This is a very tough jar to obtain in the half gallon size. It is only listed in quart size in Redbook 9 but they do exist as you see here. Very boldly embossed with large patent date on the front lower heel and this version also has the bulge neck and is a deep Ball blue color.

  This is an early offset perfect mason jar that has obviously been altered from it's appearance. This jar is a little taller then normal and seems to have the mouth / threaded area tinkered with. Also somewhat appears to have and added underscore look from the way it is embossed. Like the mold maker forgot to cut it in the mold and then squeezed it in there for it being so tight. 

  Here is a Ball mason with a style that is really different then what you usually run across. This jar is so strange and notice that the 3rd L in Ball is almost straight across. I believe this is a very early mason from the late 1890's on some of the very first glass blowing machines. 99% of Ball mason jars you see look pretty much the same with a slight difference in the logo but this jar is quite different. A very cool jar indeed.

  Base shot    Another unusual mason made on the same machine. Notice how the underscore is curved along with MASON offset to the right of the underscore. This is another odd 3L mason you don't see often.

  This is a nice jar in light blue. Improved closure with glass lid and zinc band this jar was made on the E.B.Ball machine as it has the fine set of threads on the mouth of the jar seperate from the main threads where the zinc band screws on. Circa:1900-1910

  A quart shoulder seal 2L Special made on the Bingham machine in ball blue. Nice cruce lower half and several bubbles in the back make this a nice jar.

  This jar has fantastic milk glass swirls through out the entire jar and was a real good find. It isn't common at all to find a Ball jar like this. You will run across jars that are olive with amber swirls which are gorgeous in their own right but this jar is totally different and really great to look at. Check out the swirl in the base it reminds me of a fishtail. Very cool jar made on the Bingham machine...

   another view     yet another view     fish tail base shot

  This jar when found is normally a shade of blue ranging from light to deep. This jar is a nice green color and the only one I have found in this color being made on the Ball Bingham machine. That's what is tough about this jar is the machine it was made on and the style of the jar being rounded on the shoulders with a mold line running around it. 

  When you hear the term "Low embossed" this jar is a perfect example of a 3L 1/2 gallon that has this characteristic. Nice and bubbly it is a nice old jar. Circa: pre-1910

  Here is a jar you don't see often. You will see a Ball Improved Mason on a regular basis but this is an Improved Mason's with an "S". I guess the mold maker wasn't thinking the day he cut this mold who knows. Circa:1900-1910

   This jar is absoloutley gorgeous in color and quart in size. A 2L Special made on the Ball Bingham machine in a nice deep Sun Colored Amethyst color. Originally clear the sun's UV rays have turned it this color from a chemical reaction with the content of the glass, Manganese. Shoulder seal Special jars aren't easy to find and this jar is just beautiful. Circa:1910-1923

  A gorgeous SCA 3L pint Ball mason made on the F.C. Ball machine is pictured here. Took me 25 years to get one of these for the collection so that ought to tell you how scarce they are.  Circa:1900-1910

  This jar is a pint Sure Seal made on the Owens machine. You will note it has a peened out area to the right above Seal which is thought to be Sanitary. It is an odd jar for there are no known pint Sanitary Sure Seal jars to exist so it is another pretty tough jar. Circa:1911-1916

  This is a really tough variant to find in this series. You may see these jars on occasion but this is the first one I have run across with a bulge neck. 99% of these have just the full wire twist bail with a bead or 2 above the wire but this example you can see has a noticeable bulge to prevent the wire from sliding upward. Made on the Owens machine with patent date embossed on the base and quart in size. Circa:1913

  A hard variant to find for the color and being a bead seal jar make this a real nice find. You see Ball mason jars all day long that are shoulder seal and occasional bead seal versions but usually are Ball blue and made on the Bingham machine. This jar is a nice yellow green and was made at the Root plant by the base design. A pretty tough jar to obatin.

  As with the jar listed below this is a Rall mason but in the pint size. Pint size Rall mason jars are very, very scarce jars in any color. It took me many years before I could get my hands on a pint jar. This yellow green example is a real beauty and in excellent condition. You can see the line running around the shoulder where it was reworked from a shoulder seal to a bead seal. Bead seal jars were among the last of this series to be made so there aren't many around.

   This is a Rall jar remade from a Root mold. This version also is a very scarce bead seal in a nice apple green color. Usually when found these jars will be the more common shoulder seal and yellow green and occasionally aqua. Bead seal Rall jars are very scarce in the first place but a nice colored bold example is tough to come by.

