope this helps out people.
Hi Jeremy,
I really appreciate your post on the site! Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your experiences concerning the “#13” jars.
Take care!
David
Thank you for this comprehensive information. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge! I found a blue jar in my woods that seems to fit the 1910-1923 model description. To be clear, the newer “Heritage” reproductions would say 100th anniversary on the back? I want to be sure I found an original, not a replica. I also found a milk glass Boyd’s Porcerlain Liner near it.
Hi Casey,
I am 100% sure the one you found in the woods is an older type of jar. Also, the older jars tend to be somewhat thicker, heavier glass than the new, modern Ball jars.
Another note: Just recently (2019) new BALL PERFECT MASON jars have been issued and are for sale at various department stores. (I saw them at Meijer and Walmart). They are a typical “BALL BLUE” (blue-aqua) color and are slightly lighter in weight than the originals. They have the words “MADE IN U.S.A.” on the back, and the glass manufacturer’s mark used by Ardagh Group embossed on the base. (See that mark pictured in the “U” alphabetical bottle mark listings.) Hope this helps!
~David
You could show a picture of the timeline…. shows all logo styles beginning in late 19th century… that way there is no guessing….on the jar era.
Hi Misty,
I had two links to that chart posted on this article, but I have now inserted the chart itself on my page. I hope this will be of help to collectors. I also hope everyone will follow the link to the entire article written by Karen M. Vincent, which includes more detail and context in addition to the chart.
Best regards, David
David here is a link to a more comprehensive Ball embossing date chart
https://photos.app.goo.gl/njdYy1ERjygprFC46
I was told the Amish broke many #13 jars.. 😥
Hi Christine,
May I ask who told you? I mean, an antique dealer, a fruit jar collector, a friend? I doubt that’s true, but you never know! There are lots of rumors and stories that float around the country for many years, sometimes passed down from older people, and sometimes they have truth in them, sometimes not. Your guess is as good as mine! 🙂
David
I have a blue Ball perfect mason jar with what looks like a capital I with a line underneath it. No numbers.
Hello, I have just got a collection of jars (house dates back to 1920s) and a lot of jars. Here’s a test on 1, BALL perfect mason 3n on front, an T 65 3N on bottom, made in USA on back, and side ribs. Is this jar made in 1965?
Hi Charles, I don’t know about the date coding system used on the relatively recent Ball jars (or if there was a date coding system). I’m sorry but I don’t know what year the jar was made, or if it is possible to glean that info from the numbers on it. Perhaps someone else has more definitive info for you.
David
Thanks for answering
I believe all Ball “ribbed” jars are post 1935 as that is when ribs (or grips as they were called) were developed.
Hi! While cleaning my mother-in-laws basement I found a glass bottle with grape and grape vine designs on it. The embossed letters on the bottom clearly say “Wine’ and on one end it looks like the infamous “Ball” logo. Did Ball make glass bottles?
Thanks Sue
Hi Sue,
Yes, Ball made huge quantities of bottles of various types besides their better-known canning jars. Please see my page on Ball Bros Glass Manufacturing Company.
Best regards,
David
Thank you David!