Old Glass Canning Jar Lid.... But how old is it?

[farmdump]

This is a lid that I found a couple of weeks ago on a hillside. I figured out that the lid was patent around 1869. Im wondering from what year is it from? Heres some pics.



on the front of the jar it says "Boyd's Genuine Porcelain Lined" and on the back of the lid it says "3" It also has a Iron Cross in the middle.

hope this info will help!

 

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[Roger Mn.]

This should help.

Idaho Boyd's Genuine Porcelain Lined Cap Excavation Milk glass Yard | The Basque Museum & Cultural Center | Boise, ID

 

[piegrande]

Seems like my mom still used them in the 50's. I didn't realize they were that old.

 

[surf]

It also has a Iron Cross in the middle.

Hello farmdump,

Take a closer look at that cross, please. Does it have the letters "HFJ Co." embossed in the arms of the cross? The Hero Fruit Jar Co. used that version of the Maltese Cross.

"H.F.J.CO…………….Letters are placed in the four arms of a cross (similar to a formée or Maltese cross) which appears on fruit jars with the “Mason’s / Patent/ Nov 30TH /1858″ embossing. Hero Fruit Jar Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1883-1908)..." GLASS MANUFACTURERS' MARKS ON BOTTLES & OTHER GLASSWARE~~ PAGE TWO

It's difficult to date the milk glass lids. They were made and used beyond the expiration of patents and corporations.

 

[farmdump]

Thanks surf!

It would be very difficult to tell whether or not the cross has the Hero Fruit Jar Co. embossing on it since the jar lid is very worn. If it did have the words on the cross, could you date it better?

 

[surf]

Hey farmdump,

No, not really, these lids were made until the moulds would produce no more. A number of glass houses made them, though Consolidated Fruit Jar Co., of which Lewis Boyd was an early partner, along with John Mason, were the early big hitters.

"In 1859, Mason sold five of his early patents, including the mason jar, to Lewis R. Boyd and Boyd’s company - The Sheet Metal Screw Company. Boyd is most famous for patenting a white "milk-glass" insert for zinc screw lids to theoretically lessen the chances that food would come in contact with metal. In 1871, for a brief period of time, Mason became a partner with Boyd in the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company. Consolidated hired other glass makers to blow their jars, including the Clyde Glass Works, Clyde, New York, the Whitney Glass Works of Glassboro, New Jersey, and the A. & D. H. Chambers Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even after Mason’s patents expired, the manufacture of these jars continued for well over half a century. The companies that produced the Mason jar between 1859 and 1910 are too numerous to mention." The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors Feature Article

As you can see from this patent reissue in 1881, Lewis Boyd was deceased, and the brand lived on...Patent USRE9909 - LEWIS BOYD, Dec'd The lid business was cutthroat, and rife with piracy. There are many variants to the Boyd's lids.

 

[Silver Worm]

I've heard the lids called porcelain and milk glass. Did they do both kinds or is porcelain and milk glass basically the same? Just wondering.

 

[surf]

Greetings SW,

The word "porcelain" is a complete misnomer, in the case of these lid inserts. They are made of milk glass.

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