Heres a Ball-made jar from my collection with an interesting, heartwarming history. Its a relatively common, half-gallon, square Ball Ideal jar. What makes this jar interesting is its use. I call it When necessity meets creativity. In 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, the Southern Methodist Orphans Home in Waco, Texas was struggling to survive as donations shrank while more hungry children arrived each day. Hubert Johnson, the superintendent of the home, came up with the idea of providing specially embossed home canning jars to local methodist churches. The women of each church were asked to fill the jars with the produce of their home gardens to provide extra food for the orphans home. They were emptied, washed and re-used for many years. About 16,000 of these custom jars were produced at Balls Wichita Falls, Texas plant (opened in 1916) using a $1,500 gift from a local benefactor. The front of the jar features the familiar Ball Ideal embossing, while the reverse is embossed with Property of Southern Methodist Orphans Home, Waco, Texas.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 03:36:09 +0000
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