My wifes grandmother gave her a lot of her old glass jars from the 1920s-1940s and we're not sure if the following in particular can still be used for canning.
-atlas mason square jar
-square mason square jar
-ball perfect mason square jar
Im attaching a picture of some for reference. https://i.imgur.com/6pJzvUW.jpeg
by TG_CLuTcH
6 Comments
I may be wrong but you might want to take those to an antique appraiser before you do anything else.
If they have no chips or cracks and the bands and lids fit on them they are okay. If they have bail lids, nope.
I have a few antique jars in my rotation. I make sure to use them for water bath only. I don’t keep things for pretty so they need to be used, but I also don’t want them to collapse in a pressure canner.
Yes, it is. So long as a modern two part lid fits the mouth and there are no cracks in the jar or chips around the rim, you should be just fine.
The “H over A” Hazel Atlas jars are my favorite jars to can with. They’re just so pretty. I make salsa in them every year.
None of these jars are worth much. The Hazel Atlas jars are worth around $5 plus shipping. A recent sold listing on eBay included a quart and pint jar, and went for $7.99 + shipping. The Ball jar is likely from 1933-1962 and is worth less than $5, with a recent sold listing on eBay having gone for an offer under $5 + shipping.
People think that old jars are worth a lot of money simply because they’re old, and that’s simply not true. The half life of glass is over one million years. These jars are beautiful, persistent pieces of history that we can still use today. Some jars are indeed rare, and it’s always worth looking up, but age does not equate value for mason jars.
Are they sound? No chips or cracks? No burrs on the rim? They fit modern two-part lids?
Then you should be fine.
Also note that over time, jars can acquire nicks from metal utensils being used to extract the contents. I have a few old jars that I use for dry storage and display. I especially like the square ones. If you aren’t sentimentally attached to them, certainly use them for canning but do check them for wear and tear.