Dating Old Canning Jars?

[Beekissed]

Any brand name of other identifying marks on these jars?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

That is an interesting website about the Ball jars. Now if only there were a similar one for Kerr jars.

Those blue jars sure are beautiful. You are lucky to have more than one.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Any brand name of other identifying marks on these jars?

It is a Kerr jar. It has a number on the bottom, but I don't have that handy at the moment. It still has what has been described as a "gold tin" lid, which is tarnished.

 

[Beekissed]

Maybe you can find your jar on here:

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/bottles/fruit-jars

Or maybe this will help:

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7397931_date-kerr-fruit-jar.html

Plenty of info out there on Ball jars but not so much on Kerr.

 

[Emerald]

I thought that is what it was too but the fella said it was also different types of jars.. but like I said.. I thought that jelly jars was a style of drinking glass and I have that style.. but if you shop look in the international aisle and they do can jelly in the same type of jar/glass.
I like the look of your jars.

 

[Emerald]

That is an interesting website about the Ball jars. Now if only there were a similar one for Kerr jars.

Those blue jars sure are beautiful. You are lucky to have more than one.

I do like them and tend to just store my herbs and spices and cooking stuffs in them than can lately.. they were left here in the house when my folks bought it.. and she left them for me when I bought it from her. I have about 9 of the bail/wire glass top ones that were left here too. but some of the wire is corroding..

 

[moolie]

Well, the "Kerr" name has only been used on canning/jelly jars since 1904, more info in this excerpt from this page :

Kerr..................Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company [ "Corporation" after 1927], Portland, OR (1904-1912, offices only); Los Angeles, CA (1919-1992, offices only); manufacturing plants located at Altoona, KS; Sand Springs, OK; Huntington, WV [this plant closed December 7, 1982 - information from Mike Harmon] ; Santa Ana, CA; Plainfield, IL; Dunkirk, IN; Millville, NJ; and Waxahachie, TX. The Kerr glass plants were bought by Ball Corporation in 1992. Kerr did not actually make glass from 1904 to 1909, but had glass made for them by other companies. In 1909 their first plant opened at Altoona, KS. Also see "A H K". The rights to the "Kerr" brand name, as used on currently-made fruit jars, are held by the Alltrista Corporation, and jars marked "Kerr" that are still being produced are currently [2006] made by the Anchor Glass Container Corporation at their Winchester, Indiana factory location.

Jelly jars are sometimes referred to as "French" jelly jars, but I don't know of any other than Arcoroc that are specifically made in France (although I'm sure there are other brands). I know that Ball, Kerr, and Hazel Atlas all made jelly jars in the US in their time.

To my understanding these glasses were made from sometime in the 1920s through the 50s, they were very common in the 30s and 40s when many people also used them as drinking glasses, it would be difficult to date a specific jar beyond that range without more specific information on dating Kerr items, which I've always had difficultly finding. I had a link bookmarked but it seems to be broken now http://www.onlinewaterstore.com/images.aspx?q=Dating+Kerr+Jars

Jelly jars are meant to be sealed with wax and then capped with the metal cap to keep dust out.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Wow, thank you, Moolie! I knew you were a treasure trove of information on canning jars. Very interesting about the "Kerr" brand jars in general and I appreciate having a narrower time frame on the possible date of manufacture (it is about what I had imagined). I'm sure the numbers on the bottom would help narrow that down further, for my specific jar. Thank you for the info about how the jars were meant to be sealed. I was wondering if they were supposed to be wax sealed, as the lid does not appear to screw on.

 

[Emerald]

this is a bit off topic-but I just got coupons from my MIL and there is one for lids.. buy two boxes of lids and get one free(all same size). I know that many are using tattlers but I am still on a budget and getting lids..
Back to the canning jars!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Score on the coupon, Emerald! I'm still using regular lids too . . . just not canning enough at the moment to invest in a new type of lid.