Contain yourself
Mason jars pack a variety of uses today
When it comes to the classic Mason jar, there’s just no putting a lid on the endless ways this vintage vessel is being put to use lately. Originally designed and used in the mid-1800s for canning home-grown foods, the jars began fading away. But they are now back with a vengeance, taking a place of prominence on kitchen counters and islands instead of relegated to the dark, dank back of a dusty shelf in the garage.
In their revival, the jars first began cropping up as kitschy drinking glasses in restaurants and occasionally as containers for Christmas gifts such as homemade hot chocolate mix. In 2013, when limited-edition Heritage style Ball Perfect Mason jars were released in a hue of bewitching blue, that just fueled the fire. But wait, there’s more … green jars in pint and quart sizes hit store shelves this year in the limited-edition Heritage Collection. Smart move considering Christmas is just six months away.
Now folks are mixing meals in Mason jars. And the quaint containers have boiled over into the craft and decorating world , being converted into citronella-filled mosquito repelling patio lights, solar lights for sidewalks and paths, and even made into chandeliers.
A JAR IS BORN
Before the Mason jar was created and patented in 1858 by John Mason, a Philadelphia tinsmith, home food
preservation was unreliable, with home cooks using cork or wax to seal food into nontransparent vessels. If the seals didn’t take, the contents spoiled and the containers made it impossible to monitor the condition of the contents inside.
But Mason’s jar of tempered and translucent glass had threads around the neck that could hold down a sealing lid with a screw-on band creating a vacuum as hot foods packed in it cooled.
When Mason’s patent expired, many companies joined the home canning business, from Atlas, Drey, and Golden Harvest to Knox and Globe. But Ball leads the pack.
In 1880, five brothers from Buffalo, N.Y., borrowed $200 from their uncle and started a business making wood-jacketed tin cans for paint and kerosene.
In 1884, they added glass-making, using Mason’s design to manufacture home canning containers which would establish their last name, Ball, as a household name.
Three years later, the brothers moved their factory from western New York to Muncie, Ind., where the natural gas needed for glass-making was less expensive.
In 1993, Ball Corp. quit manufacturing canning jars and the company, now based in Broomfield, Colo., focuses on aerospace and metal packaging. Today, the Ball brand jars are owned and manufactured by Jarden Home Brands, which also makes Kerr (sold mainly west of the Mississippi River) and Bernardin canning jars (sold in Canada) while the Ball jars are still produced in Indiana.
“We’ve seen consistent, record growth in the category in the past two years and it just keeps getting bigger,” says Steve Hungsberg, director of marketing at Jarden Home Brands. “Last year alone we produced enough jars to encircle the world over 90 percent of the way around.”
Hungsberg attributes the renewed interest, in part, to the growing popularity of farmers markets, home gardening, and an increase in those seeking local, sustainable foods.
The demand for Mason jars has also grown as more people use the old-fashioned jars in decorating and crafting.
“About 30 percent of the retail sales of Ball jars from last year is attributed to alternate uses such as crafting and home, extending creativity beyond the kitchen,” Hungsberg says.
“We see everything from do-it-yourself lanterns and beverage use to nonfood storage and are continuing to see our consumers get creative with ways to use our jars outside of canning,” he says. “Our Pinterest page, Pinterest.com/BallCanning, has hundreds of ideas on how to use the jars in clever ways outside the kitchen.”
Responding to the increased interest, last year Jarden released a limited-edition Heritage Collection to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Perfect Mason canning jar in which Ball set aside using other company’s lids and rings and began producing the closures for the jar. The company plans to release other commemorative jars in the future.
The jars appeal to the sentimental as well as the environmentally conscious.
Jami Anderson of Nashville, Tenn., who has relatives in Arkansas, gave her out-of-town guests Mason jars with handles for drinking at her country-theme, zero-waste wedding to Russell Kirchner at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in west Little Rock earlier this month.
Anderson, an art director and graphic designer, accented the jars with festive straws and bandana koozies for added flair.
“I like the old-fashionedness of them — everyone knows what a Mason jar is and for some, it brings back memories of the grandparents making jam or canning vegetables. I love the look of the raised script and designs right in the glass which add a lot to their quaintness.”
And she likes the new ways the vintage-style jars are being used: “They are also socially acceptable to use as drinking glasses or candle holders or pencil jars.”
