Ball blue jars.

[Joe Hillmann]

I just had a customer bring in some OLD ball canning jars that are blue. I warned them I have never done blue glass before and they may not turn out. After I did them they turned out better than any glass I have ever done.

I have seen in the store that ball is once again making blue canning jars and I am wondering if anyone knows if the new ones engrave as good as the old ones?

[Dave Sheldrake]

Hi Joe,

Please excuse the hijack, what's a "Canning jar"?

best wishes

Dave

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Glass jars with screw-top lids. Also called preserving jars. They are meant to store foods. Try this site www{dot}freshpreserving{dot}com to see how it's done.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Thanks Mike :)

I'm with you now :)

best wishes

Dave

[ray hampton]

was the blue jars consider antique ?

[Joe Hillmann]

Yeah, I think they stopped making them in the 30's or 40's, but just started making them again a year or so ago.

[Dan Hintz]

Joe,

I can't speak to the Ball brand (mom used to do a LOT of canning when I was a young'un), but some of the colored glass will engrave with a surprisingly high-contrast white... Ikea sells a number of items that engrave that way.

[Martin Boekers]

Old blue Mason jars are cheap as there are many out there. I used to collect old bottles for many years and am in the process of selling the collection. I have done cobalt blue champagne flutes and they come out nicely.

[Kathy Madan]

Most colored glass engraves well because of the additional contrast. It is my understanding that Ball glass is celebrating their anniversary and brought back the blue canning jars specifically for that. They will only be making them this year. At least that is what I heard.

[Chuck Stone]

I'd never heard of the blue jars until this thread.
then yesterday saw a whole shelf full of them.
Go figure!

[Dick Jordan]

I did a project for a family that pulled Gramma's old blue canning jars out of the cellar of the old family farmhouse just before it was torn down. I engraved an original photograph of the farmhouse on the jars and it engraved beautifully using my tried and true glass settings. Sad that I didn't get pictures of it but I can attest to the fact that the originals engrave beautifully.

[Russell Holder]

Ball quit making blue jars in 1937. They are making one size jar in blue each year. This year it is the pint size.