The origin of mason jar

I don't know when it started. Anyway, one day, Xiaobian suddenly found that the world had been occupied by a kind of magic glass can.

In the morning, you can make oatmeal with milk in a glass jar; at noon, you can drink milk tea in a restaurant in a glass jar; after dinner, you can use a dessert in a glass jar.

Instant noodles and salads can be made in glass jars. Some people even use them to grow potted plants and make lampshades, which are 100 times lighter. But you may not think that such a trendy little pot is a hundred years old. It used to be an antique used by grandmother to make cans and jam. It was only in recent years that it was suddenly sought after by young people and became popular all over the world. So, what is the origin of this glass jar, which is affectionately called "mason jar"?

The tortuous life experience of mason jar

The history of Mason can begins with the invention of canned fruit.

In 1806, in response to military needs, the French invented the method of using sealed glass cans to store food, which is the embryonic form of cans. However, at that time, the cans were sealed with melted wax, which was easy to make a mess when opening the lid and difficult to re seal later.

  Early design of mason jar

The dawn of housewives came in 1858. John L. Mason, a New York tinsmith, replaced the bulky cork with a screw inside cap. Later, people add a gasket to the bottle cap to strengthen the sealing effect, which is higher than the wax sealing. Mason applied for a patent for the design, and the jar was named "mason jar".

Interestingly, mason jar's cap and glass can body were sold separately in the past. At that time, the giant of the glass can market was the ball brothers company founded by Frank and Edmund ball brothers. They improved the glass blowing machine and realized mass production of mason jar.

Most of the mason jar you see today has ball's logo on it. Because of the huge market share, some people call this kind of glass jar ball jar directly.

As for the improvement of the bottle cap, it was done by Alexander h. Kerr, a commodity wholesaler. He invented the split type bottle cap, which is composed of round flakes and threaded rings. When the can water bath is heated and cooled, the flake will sink and seal the can mouth to achieve the effect of close to vacuum. This kind of can can can be preserved for a long time without refrigeration.

In World War II, mason jar was just brilliant. In order to deal with the lack of materials in the war, the government encouraged all households to make their own cans to preserve fruits and vegetables, and mason jar naturally became the best choice.

Posters encouraging people to make tins during World War II

Later, with the popularity of refrigerators, mason jar gradually became an antique in grandma's kitchen, which, in many people's impression, represented the warmth of homeliness and simplicity. When the natural and homemade food trend returns, mason jar will naturally become the spokesperson of this trend. Any ordinary food put into the jar is like adding a soft light filter, becoming warm and bright, with a lovely silly appearance.

Even if you don't put anything in the cabinet, arranging all kinds of mason jar in a row can give you a little fresh aura of literature and art.