  This is an absoloutely gorgeous Teal green quart 3L Ball mason I picked up at a jar show for 10 bucks. I was amazed to see it sitting on the table for such a small price. I snatched it up quickly before anyone else got their hands on it. It's hard to find such a nice colored Ball jar as this one in an odd color. Mint condition and fantastic color make this a fine addition to the collection.

  At first glance this appears to be your normal 3L mason made on the F.C. Ball machine. Basically it is except for one small detail on the base. Jars will have a number and or letter on the base but this jar has them side by side as if the mold maker carved his initials on it. There are a few jars out there like this one that exist with initials but they are few and far between. A nice apple green example in the quart size and unlisted in the redbook.

  A close up view of the "VH" lettered base

  This jar is listed as extremely scarce in the redbook #189. This jar also happens to be a beautiful shade of SCA ( sun colored amethyst ) You will note the jar is a 2L dropped a and not a 3L. That is what makes this jar so scarce and hard to locate. I have only seen a few of these for sale and all other have been clear in color. Luckily I got a nice amethyst version for my collection.

  A very early pair of BLOCK lettered perfect mason jars in Ball blue. These two jars here will show the difference between the small and large lettered examples you may find. Photo below shows off a nice green colored pint as well. You can see also this jar has had some work to the shoulder area with the line going around it where the mold was re-worked.

  Ball blue & green pint jars

  This is one of the first Sure Seal jars made with the 3rd L loop circa:1909. Around 1910 they went to the 2 L style with also another version that has an erased 3rd L. This quart is light green and was made on the Bingham machine. Bingham jars always have nice bubbles and swirls in the glass and are my favorite machine made jars.

  Side view

  2 pictures here of a quart and pint re-worked Drey Perfect Mason. The quart jar has a very strong ghosted Drey visible as you can see the "Y" very strong. The pint is a little lighter but still a visible ghosting can be seen. Circa:1925+

  Click here to see the pint

  These beaded neck seal jars made on the Bingham machine are a pretty moderate shade of Blue and have nice swirls and bubbles in the glass. A very clean 2 L jar made near the end of the Ball mason series. Circa:1910

  This is one of the strongest ghosted jars from Ball you will see and also about as clear as glass can get. Very clear, clean glass in the re-worked Pine mold jars. Ball bought out the Pine Glass Works in the late 1920's and re-worked the Pine Deluxe Jar to the Ball Deluxe Jar you see here. Notice how visible the ghosting is as it looks like Bale it is so strong. These jars were only made for about a year and have very bold Prismactic embossing that really stands out. Circa:late 1920's

  Close up view of PINE ghosted behind Ball

  This is a Ball blue quart Improved jar with Improved in a slugplate. These jars are thought to have been re-worked Perfection molds as to why Improved was cut into the mold in a plate over the word Perfection. These are the earliest version's of the Improved as later version's will not have this slugplate. Set beside a quart Perfection they do have much in common. Redbook #220-6

  This jar here is a bit odd. Made between 1933-1941 it has the neck finish of a full wire twist bail jar that was common on much earlier jars. Another unusual thing about this jar is that it has the patent date embossed on it "July 14. 08." that was issued to Anthony F. McDonald for his full round dimple style neck closure that you see a lot of on other Ideal, Sure Seal, Sanitary Sure Seal, and also the McDonald New Perfect Seal series of jars. This jar doesn't even have the neck finish for the patent date embossed on it. One other note is this jar also has an "added underscore" which you can see how closely the underscore is right underneath the word Ball. This more then likely was an older mold from the 1920's that was used in the 1930's for this jar when Ball had the underscored style script. Proof that Ball didn't waste anything that could still be used.

  This jar I can not find listed in the Redbook. It is half gallon in size, light green, SBGI with Mason offset to the left. Closest thing I see is 248-5 which is only listed in clear. New jars pop up all the time so they are always being added from time to time. I'm sure the next Redbook will have updates just as every other one has. It is a varient that is seldome seen. I have seen a few pint's with this embossing but not a hg until I got this one. Circa:1900-1910

  A rather scarce version of the Balll Standard circa:1900-1910 this jar has sharply squared shoulders. Light green in color and made on the Ball Bingham machine. You will find many more rounded shoulder jars before you find one of these. Redbook 8 #314-1

  An excellent example of a jar that used to be a shoulder seal re-worked to a beaded neck seal. A nice yellow green color and also has a square letter "O". The base is interesting as it has a "B" almost in the valve mark and a large looking letter "g" surrounded by 4 raised dots. Cira:1910

  Click to see a view of the base

  I know I say this a lot about several jars on my site but it is true. This jar too isn't seen too often. Some may not catch it but if you look closely you can see it has a disconnected 3rd L loop. Half gallon in size it is a nice shade of aqua. After collecting jars for many years you learn to train your eye to look at all areas of a jar to find that needle in the haystack. I found one here and it's a keeper. Circa:1896-1910. 

