Newbie To Jar Collecting?!?

[swizzle]

Hello all!! I'm about as green as they come when it comes to jar collecting. I've seen plenty of interesting ones in the past few months and this is the first year that I've actually dug jars. I've got a few questions about jar collecting in general.

Dating Ball Jars. I've noticed that with the dating guide for Ball jars that the screw tops go back into the very late 1800's. How far back do the screw tops go for jars in general?

The closing bail wire? Most of these that I've dug have a busted bail wire. Just simply rotted right through. Can these be replaced, if so where do you get new ones?

Lids, How do you display your lids? I'd like to see several different displays if you guys have some pics.

The seam. I see what appears to be an ABM seam on my one ball jar that dates to the very late 1800's to 1910. Is this an ABM seam or was it some different type of molding process.

Wax sealers. I love to see the older wax sealers but don't know much if anything about them. Any info on Wax Sealers would be great as well. I'm more interested in collecting the older, cruder glass and in most cases I wouldn't even care if it was embossed. Are there pontiled jars? any help would be awesome and I'm sure I'll have a ton of other questions in the near future as I dig more jars. Swiz []

 

[GuntherHess]

Dating Ball Jars. I've noticed that with the dating guide for Ball jars that the screw tops go back into the very late 1800's. How far back do the screw tops go for jars in general?

the 1858 patent is for a screw top...

 

[swizzle]

Wow what took so long for Ketchup to catch up? I didn't thing screw tops went back that far. Well there's one question down. Swiz

 

[coreya]

The first suggestion would be for you to get a book called "the collectors guide to old fruit jars" (or the red book) by douglas leybourne. There is a wealth of info in that book. The second suggestion would be to collect what you like but stick to one or two catagories so you dont end up like me with hundreds of jars on display!
There are also a ton of sites devoted to mason type jars of which Ball is a small portion. here are some to get you started.

ball jars

glass marks

dating ball jars

bottle info

 

[swizzle]

I have the Red Book 9. You guys actually read that stuff? Just kidding. I was more or less just using it to find out about the jars that I dig as I dig them. So far I haven't had any questions about the ones I've dug because I've found them in there. The prices seem to be off though. I keep digging the $1 & $2 jars that are listed right next to the $400 and $500 jars. [] I'll dig a good one one of these days. Thanx for the info guys. Swiz

 

[GuntherHess]

There are screw top condiment bottles dating at least back to the 1880s, maybe earlier.
With hand blown bottles they had to finish the top somehow even if it had screw threads on the mold.

 

[swizzle]

Ok, so here are two that I dug today. I tossed out a 3rd eclipse jar because it has a nasty crack in it. After getting the other eclipse cleaned up I noticed a crack in the back of that one as well. Is it worth saving? I'd have to replace the bail as well. Redbook is listing it as a $6 to $8 jar. So maybe worth .90 cents after someone pays the shipping?

Now this one is a bit cooler I love the 3 L's and have another jar with the 3 L's from a large bottle lot that I purchased. This one has the dropped A and the dropped R in Improved. what I can't tell is which one it is exactly. Is it a 249-5, a 250-5, or a 250-6? Swiz [8|]

 

[coreya]

looks like a 249-5 to me, nice find to bad you dont have the lid and band. toss the eclipse if it has a crack but save the lid. JMHO

 

[swizzle]

The lid on it looks common. It the plain clear glass with the 2 dots on top for the band to lock in between. For every lid I've bought home from this dump I've tossed 2 of those clear ones. what would I do with 100 of those dang things?

Now what does the lid look like for this jar? I may dig another jar like it that's busted but has the lid. The other jar that I have that is similar to this one has a zinc cap. Swiz

 

[coreya]

here is a pic of a 220-5 I have, the lids the same as what would go on yours. The clear lids always sell for .50-1.00 each.

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