The Count of Sandwich, Earl Tupper, and Ignacio Anaya “Nacho” Garcia gave their names to their food-related creations. A choice of canneries for over 160 years, the Mason jar is also named after its inventor.
Prior to canning, food preservation relied on salting, smoking, pickling, and freezing. Fermentation, the use of sugar, and highly flavored foods are other methods of preventing the ubiquitous foodborne illness. Napoleon offered his soldiers a reward for inventing a method of food preservation, which was the impetus for canning.
Nicolas François Appert, later known as the “Father of Canning”, answered the call. His canning method is to use stoppered jars, boil them, and seal them with wax. It won him awards, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was still the norm.
That was until John Landis Mason (1832-1902), a tinsmith from Vineland, New Jersey, designed the can that bears his name. His US Patent #22,186 revolutionized the canning industry and modernized the industry. Today Ball Canning can produce 17 Mason jars per second, according to Mason Jar Lifestyle.
Unfortunately, according to Find A Grave, the hapless inventor died in poverty, unable to reap the benefits of his genius. Due to bad luck and greedy competitors, Mason can barely support himself and his children.
According to Mason Jars, Mason intended to modernize the jar by designing a lid that, when screwed down, creates an airtight and waterproof seal. He achieved his goal through a series of inventions culminating in a patent on November 30, 1858 for an “Improved Screw Neck Bottle”.
Mason makes a glass bottle with a zinc screw cap that seals by matching the threads on the cap to the threads on the bottle. He improved on his invention by adding a rubber gasket to the lid and eventually changing the sides of the lid to make it easier to grip and open.
Mason jars are made of transparent bleached glass. According to the Huffington Post, the innovation allows users to check if the content has been corrupted. Today’s glass jars are usually made from soda-lime glass.
Regulations allowed his designs to enter the public domain 20 years later, and after 1879 there were many competitors. Ball Corporation licensed mason jars and remained the main manufacturer until the 1990s. Newell Brands is currently the main supplier of glass jars in North America.
The ingenious inventor is also credited with creating the first screw-top salt and pepper shakers. Mason jars even inspired the first canning cookbook in 1887, Canning and Preserving by Sarah Tyson Rohrer.
In addition to canning, Starbucks also uses Mason jars for cold brewing. They are also the drinkware of choice in some rustic canteens or home kitchens. They can be used as pen and pencil holders or stylish cocktail glasses. There is even a detailed online book: Mason Jars: Preserving 160 Years of History.
Jars of various vintages and manufacturers are sought after by collectors and sell for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. According to The New York Times, cobalt blue glass jars are the holy grail, worth $15,000 on the collector’s market in 2012. Country Living claims that if all the glass jars sold in a year were lined up, they would cover the entire globe.
John Landis Mason’s contribution to canning has made food safer, more affordable, and fresher food more accessible to city dwellers. The basic design of his idea has changed little since the beginning. Although the inventor lost most of his monetary reward, he is pleased that November 30, the date he received the key patent for the ceramic jar, has been declared National Stone Jar Day.
Post time: Feb-21-2023