  Outstanding color in this jar and rarely found. Gorgeous Teal Blue Balll Mason. I have seen a few of these but this one has the best color by far. Circa:1896-1910 it is a beauty.

  This is a neat little jar I have always liked. Most of these you find are of the yellow green color but this one is a nice light blue. Ball The Mason circa:1900-1910 is another one of those re-worked molds from Ball. Possibly an altered mold from The Mason acquisition in Coffeyville, Kansas.

  This jar is among one of the very first jars that Ball made in an early semi-auto glass machine. Many examples of embossing exist in this series which can make you search for a long time. I found this one tucked away back on a shelf behind other jars. Most if not all of these jars are a nice light green color as this example. A lot of these also have weak embossing but this one has nice bold embossing. Half gallon jars are my favorite size for collecting so I was glad to find this jar. Circa:1897-1900

  A tall half gallon slender round jar from the 1920's in a strange yellowish tint. Ball Eclipse widemouth circa:1928-1933

  2 jars pictured here in this photo. The first jar is a square Eclipse with Eclipse in a slugplate. Also had the patent date embossed below it but is peened out and has the date embossed on the base. The jar next to it is a pure green Balll.

  This is a cool looking jar. Opalized aqua in the half gallon size. These jars have a unique look to them and stick out among others. The first picture is a regular Balll and the second picture is a Balll mason. The Balll mason is less common of the 2 but both are pretty scarce regardless...

  Opalized Balll mason

  This jar is really pretty with all the amber swirling through out the glass. Another thing which is very uncommon for a wax sealer is this one has a near mint lip. Usually wax sealer jars are pretty chipped up or have pieces broken off of them from prying the lid off. I've had this jar for quite sometime but never really took a good picture of it. These turned out well and show off the true color and beautful swirls. Has a nice swirl in the base also you can see. Very hard to find a good colored Ball Standard as they usually are not to be found for sale. Redbook #314 circa:late 1890's-1912

  Click here for a view of the backside    Click here for a shot of the swirled base

 Here I am going to put 7 pictures of the re-worked "Root Mason" that Ball made into the "Rall" Mason. You will notice the letter "B" in these jars looks more like an "R". These jars are very easy to tell from your typical Ball Mason jar for the letter "B" and also the style of the 2 L's in the word Ball. Some of these have a pretty good looking "B" in Ball as you will see below. This variety of the Rall Mason is less common. Most all of these you run across are a pretty Yellow Green coloration and are of the shoulder seal variety. I have 2 beaded neck seal version's below one in an intense Yellow Green and the other is a light Blue and these are pretty scarce. Many of these also you will see the ghosting of the word "Root" or part of the crossed "T" still visible. The 1/2 gallon below has a strong ghosting of most of the word left. 1/2 gallon "Rall" Mason's are also very tough to obtain. I have seen far more quart jars then the 1/2 gallon version's. This jar also has a dot after the word mason.

  Common Rall Mason    Less common with good "B"    Less common aqua with good "B" and large "R" on base

  Scarce beaded neck seal    Scarce light blue beaded neck seal    Scarce 1/2 gallon ghosted    close up

  A nicely colored 1/2 gallon Ball with the 3rd L is pictured here. This jar is a bright green with a light amber swirl in the base and has many small bubbles through out the glass. This is the plainest version of a Ball jar with only the name with no Mason beneath it. Very pretty jar...

  Here is a nice little pint Ball Improved in SCA. Nice deep color in this jar and in mint condition with nice strong embossing. These colored jars are among my favorite for color. I usually buy clear jars and watch them turn color in the sun but this one I got already in a nice shade of Amethyst. 

  Wow!!! Look at the color of this beauty. I found this jar probably 20 years ago when I was hiking up in the mountains. It was partially burried and I dug it out took it home and cleaned it up. This jar was clear when found but now check it out. Been sitting out in the sun for several years and what a change. Like the pint below it has a high concentration of Manganese for the color change. This version has the ghosted 3rd L or peened out 3rd L and was made shortly after the pint below. Probably late 1909-1910...

  Very very tough pint to get ahold of and this one also is a deep shade of amethyst. These 3L Sure Seal jars were only made in 1909 when the 3rd L was peened out or removed to make the more common 2L jars. When I first got this jar it was about as clear as window glass. Sitting outside in the sun a chemical reaction has taken place and now you see it has turned a very pretty Amethyst. It didn't take long for this jar to reach this color so it must have a high content of Manganese in it. That is the chemical responsible for making it turn color in the sun's uv rays. 

