The Mason jar was invented and patented in 1858 by Philadelphia tinsmith John Landis Mason. Among other common names for them are Ball jars, after Ball Corporation, an early and prolific manufacturer of the jars; fruit jars for a common content; and simply glass canning jars reflecting their material.
The Mason jar is one of the most versatile items invented; at least to me. Their uses are unlimited; we use them daily, wide mouth pint jars are our everyday water glasses. I have canned some over the years and pickled food. I use them a lot for food storage; some other uses that comes to mind are, flower vase, to water flowers, a pencil holder, to clean paint brushes and to store parts in. My favorite use would be as a beer glass! The pint is perfect for a beer.
Our home is decorated early American. A lot of our furniture and decorations were bought at auctions over the years. I have a quart and a pint Mason jar with the original patent date of 1858. The quart jar has an original zinc lid. My favorite color is the dark aqua, blue green.
Our vegetarian daughter in law uses them to store her grains and pasta in.
When I saw the commemorative set of six small mouth pint jars at Amazon I knew had to have a set. I checked at Walmart but they didn’t have them so I ordered them from Amazon. Also shown were lids with a battery and solar collector to use the jars as a night light. They come in brown or silver so I ordered three brown , two for me and one for our daughter in law.
The night light lid is a perfect way to show the jar. They come with a plastic insulator on the battery so you have to remove it for them to work!
Original quart and pint jars with the patent date are on the right, on the left are two of the new ones.
As a night light
Smokin Don
