Wolf's Head Oil Jar

[Kari]

I found a few clear glass jars with the lids that are embossed on the bottom "Wolf's Head Oil. The tops have the oil weight: 30 or 40 on the lids. I have not been able to find one anywhere on the internet just like these. I have seen some with a paper label but no embossing on the bottom. We have a local bottle man at a flea market that has been collecting and selling for 50 years. I took him one and he said he had never seen this jar before and believes it to be extremely rare. Has anyone seen these jars and I would like to possibly know the age? The tops are screw tops so I know they can't be too old but am more interested in the rarity.
Will post a picture shortly.

 

[surfaceone]

Hello Kari,

Welcome to this place.

"Empire – Wolverine – Wolf’s Head

By Neil McElwee, 2009

A. L. Confer established his small refinery in Reno in 1879. This was a one-man show. Confer did everything. He proudly painted the Empire name on his one storage tank. The name stuck and grew in stature. Confer was an extraordinary refiner deriving special products his competition couldn’t match. Confer’s illuminating oils were among the best in the late nineteenth century. He sold gasoline under the Star brand at the turn of the century. However, Confer and Empire became best known for their high quality lube oils. He turned down a number of offers to sell his plant.

Early twentieth century gasoline production was marketed to motor vehicles under the Empire brand. Empire merged with the Wolverine Lubricants Co. of New York in 1929. Empire was renamed the Wolverine-Empire Refining Co. of Oil City. The Wolf’s Head brand name was part of the Wolverine mix and became nationally famous. The company’s name was changed to Wolf’s Head Oil Refining Co. in the fifties. Wolf’s Head sold both gasoline and lube oil under the Wolf’s Head brand.

Pennzoil purchased the firm in 1963. The refinery in Reno was dismantled in the 1980’s. The packaging plant continued functioning for several more decades, but recently was shut down. What’s left of Wolf’s Head is the famous brand name and the tidy office building in Oil City, now City Hall. Shell owns the brand today." From.

There's not much we can tell you without photos...

 

[LC]

I had a jar like this once that was for Kendall Oil , or at least the jar looks the same . Never cared about it to try and date it though . I doubt that it is all that uncommon though . I have seen a lot of these jars over the years that have lost the labels off of them as well .

 

[Kari]

I will send you pictures and thanks for all the information. I spoke with a man that was 77 years old and he said he had never seen on at a bottle show or anyone. Mine does not had the label on it but it is embossed on the bottom. I shared one with this man and he was over the top about it!!

 

[Ratzilla]

No return oil jars like the one pictured were first used during WWII when metal for cans was in short supply - same thing happened to coffee and other stuff that normally came in cans. After the war, companies switched back to cans once they used up their jar supplies, so most of these date between 1942 - late 40's. Don't see many with the original labels. Dug a lot of them but never checked any to see what the base embossing was, just tossed them and kept digging, never thought they had much value without the label...

 

[Kari]

I did the same thing, tossed them to the side, but kept a few cause I though they would make good jars to store things in since the lids were not rusted out. It was not until this man made such a big deal about them I went back to the spot (2 years had passed) and grabbed the 5-6 I threw to the side.