Mason's Improved Fruit Jar

Mason's Improved Fruit Jar

A product of the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company in late 1870s, this Mason’s Improved Jar proved to be popular and accessible to many people in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A common household item, the jar helped housewives during the time-consuming process of canning and changed the way people viewed food preservation. The storage and protection these jars provided helped mothers achieve their goals of maintaining a healthy household. These jars were mass produced until the twentieth century, which causes their abundance today.

The inventor of the Mason jar, John Landis Mason, was born in Vineland, N.J., in 1832. He patented his jar in 1858.

Recovered from excavation prior to construction of Rutgers-Camden dormitory at 330 Cooper Street, Camden, N.J.

Rutgers University-Camden

Late nineteenth century; photograph, April 2018

Ashley Angelucci; photograph by Jacob Lechner

Collection of Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts

Affleck, Richard, George Cress, Ingrid Weubber, Rebecca White, Kimberly Morrell, and Thomas Kutys. Phase II and Data-Recovery Archaeological Excavations of the Smith-Maskell Site Cooper Street Development Camden, New Jersey. Archaeological Excavation Report, Burlington: URS Corporation.

Reconstructed glass jar, 7 inches tall and 4.5 inches wide.

Photograph