Introduction

In 1961, George Myers, a Ball Brothers employee, wrote a six volume history entitled The Story of Ball Brothers. Only a few copies were created. One set is in the Ball Corporation library, two sets are in the archives at Minnetrista. Presumably, Mr. Myers used the corporate and family records to create the work. However, its accuracy is not verifiable in all instances.

From Volume Two – Plant Purchases – Financial Data, I have abstracted some production records. While I have combined three sets of data, the information is, hopefully, verbatim.

Please note that the numbers are listed in gross of jars. To get the total number of pieces produced, multiply by 144.

Also, it is possible that the early records include packer jars in the total for jars, as it is known that such ware was being made.

Interestingly, the listings show the seasonality of the company’s operation, showing they used September to August fiscal year in the early years.

Unfortunately, the information is not broken down by type of ware, color, or plant.

Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company

And

Ball Brothers Company Incorporated

And Subsidiaries

Domestic sales in “Number of Gross” (Sold Annually) for years 1895 through 1961

Year Jars Packer Jars Liquor Bottles

Sep 1, 1894 – Aug 31, 1895 152,969 - -

Sep 1, 1895 – Aug 31, 1896 217,440 - -

Sep 1, 1896 - Aug 31, 1897 278,278 - -

Sep 1, 1897 – Aug 31, 1898 242,424 - -

Sep 1, 1898 – Aug 31, 1899 302,571 - -

Sep 1, 1899 – Oct 31, 1900 276,334 - -

Nov 1, 1900 – Oct 31, 1901 429,962 - -

Nov 1, 1901 – Oct 31, 1902 284,203 - -

Nov 1, 1902 – Nov 30, 1903 336,834 - -

Dec 1, 1903 – Oct 31, 1904 390,529 - -

Nov 1, 1904 – Oct 31, 1905 513,620 - -

Nov 1, 1905 – Oct 31, 1906 462,624 - -

Nov 1, 1906 – Oct 31, 1907 416,626 - -

Nov 1, 1907 –Oct 31, 1908 242,864 - -

Nov 1, 1908 –Oct 31, 1909 576,081 - -

Nov 1, 1909 – Dec 31, 1910 497,405 - -

Jan 1, 1911 – Dec 31, 1911 580,982 - -

Jan 1, 1912 – Dec 31, 1912 761,425 - -

Jan 1, 1913 – Dec 31, 1913 801,970 - -

Jan 1, 1914 – Dec 31, 1914 755,127 - -

Jan 1, 1915 – Dec 31, 1915 903,374 - -

Jan 1, 1916 – Dec 31, 1916 650,033 - -

Jan 1, 1917 – Dec 31, 1917 867,034 - -

Jan 1, 1918 – Dec 31, 1918 998,875 - -

Jan 1, 1919 – Dec 31, 1919 1,065,686 - -

Jan 1, 1920 – Dec 31, 1920 1,061,657 - -

Jan 1, 1921 – Dec 31, 1921 630,278 - -

Jan 1, 1922 – Dec 31, 1922 1,085,555 - -

Jan 1, 1923 – Dec 31, 1923 1,050,000 - -

Jan 1, 1924 – Dec 31, 1924 735,000 - -

Jan 1, 1925 – Dec 31, 1925 680,246 - -

Jan 1, 1926 – Dec 31, 1926 1,211,685 41,925 -

Jan 1, 1927 – Dec 31, 1927 720,916 67,809 -

Jan 1, 1928 – Dec 31, 1928 775,770 81,475 -

Jan 1, 1929 – Dec 31, 1929 641,707 229,602 -

Jan 1, 1930 – Dec 31, 1930 518,436 163,816 -

Jan 1, 1931 – Dec 31, 1931 1,294,556 119,994 -

Jan 1, 1932 – Dec 31, 1932 691,041 90,294 -

Jan 1, 1933 – Dec 31, 1933 564,187 104,115

Jan 1, 1934 – Dec 31, 1934 546,865 112,380 37

Jan 1, 1935 – Dec 31, 1935 671,381 217,587 12,912

Jan 1, 1936 – Dec 31, 1936 421,258 373,640 42,629

Jan 1, 1937 – Dec 31, 1937 761,680 538,503 374,724

Jan 1, 1938 – Dec 31, 1938 461,530 688,576 434,613

Jan 1, 1939 – Dec 31, 1939 489,401 689,459 367,274

Jan 1, 1940 – Dec 31, 1940 376,606 753.982 529,367

Jan 1, 1941 – Dec 31, 1941 606,807 976,656 774,138

Jan 1, 1942 – Dec 31, 1942 1,123,899 1,317,583 746,722

Jan 1, 1943 – Dec 31, 1943 1,650,112 2,062,781 526,871

Jan 1, 1944 – Dec 31, 1944 876,613 1,726,655 579,006

Jan 1, 1945 – Dec 31, 1945 966,605 2,711,404 680,828

Jan 1, 1946 – Dec 31, 1946 1,037,968 3,134,767 728,397

Jan 1, 1947 – Dec 31, 1947 803,390 2,096,360 827,523

Jan 1, 1948 – Dec 31, 1948 715,042 1,823,504 610,404

Jan 1, 1949 – Dec 31, 1949 450,642 1,897,664 683,015

Jan 1, 1950 – Dec 31, 1950 566,107 2,107,051 803,222

Jan 1, 1951 – Dec 31, 1951 439,600 2,485,863 741,924

Jan 1, 1952 – Dec 31, 1952 465,611 2,229,322 774,682

Jan 1, 1953 – Dec 31, 1953 403,082 2,554,167 749,125

Jan 1, 1954 – Dec 31, 1954 304,528 2,634,048 663,748

Jan 1, 1955 – Dec 31, 1955 372,420 2,929,344 726,164

Jan 1, 1956 – Dec 31, 1956 379,364 2,770,422 597,143

Jan 1, 1957 – Dec 31, 1957 321,600 2,911,133 551,179

Jan 1, 1958 – Dec 31, 1958 409,943 3,301,422 808,603

Jan 1, 1959 – Dec 31, 1959 329,704 3,286,139 840,485

Jan 1, 1960 – Dec 31, 1960 274,737 3,460,383 833,539

Jan 1, 1961 – Dec 31, 1961 342,057 3,881,180 627,950

Total 41,256,856 56,570,875 16,636,224