1913 patented light purple fruit jar

PenguSupreme

I'm wondering if anyone knows the history of this fruit jar and it's rarity. If possible, it'd be nice to know an estimated value of a jar like this since I have no other sources to go off of. No matter how hard I look for other jars just like this one, I end up with nothing. Also, I don't know if the color of the glass is just a result of the sun turning the glass purple, but for all I know it could be intentionally made this way. Info on that would be nice too.

Here is the patent for the jar that I found on google patents to help with finding info on this jar.

Oh, and also at the bottom of the jar it reads "Design Patent 44495, S.W & Co."

Chris

Thanks for posting and I commend you for finding the patent!

The de facto resource for fruit jars is called THE RED BOOK OF FRUIT JARS. There are literally thousands of entries and I know there are at least some jars that have no manufacturer or company name on them. I have an old edition and will look this up when I get a chance. This may have been what is called a "product jar" ie. made to contain a product for sale rather than sold empty for home canning.

Your jar as a pleasing amethyst cast to it - this dates the jar to at or not long after the issue of the patent since the element used to create that color disappears from use about the time of WW1.

I think you will find that, value-wise, it is like any other unmarked jar and has some minor decorative worth.

PenguSupreme

Chris

Alright, thanks for the information. I'll probably hold onto it for decoration because I like the design of the jar, and I'll probably not find another jar that's designed like it specifically. Even if it's not worth a lot, I think it's my favorite jar to put near a window. I just like how they did the sides of the jar; it's like they intended to make the jar to present to customers while at the same time marketed their product.

I'm pretty sure the amethyst glass was intentionally made that way for the time, the place where I found the jar didn't have much sunlight since it was in a thick forest. And even when I found it, it was the same color you see in the picture. It's just hard to know since I can't time travel back in time to see for myself, so that's why I've been trying to figure out what shop/company it could've come from since it's marked "S . W & Co."

I'm sure that these jars had to be pretty common for the time, just a thing I find interesting is that jars from around the WW1 period and before all had unique designs. I just wish this jar had embossment on the front, it'd probably be worth a lot more if it did. My guess is that stores back then had competition, so I'm sure some designed their jars/bottles differently to try and do better than their competition.

It probably had a paper label at one point, but either way I just haven't seen many jars made the way this one is. A lot of people I've shown it to say it's a pretty unique and good-looking jar, so it's pretty much why I've kept it for almost a decade now since the day I found it.

But other than that, it would be cool if you or anyone else can find more information on the jar, I'm sure the S.W & Co written on the bottom of the jar would provide more information on where it came from. I'm pretty sure the guy who patented it that Puetz was a wholesaler back in the early 1900's, since I found a picture of him online and he looked pretty well-dressed, and it even listed 3 years before his death in 1923 that he was a "Wholesale department manager".

Here's a link where I found the information on the guy who patented the jar, hopefully it can provide more info.
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MBTZ-QPX/john-carlyle-puetz-1857-1923

Again, thanks for the information you provided so far because it does help with finding out the origins.

Chris

Browsing the completed auctions for "purple canning jar" will give you some idea, perhaps you will find something similar.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/13913/i.html?_nkw=purple+canning+jar&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1

Chris

A bit more on the purple color issue: https://forum.antiquebottles-glass.com/d/146-purple-glass-bottle/6

Consider that although your bottle was found in a densely forested area it may not have always been that way. Like @BobB said, manganese was used a a decolorizer so the jar started its life as clear.

PenguSupreme

Chris

Yeah, I figured from the start that it was clear. You just don't see many jars that are purple intentionally, if you did there would be embossment or some special reason why.

And yeah, I finally found 2 jars of the same maker in this post.

https://www.auctionninja.com/fairlight-estate-sales/product/air-of-s-w-co-mason-jars-w-lids-1504760.html

But yeah, my guess is that someone probably found the jar or dug it up since I found the jar at an old mining site that is no longer active and there were bottle pits everywhere around it dating from around the period of the jar.

I remember just finding it laying on the surface in the forest when I was walking, and most jars or bottles left on the surface where I live would end up cracked or broken by winter since it gets really cold.

Either way, I'll still keep the jar. I find plenty of other bottles and jars bottle digging, so I usually understand the history or value of a lot of them. There are just a few times where you find something you can't identify.

It's just always good to verify things, because you never know if you don't know the history.