Help with age of Ball jar please

[SkyPirate]

I found this Ball Glass jar today. It's 9 inches tall by 4 1/2 inch diameter base. It is blue and has some bubbles in the glass. Does anyone have an idea about how old this may be? Thanks.

[jgas]

Let's see, Mason and Ball are from the same maker I believe. So Nov. 30th 1858 was the patent on the Mason jar screw toppers.. I would say yours dates to around 1880's I believe. But that is an "uneducated" guesstimate! jgas

[Road Dog]

This might help.

[SkyPirate]

This might help.

Thanks, it's definitely the 1896-1910 version. Now I know another great old place to do some detecting!

[72cheyenne]

From the Redbook No. 10 Collectors Guide to Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr. 2008

RB #234
Ball (script, 3-L Loop, Dropped A) MASON
Smooth lip Mason shoulder seal
Circa: Early 1900's to 1910

Ball Blue Qt. $1-2

Hope this helps. The Redbook is considered "the source" for fruit jar collectors. Redbook No. 10 is the latest eddition.

[72cheyenne]

Red Book #7 lists this variety as RB #280.

I did not realize Doug was now dating common jars in his newer versions. I'll have to update

Is that ball blue, or aqua? Hard to tell on this screen

I actually didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at all the variants of the "Ball Mason" type jar, mainly because I don't have the jar in hand. I just listed the "most common" one. I can't tell for sure from the photo if it is the 3-L loop & dropped A embossing or just plain script & dropped A. All the other listings for the 3-L loop & dropped A also showed the same date range. If it is just the script type embossing then it is a newer than 1910 jar. And yes, all listings in the new book show a "circa" date range when known. I see a whole lot of these jars in both Ball blue and aqua, so its a toss up as to its true color. Just best guessing from the photo. It "looks" more Ball blue to me. Like you said its hard to tell from the screen, but value wise it don't matter either way.

Going back to what you said earlier about the base, it does look like a newer type base. Maybe they re-tooled some old molds and made a later run. Who knows for sure.

[halfdime]

This might help.

Going by these graphics, the jar I found yesterday would be from the 1923-33 era then?

[72cheyenne]

Correct. Circa 1923-1933. Listed as RB #277 in the Redbook No. 10 Collectors Guide to Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr. 2008. Value, about $1. Very common, but nice jar.

[creeper71]

Correct. Circa 1923-1933. Listed as RB #277 in the Redbook No. 10 Collectors Guide to Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr. 2008. Value, about $1. Very common, but nice jar.

Cheyenne, how much of a price difference is there from the No.9 an the Number 10? I bought the No.9 from a friend about a month ago an then went to bottle show next day an they had no.10 there but I passed on it... so I am wondering did I mess up by not buying the NO.10 or is the prices about the same as the no.9?

[72cheyenne]

Correct. Circa 1923-1933. Listed as RB #277 in the Redbook No. 10 Collectors Guide to Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr. 2008. Value, about $1. Very common, but nice jar.

Cheyenne, how much of a price difference is there from the No.9 an the Number 10? I bought the No.9 from a friend about a month ago an then went to bottle show next day an they had no.10 there but I passed on it... so I am wondering did I mess up by not buying the NO.10 or is the prices about the same as the no.9?

creeper, I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but I seem to remember Doug writing in the forward that the common and most mid-range jars have stayed the same, although some have decreased in value due to more becoming known or lack of demand, and that the high-end and colorful jars have actually increased a bit and continue to have a strong following within the collector circles. Probably the biggest difference between RB#9 and #10 are the additional listings, both for embossings and colors. I would imagine that if one was not an avid jar collector that they wouldn't notice much of a difference between the two.