Number 13

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Lunick

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Just curious how many have canning jars with the number 13 on the bottom. We actually have found 3 of them.
 

nhpharm

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Lots. The myth that they are rare is just that...a myth.
 

ROBBYBOBBY64

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I only have one myth 13 jar. The jar you are thinking of are the 56 oz size that looked like a 64 oz. Just another way to dupe the customer. The bootleggers used them and broke the number 13 ones being bad luck. They are the rare ones. Also the square ball jars produced in the 1920 were preferred because they could fit more in a car trunk than with round shaped ones.
ROBBYBOBBY64.
20200624_153542.jpg

This is a half quart Hazel Atlas number 13.
 

Lunick

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I only have one myth 13 jar. The jar you are thinking of are the 56 oz size that looked like a 64 oz. Just another way to dupe the customer. The bootleggers used them and broke the number 13 ones being bad luck. They are the rare ones. Also the square ball jars produced in the 1920 were preferred because they could fit more in a car trunk than with round shaped ones.
ROBBYBOBBY64.View attachment 209143
This is a half quart Hazel Atlas number 13.
I appreciate your knowledge. Thank you
 

coreya

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I knew several shiners back in the day and every jar was used no matter what, they didnt care if there was a 13 or a 130000 on the bottom. Have 6 of them in my collection all found in the "wild". Ball and other manufactures have tried different size variations over the years such as 60 ounce, 56 oz, 42 oz, 39 oz and 36 oz in addition to the usual pint, quart and 1/2 gal etc for whatever reason they had. Some were not so successful so had limited runs.
Every jar that comes from the mechanical molds has a mold # depending on the type of machine used and would be from 1-12 or 14 (or however many molds that machine uses) then additional numbers or symbols for replacement molds (for quality control) If the number 13 is a replacement mold for a 12 mold machine it would make sense that there would be less of them than the 1-12 as it would be in use much less. Hope this makes sense as only on 1st cup of coffee!
 

Lunick

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I knew several shiners back in the day and every jar was used no matter what, they didnt care if there was a 13 or a 130000 on the bottom. Have 6 of them in my collection all found in the "wild". Ball and other manufactures have tried different size variations over the years such as 60 ounce, 56 oz, 42 oz, 39 oz and 36 oz in addition to the usual pint, quart and 1/2 gal etc for whatever reason they had. Some were not so successful so had limited runs.
Every jar that comes from the mechanical molds has a mold # depending on the type of machine used and would be from 1-12 or 14 (or however many molds that machine uses) then additional numbers or symbols for replacement molds (for quality control) If the number 13 is a replacement mold for a 12 mold machine it would make sense that there would be less of them than the 1-12 as it would be in use much less. Hope this makes sense as only on 1st cup of coffee!
well definitely interesting thank you for your information. Enjoy that coffee. lol
 

jarsnstuff

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Sometimes the story is about moonshiners breaking them, sometimes its superstitious housewives. I don't think ANY of them ever intentionally broke a jar just because of the number on the bottom. I asked my mom about it once, because in those days you did a TON of canning out on the farm. She said - and I quote: "There's a number on the bottom? Who would ever look at that?"
 

Lunick

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Sometimes the story is about moonshiners breaking them, sometimes its superstitious housewives. I don't think ANY of them ever intentionally broke a jar just because of the number on the bottom. I asked my mom about it once, because in those days you did a TON of canning out on the farm. She said - and I quote: "There's a number on the bottom? Who would ever look at that?"
Thats funny made me smile. lol I just had always heard these stories from my dad. Maybe in Nebraska people are more superstitious lol whos knows. Ill just keep looking.
 

nhpharm

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I never heard the story until eBay rolled around. It's just like a lot of the other fake or downright fraudulent claims out there made by sellers that are geared towards making people thing something is more valuable than it is (came from a shipwreck, came from a Civil War camp, made from a piece of the USS Constitution, is a salesman's sample, is a pirate boarding grenade, and on and on and on). Since a lot of the medicine bottles we collect made fraudulent claims, we should be even more attuned to the fact that human nature doesn't change and there are always liars and frauds out there!
 

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