What do numbers on bottom of Ball jars mean?
Not every jar has their manufacture date on the glass, but most have the patent date. There will be a large number on the bottom of your jar. This is the mold number, and unfortunately also has no relation to the manufacture date. These charts tell you the approximate decade in which your Ball jar was made.
What is a ball perfect mason jar worth?
An antique Ball brand perfect Mason jar sold on eBay for about $80, likely because its deep olive green color is relatively rare. According to Country Living, an upside-down Ball canning jar designed to rest on its lid is relatively rare and made between 1900 and 1910. It’s valued at about $1,000.
Why did Ball make blue jars?
Those blue mason jars were mass produced until 1937 using sand from around Lake Michigan. It was that sand that gave the glass its blue hue.
Why are Ball Mason jars so expensive?
So why are Mason jars so expensive? We go through the trouble of growing our own produce, making our own preserves, and then all the cost savings is taken up by an expensive glass jar with a red checker lid.
Are old blue mason jars worth anything?
They’re named after John Landis Mason, who invented them in 1858. The glass jars were created to form a hermetic seal, and were used for canning and jarring. Typically, the smaller or more common antique jars can go for about $20 apiece, but the more rare versions can sell for as much as $300.
When did they stop making blue mason jars?
Blue glass Ball jars were produced in the late 1890s and early 1900s, but the company stopped producing these in 1937. There were also some brown amber jars produced in the 1950s, but most of the jars produced after the 1940s were made of clear glass.
Why are Ball jars out of stock?
“The demand has resulted in supply constraints, extended lead times and recently limited product availability at stores and online,” a company spokesperson said in a statement, according to CNN.
How old is my blue mason jar?
If you have a Ball jar, you can date most of them just by looking at the logo. Every few years, the Ball Manufacturing Co changed the logo and if you compare yours to a reliable chart, you know how old it is.
What are the dimensions of a ball perfect Mason?
Ball Perfect Mason – Half Gallon and Quart sizes 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 vertical raised lines (“ribs” or “grips”) along the sides, added to assist in handling the jars while they are wet.
What do the numbers mean on ball perfect Mason 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”.
When did the perfect Mason Jar come out?
This age (1923-1933) Ball Perfect Mason jar has the classic Ball logo and the words “Perfect Mason” on two lines centered beneath the Ball logo.
When did ball perfect start embossing jars?
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.