The History of Mason Jars
Food preservation has always been essential to human survival. Before modern refrigerators and freezers, mason jars were an important part of many family pantries. The term "mason jar" has now become a generic name for several kinds of home-canning jars. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Background
-
Two methods of canning were developed in 1810.
Peter Durand, working in England, came up with tin-plated cans made of iron. Similar cans received a U.S. patent 15 years later, but their use did not become widespread for another quarter century.
In France, François Nicolas Appert came up with a canning method using glass jars. These were the ancestors of the mason jar.
Neither of their methods was appropriate for home use.
Basic Principles
-
Canning preserves food in two ways: by sterilizing the food and containers by heating them, and by excluding as much air as possible. The second part is most important because it prevents oxidation and recontamination by bacteria and other organisms that can cause food to spoil.
Neither Durand nor Appert knew how their canning techniques preserved food because Louis Pasteur did not discover bacteria--and their role in food spoilage--until 1861. -
First Glass Canning Jars
-
The first home-canning method utilized tin cans with wax seals. They were expensive and not reusable, and quickly fell out of favor.
The earliest glass jars used wax as a seal, just as the early cans had--at least until John L. Mason, a New York City tinsmith, figured out a way to form threads on a zinc cap in 1858. His cap held a rubber ring in place to provide a glass jar with an air-tight seal. This was the first Mason jar. The metal lids, however, could react with acids in canned fruits, affecting flavor and safety.
Lightning Jars
-
Henry William Putnam eliminated the metal-food contact by substituting a glass lid that held a rubber ring in place. The glass lid was clamped down by a steel wire bail that snapped down or up easily. Putnam's so-called "lightning" jars first appeared in 1882, but continued to be manufactured for another 70 years.
Ball Jars
-
The Ball brothers (William C., Lucius, Lorenzo, Frank C., Edmund B. and George A.) started producing their jars in 1886. Their name has become synonymous with "mason" for all canning jars today (despite that the company is no longer owned by the Ball family).
Dome Lids
-
In 1903, Alexander H. Kerr started selling jars whose lids had a rubberlike composition as part of the lid itself. Twelve years later, Kerr introduced flat lids, with sealing compound attached, that were held in place by a threaded ring. This is the method used by virtually all home-canners today (though some people prefer the retro look of glass-lidded jars--and the French company, Lumiarc, still manufactures wide-mouthed glass-topped jars).
-