  This little pint has a lot of color going for it. Straw yellow is what we have here and it is a beauty. One of the weirdest colors for a canning jar to me. Circa:1942-1955 these jars are not seen too often. I have a quart just like it but the color isn't as intense as this jar. Very pretty jar and clean...

  Here are 2 different embossing's of the earliest of Ball Perfect Mason jars. A nice green jar on the left with the arched long "L" Ball blue version on the right. These are re-makes of Boyd Perfect Mason jars as Ball wasn't the inventor of the Perfect Mason. Boyd made Perfect Mason jars first then Ball bought them out and re-worked the molds like they always did. The jar on the right in Ball blue is real tough to get ahold of. I have seen many many of the other variety's and only 2 or 3 of these at the most. I also have one other where all of the words are lined up. I'll have to re-take the pic and upload it when I get a chance.

  This is the Boyd jar that Ball used for the arched Perfect Mason above

Here we have another jar not seen often. I spotted this jar in an antique store I was browsing near Culpepper Va. At first I thought it was a Drey as it was facing away from me. After I picked it up and turned it I said to myself hey I found another good Ball jar from a re-worked mold. It was a steal at $4.95 and I took it home with me. If you haven't noticed this jar has Drey style glass bosses for the wire bail attachment. Circa:1925-1933 it is Red book 8 # 209-5. I have seen several pint jars like this but this is my first quart I have run across...

  You can click here to see a close up of the glass boss

Here we have 3 different Ball Sanitary Sure Seals with the unusual dimple style. All of these jars are much harder to find then the usual full twisted wire bail version. Embossed on the base are PAT'D JULY 14, 08. Red book 8 #300 circa:1913. About 5 examples of these jars are known to exist, could be more out there who knows. I'm still searching for the other 3 version's to add to the collection but so far no luck. Maybe sooner or later I'll get lucky...

Here is a color you don't see often. On the left is an early "BALLS" jar in teal. You will notice that the 3rd L is short and looks more like an "S". One other note to mention is the "B" in Ball is also different then usual. It has no loop like you usually see in the word Ball. Just a plain "B" on this example. Shoulder seal version with a very faint ghosting of the word mason below it. Hard to see but it is there. The jar to the right of it was perfectly clear when I found it years ago in a mountain dump. Sitting outside in the sun for some time has made it turn a gorgeous shade of Sun Colored Amethyst. This is one of the earlier Sure Seals circa:1909-1910. This example shows the peened out 3rd L ( ghosted ) and also has a matching colored lid. One of my good finds from searching through trash piles many years ago...

I got an e-mail from a fellow collector asking me who I had to kill to get my hands on this jar!!! 1/2 pint Ball Perfection in Ball blue. This definitly is a very tough jar to get ahold of and I was lucky to get it. Since I have gotten this jar I finally also got a quart to add to the set as you can see on my home page. Now I have then all from 1/2 pint to 1/2 gallon. Very tough set to assemble... 

{---- Click here to see the original lid on this cute little jar...

  Click here to see a full set from half pint to half gallon

This is a tough colored jar to find in this size. 1/2 gallon Olive Amber Ball Perfect Mason. Just a gorgeous color with reddish amber swirls in the base. Circa:1915-1923

These 2 jars are a nice color. The one on the left is Olive Amber like the 1/2 gallon above but in the quart size. The jar sitting next to it is a shoulder seal cornflower colored Ball Mason. A very odd color for a Ball jar in any embossing. It is the only one I have found and goes well in the collection. Ball mason circa:1900-1910...

Here we have 2 of my favorite quart jars in the Perfect Mason series. The jar on the left is a brilliant bright Olive Green. Looks like it was never used it is so clean. The jar sitting next to it is pure Amber and another great colored jar. These colored jars from the teens are a nice way to spice up your collection and add some color to the hand blown aqua jars.

This jar here is the only one I have ever seen in this color and is really unique in it's color. It is golden carnival glass and really is gorgeous. This jar damn near glows sitting on the shelf it is so strong in color. It is genuine and has not been irradated as some jars have had this process done to them recently. I got this jar from a good friend of mine, Bob Clay. He had it in his collection for around 15 years when the irradating process wasn't being done to fruit jars. I accept this as Bob is highly reputable in the collecting field and has also worked for the Ball corporation for many years. This jar originally came from Norm Barnett and said that at one time it had been featured in a magazine article called "Carnival Glass". It has also been told by Granny Kath that supposedly a couple guys that worked for Ball had flashed these to get the color and got caught and fired for it so who knows how many of these may be floating around out there. This is the only one I have seen in such a deep color like this anyway and it is my favorite colored jar as it is like one of a kind. Thanks Bob for letting me have this unique jar in my collection...

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