McCarty lid

[Wheelah23]

Dug this milk glass thing up yesterday, and was surprised to learn today that it's a jar lid! Apparently it had a rubber skirt that fit in the groove, and went right into the neck of the jar to seal it. Anyone have a picture of the jar it went with?

How rare is this lid, and how much is it worth? I can only find a couple mentions of the lid online, but that doesn't mean it's rare.

Here's the patent for the lid. It really is a rather ingenious mechanism when you think about it. The date embossed on it, though, is for McCarty's previous patent. It's embossed with "PAT MAR 7 1899". It seems the glass mechanism was an improvement over the other version.

 

[Wheelah23]

side

 

[Wheelah23]

The only thing I don't get is why there's a dip in the center... Does it somehow relieve pressure or something?

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Connor,

The patent information can be downloaded as a pdf file, HERE.

Looks like it may have had an immerser function, but I don't know for sure...

Mr. McCarty's Biographical Profile HERE.

 

[jskirk]

According to the redbook that lid has a value of 50-200+ depending on which jar its on.

 

[jskirk]

redbook2141 or 2142

 

[cyberdigger]

The only thing I don't get is why there's a dip in the center... Does it somehow relieve pressure or something?

Call it an immerser, or a pickle compresser, either way it's designed to keep the pickled goodies from floating above the brine line..

 

[Wheelah23]

Oh, the immerser thing is probably right... I have a different one that's like an upside down hat that would push the fruit down into the jar.

I'm amazed this thing is seemingly worth some money, jskirk! Thanks for your help. I think I'll email Greg Spurgeon to see if he can help me figure out the jar it went to. I'd like to at least see a picture.

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Connor,

Look OVAH HEAH, for:

"Jim Sears displayed a jar that he grabbed from his boxes of sales table jars. He displayed a clear quart THE VACUUM FRUIT JAR PATENTED NOV. 1 1904 (there was a cardboard sealing disc; this was probably a packer jar)." and the picture below it, on page 2.

 

[Wheelah23]

I needed a magnifying glass to magnify the smaller magnifying glass I needed, but if I'm not mistaken I see my lid inside another jar. Thanks surface!