Mason jar

Uncommon card · No. 162769

A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar, preserves jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1867. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perimeter to accept a metal ring, or band. The band, when screwed down, presses a separate stamped steel disc-shaped lid against the jar's rim. After Mason's patent expired, numerous other companies began manufacturing similar jars. Over the years, the brand name Mason became the genericized trademark for this style of glass home canning jar, and the word Mason can be seen on many Ball and Kerr brand jars. Such jars are occasionally referred to using common brand names such as in Ball jar (in the eastern US) and Kerr jar (in the western US), regardless of their actual brands. Glass canning jars provided a safe, reliable, and economical way to preserve all sorts of foodstuffs for later use and became an essential part of farming culture and...

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