I have a deep, deep love for Ball’s blue canning jars. When we got married last year we used the larger ones as center pieces that held beautiful flowers that my mom put together. (Factoid: Not a single great picture exists of them getting used this way.)
I’ve got the jars lined up on top of my cupboards and sprinkled through my house filled with various trinkets and treasures. Every single time I look at them I’m filled with happiness. I share this affinity of the blue canning jars with my Grandma Lowman. (Factoid: My collection of blue canning jars is actually her collection of canning jars. She likes to share.)
I was in Anacortes last weekend and found myself chatting G.Low up. She is such a funny lady and I’ve been told a number of times that I look like her. She’s a looker, so I’m alright with that. Anyhow, I had the chance to ask her some questions about the jars. (Factoid: Midge still has some of the jars displayed in her Anacortes house.)
When did you first notice the jars?
I’ve seen them since I was a child. My mother canned in 1930s in the Yakima Valley. They were part of my family.
What did she can? Did you help?
Apples, pears, peaches, plums. No, I did not help. I wanted to go swimming.
What is your next memory of the blue jars? I saw them when I was an adult and married. They reminded me of my childhood. Bob’s dad, Ray, did the canning in his family. In a copper boiler, on a wood stove. I didn’t have an affection for them yet. It was just what he used.
When did you start to admire them?
When we moved into the Larch Way house. We had traveled all around U.S. and a friend, who is still alive, she gave me a blue jar. She calls me Maggie.
Did you can in them?
Yes. In the Larch Way house. I liked looking up at them.
And you knew that you would bring them here [in your new house]?
They were going to go on top of the the cupboard, it was my idea. I was having an affair with the jars.
Was it difficult to stop collecting the jars? I had fun changing them. Half gallons had sloping shoulders. I had fun standing on the counter changing them in designs that satisifed only me. 3 of only one kind in a row.
Did Grandpa care for them?
He loved them. He was always in on the canning. When we traveled, he’d note the cost [in different shops]. He had an eye for them.
Does anybody else in the family love the jars as much as I do?
If you don’t like primitves, you don’t like them. They fill up my soul.
Anecdotes?
I really learned a lot about the jars. Square, snap lid, sloping shoulders. I’ve never found an article on the blue canning jars, but I’ve never stopped looking.
What would your mom say about us loving them?
She’d do a Scottish dance. Swing her harms like she had her clubs and dance a little jig.
Would she think we were weird?
She would not think we were weird at all. She would hug me. Because she would understand that they were in a place of honor or love.
Do you have a favorite style?
I’m fickle. I have one. Sometimes I like the pints, upstarts, with the snap lid. They are strong looking. Sometimes I like the half gallon ones with a sloped shoulder, it is the most valuable.
Thanks, Midge.
Factoid: Midge has smile balls on her cheeks. Check ’em out.
