Mason Jar - History

History

The earliest glass jars were called wax sealers, because they used sealing wax, which was poured into a channel around the lip that held on a tin lid. This process was complicated and error-prone, but was largely the only one available for a long time, and widely used even into the early 1900s.

By far, though, the most popular form of seal was the screw-on zinc cap, the precursor to today's screw-on lids. The earliest successful application of this was discovered by Mason and patented on November 30, 1858, a date embossed on thousands of jars. Jars with "Patent Nov 30th 1858" were made in many shapes, sizes and colors well into the 1900s. Since they were made in such quantity and used for such long periods, many of them have survived to the present day.

Another popular closure was known as the Lightning closure, named after the first jar to use it, which was embossed with "Lightning" on the side. More commonly, this is often known as a bail closure, or French Kilner — it consists of a metal wire arrangement with a lever which, when pivoted downward against the side of the jar, applies leverage to a glass lid, clamping it down over a separate rubber O ring. While these jars are still sold for storage, they are now rarely used for canning.

In the 1860-1900 timeframe, a great many patents were issued for various jar closures. The more esoteric closures were quickly abandoned, and can fetch high prices in today's antique market.