In my years as a liquidator I have worked in hundreds of homes across central Indiana and viewed thousands of items. Some of these homes were very modest in their contents while others contained valuable art and antiques. There is, however one common denominator, one thing which I have found in every estate I have ever worked. Somewhere in each home there was at least one box of canning jars. Some of my clients used their jars to preserve food from their gardens, while others had them tucked away in a box in the garage. But inevitably, there they were! Nine times out of ten these jars are of little monetary value. However, there are exceptions, and those exceptions can be of considerable value.
While other elements come into play, determining the age of your Ball jars is a good way to start the process of setting their value. Ball mason jars were first produced in 1885 by the Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, then located in Buffalo, New York. These early issues, known as Buffalo Jars, will have the BBGMC logo. These are among the most rare of all mason jars.
In 1889 the Ball Company relocated to Muncie, Indiana where it produced quality canning jars until 1962. In their many years of production the basic design of the company logo on the front of their jars has remained pretty much the same. But if you look closely, and you know what you are looking for, the key to age is often in the logo.
From 1892-1896 Ball used block lettering. That lettering was changed to cursive in 1897. From 1900-1910 the cursive included a loop at the end of the name Ball which prompted these jars to be given the name “3-loop.” That was altered to a clean line at the end of the name from 1910-1923 which, for obvious reasons, gave jars from this era the nickname “2-loop.”
Most Ball jars will have the name underscored. The exception to this will be on jars made from 1923-1933. On jars from 1933-1962 there are three defining features; the underscore returned, the “a” is smaller than the other letters and there is a “loop” in the center of the “B”. This is an important fact as pre-1933 jars are the ones of greatest interest to collectors.
Descriptive words have been included on some jars through the years. Words to watch for include; Special 1910-1913, Perfect 1913-1922, Ideal 1915-1962, Square (used on the 1925 square jars) and Eclipse which is found on wide-mouth jars from 1926-1952
Through the years of production jars have found their way into circulation with errors, the most common being the misspelling of the word “Perfect.” Jars have been found with the spellings “perffct,” “peprect” and perefct.” These jars are of higher value than their correctly printed counterparts.
Most of the Ball jars currently in circulation are post-1940 clear or aquamarine. There are millions of these out there and their lack of rarity makes them worth $1-$3 each. Be on the lookout for rare colors including cobalt, yellow, olive green and black as they will be of greater value. While prices for these colors vary, a Ball Perfect Mason recently sold on eBay for $80 and a bright yellow one for $67.
Occasionally you will find one of the upside-down jars manufactured by Ball from 1900-1910. These were made to double as a dispenser for wall-mount cast iron coffee grinders. They don’t surface very often, but if you happen across one . . . grab it! They have been known to bring $800-$1,000. Until next time . . . Linda.
Linda Kennett is a professional liquidation consultant specializing in down-sizing for seniors and may be reached at 317-258-7835 or lkennett@indy.rr.com
