Ball jar question

[Newtothiss]

Found this and it's been sitting outside for

a while. Cleaned it up some today, it's probably the prettiest and deepest aqua I've seen, but I have a question; the bottom has "4 F" on it. Does that mean anything?

It's gorgeous tho!

 

[jarsnstuff]

That distinctive blue color is known as "Ball Blue". They were made with sand from the Hoosier Slide which was depleted about 1939, so no jars in that exact color have been made since then. Even the bicentennial Ball Ideal jars from 1976 are slightly more turquoise in color. The numbers on the base are simply mold identifiers - neither adding nor subtracting from the value of the jar.
Ball was very frugal with their molds, so when they decided to start embossing their jars "Ball Perfect Mason" instead of just "Ball Mason", they simply inserted "Perfect" into the middle of "Ball Mason". This style of Ball Perfect Mason was made from 1910 to 1923, with the inserted "Mason" being in the earlier part of that date range. This is Redbook #272 and even though you have a beautiful jar in a beautiful color, and with a whole lot of history, it's still only valued at $1-$2. Enjoy - it's a great collection starter!

 

[Newtothiss]

Thanks. I knew all that (I've been reading a lot about this kind of stuff), it's the "F" I was curious about. I've only seen mold numbers, never letters.

Just a mold identifier I guess?