Mason's III Patent Nov. 30th 1858 GREEN

[coreya]

It could be either of those numbers, it's the same in the "Fruit Jar Works" the only difference is #2117 discribes more color variations. Great find either way!!

 

[jimsears]

Doug Leybourne just put out a new Red Book 11, but I do not yet have a copy. The old book 10 listed both 2042 and 2117 (Roman numeral III and 111) even though these are just two ways of describing the same jar. I believe that the 2042 listing reflected more up-to-date prices than 2117 in book 10. As the multiple color listings suggest, this jar has been reported in a range of colors. All of the odd colored examples are very rare, but they all seem to be part of the same color family. Even the examples described as amber actually contain some hint of olive. Many early glass factories relied on coal for fuel, and my guess is that the coal dust contaminated a batch of glass. If a coloring agent such as coal dust was added accidentally, this could help explain why it was not mixed in thoroughly to make all the jars the same shade. I appreciated seeing the photo of your jar. I am sure you will enjoy having it in your collection, but please keep me in mind if you ever decide to sell it. Jim Sears

 

[MNJars]

I think there is a difference between the embossing of III and 111, but I don't have an example of both jars to compare unfortunately. I'll take a closer look when I get a chance and try to post a close up picture. I think it's Redbook #2042.

 

[jimsears]

I've held examples of the supposed III and 111 quarts next to each other and decided they were made in the same mold. The stronger embossed examples often get pegged as III and the weakly embossed ones as 111. I tend to agree that 2042 is the more correct listing and would favor getting rid of 2117 altogther. The olive/amber examples I have seen have the same 8.4 on base (as read through the mouth of the jar), which suggests that the odd color varieties came from a single mold. Has anyone ever come across an aqua example with the 8.4 base marking? Jim

 

[MNJars]

Thanks for the great info Jim! I wrote my last post while you were writing yours and didn't see it until just now, so it looks like I was taking issue with your point about 2042 vs 2117 - I was not. You must be correct about them being the same jar, I had just assumed they would be different since the letter I should look different than the number 1, like the 1 in "1858".If/when I decide to sell this jar, I will contact you. I'll keep trying to get better photos, too.

 

[jimsears]

Thank you for your post, MNJars. For whatever it's worth, Mason jar collectors generally seem to have difficulty telling the 1's from the I's. Anyone trying to collect an alphabet set with the different letters below MASON'S soon finds that there is no unambiguous letter I. There are plenty of vertical bars that might be I's or 1's. Don Burkett's solution was to get a half gallon with the ambiguous vertical bar that also had BP&Co on the base. The BP&Co jars are known with a variety of letters below MASON'S, but no numbered examples have been reported. Jim

 

[MNJars]

Here's another picture in a different lighting. White background.[attachment=Mason's III Front.jpg]

 

[dygger60]

WOW...is that a nice shade of green! Sweet! [:-]