Ball

Standard

Dates of production:

Ball Standard, logo 1, offset neck seams 1897-1906

Ball Standard, logo 1, matching neck seams 1904-1910

Ball Standard, logo 2 1910-1912

Refer to the glossary for definition of terms.

Notes:

The Ball Standard was Ball’s version of the wax seal fruit jar. It has a circular groove in the top that was filled with hot wax for sealing. A shallow tin lid was held in place with a thin wire that clamped over the lip of the jar.

Interestingly, all Ball Standards were machine-made. It may have been the first jar that Ball made with the new semi-automatic glass making machine invented by Alva Bingham and F. C. Ball and patented in 1898. For more on this speculation, read the article The First Ball Machine-Made Jar?

Later, the jars were made on the Ball-Bingham machine that was introduced in 1904. Jars made on this machine have the finish seam and the body seam aligned.

Two varieties of Ball Standards exist. The earliest ones have Logo 1, with the triple L loop, and would have been made between 1897 and 1910. Some exist with Logo 2 which was introduced about 1910. It has been stated that the Standard was discontinued in 1909, but it is likely that the jars with Logo 2 were made after that date.

It is known that Ball Standard jars were offered as late as 1917 to customers, but it is probable that these were warehoused jars left over from previous years.