Professional organizer Becca Clark of Hot Springs who owns Creative Convenience says she recommends her clients use anything they already have or can acquire easily and inexpensively to corral and contain things. And Mason jars fit the bill.
“I could see using them opened to hold art and craft supplies or in the kitchen to hold straws, stirrers, or other cooking tools,” Clark says. “They could be used closed to store any small items that would otherwise get lost — buttons, paper clips and other smaller office supplies — and in the bathroom to hold cotton balls or swabs. They could even hold pretty collections like seashells or marbles.”
The jar’s durability also appeals to Anderson.
“They’re thicker than regular drinking glasses so they’re not as delicate and harder to break on accident and they come in a couple of good sizes as well.”
She and her husband, who sell their homegrown items at the local farmers market in Nashville, use the jars for pickles they sell.
“The downside is that they can cost a dollar and up per jar which cuts into your profit if you’re canning things to sell at a farmers market or buying them in bulk for a crowd of people,” says Anderson, but sometimes she can find them cheaper at thrift stores.
RAISING THE JAR
Weddings and parties aren’t the only places jars serve as drink ware. Noting the demand, Jarden has added a drink ware line of its Ball Mason jars with handles and accessories such as separately sold sip and straw lids and jar infusers.
In Little Rock, locally grown Root Cafe on South Main Street uses Mason jars; so does the more upscale South on Main nearby. Cajun’s Wharf overlooking the Arkansas River has been serving its PlayDe-Do signature rum punch drinks in jars for years and in Eureka Springs, the Squid and Whale Pub delivers Guinness beer in Mason jars.
“When we first started conceptualizing what the restaurant would be like, I knew from the beginning I wanted to use Mason jars in some way,” says Amy Bell, a co-owner of South on Main in downtown Little Rock. “I have very emotional ties to the jars; they remind me of childhood visits with my grandmother, who used them in cooking and canning and would give me one with holes poked in the lid so I could catch fireflies.”
Today, the restaurant keeps between 150 to 200 Mason jars in stock for diners.
“People really like them and oddly enough, it’s the No. 1 thing that’s stolen from the restaurant,” she says. “We expected people to take the coffee cups so we put our logo on them but I’m surprised they’re taking the Mason jars.”
Books, like Mason Jar Salads and More by Julia Mirabella, have been written about reusing these jars in the kitchen and at the table. Mirabella, a lawyer and Mason jar enthusiast who lives in Washington, focuses on salads which can be taken to work for lunch but also includes breakfasts, snacks and dips.
The lids prevent soup and beverages from spilling and the jars are microwave-safe. Edible gifts such as cookie or cake mixes or spiced nuts can be packaged in them with decorative paper cupcake liners between the two lid sections to dress up the jar.
Jars can be used to store and serve homemade salad dressings. Lemonade and iced tea can be steeped and stored in half-gallon jars. Short, widemouth jars filled with condiments can add pizazz to a cookout. Smaller 4-ounce jars can store spices, loose teas and dried herbs while quart-size jars can hold rice, pasta, dried beans and other grains. And the jars, which are stackable, offer a smart way to save space.
And following the restaurants’ lead, Mason jars are ideal for mixed drinks and there’s even a lid which will transform one into a cocktail shaker.
Besides that RedNek Wine Glass (a Ball Mason jar glued atop a Libbey candlestick) sold by Carson Home Accents, which in 2011 had $5 million in sales according to a December 2011 article by CNN Money, others are finding ways to reuse the iconic canning jars.
Books like Lauren Elise Donaldson’s Mason Jar Crafts: DIY Projects for Adorable and Rustic Decor, Storage, Lighting, Gifts and Much More offer instructions for using the jars for nonculinary items, everything from light fixtures to party favors.
And posts on the creative projects website Pinterest fuel the fire, offering countless ideas. A few with Arkansas connections include a Mason jar embellished with a University of Arkansas Razorback logo and even a chandelier created out of Mason jars. It is currently for sale for $199 on Etsy by Jennifer Elder of Rogers in her shop, RedDoorVintage322.
“We got the idea from Pinterest and made the chandelier,” Elder says. “We bought a basic chandelier from an auction and hunted for interesting similar-sized Mason jars to finish it off.”