You were once most likely to spot a Mason jounce in your nan ’s buttery , but now the menial canning vessel is n’t out of home in the finest farm - to - table restaurants or cocktail bar . How on the button did it become so nerveless ?
Over atThe Atlantic , writer Ariana Kelly explore the jar ’s unlikely popularity , retrace its origins all the agency back to 1858 . Back then , someone canned their summertime harvest time and stored them away for the winter months . The process forestall food from crumble , but it was n’t mug - proof . Vegetables , meat , and domestic fowl needed to be pressure - tin , which involve heating the jar up to very eminent temperatures to kill bacteria . The job with this method acting : the jar did n’t have airtight Navy SEAL .
John Landis Mason rarify pressure give the axe by inventing the now eponymous Mason jar . The raw jar ’s roast neck opening and screw - on cap stay fresh out seed , and the transparent glass showcased its contents in an esthetically pleasing way . By the early 20th century , the Mason jounce was the great unwashed - manufactured by fellowship like the Ball Corporation , allowing it to become a staple fibre of agrarian life .
World War II usher in the Second Advent of Victory Gardens , which help the Mason jarful ’s star continue to uprise — for a brief time , anyway . By the ' 50s , its condition as a staple of the American kitchen was threatened as new technology ( tin canning , freezers ) and innovations in transportation made families less reliant on growing and preserve their own food . The growing of bakelite and nylon made plastic containers the standard for industrial preservation , thus sealing the jar ’s lot .
Or so it seemed . By the 1960s and ' 70s , the DIY , back - to - the - land crusade had taken detainment , and Mason jars and canning have a revival . Like most movement , the DIY movement has ebb down and flowed over the years , late returning with a vengeance after prominent intellect like Michael Pollan have evangelized the importance of eating local , fresh - grown foods . Once more , the Mason jar start reappearing in kitchen ( and wine bars , and habitation decor shops ) across America .
Steve Hungsberg , director of selling for Jarden Home Brands — the party that sell Ball Mason jars — attributes their renewed successto both the locavore cause and honorable , old - fashioned nostalgia .
Are you a fan of Mason jarful , but not so keen on their hipster adopters ? Take this knowledge to heart : Unlike most trendy items , they ’re also timeless . Once they ’ve had their moment , they ’ll in all likelihood return to relative obscureness — and back into the hands of the canners that in the first place favored them for their informality and functionality .
[ h / tThe Atlantic ]
