Good evening, welcome to our series sharing Unique Holidays: November 30th, 2021. Take a look at the Holidays being celebrated today and let me know which Holiday you most want to celebrate and why. Charlie and I think we will celebrate National Mason Jar Day and visit a restaurant and see if we can find a Dessert in a Mason Jar. Would you like to join us for dessert?
National Mason Jar Day– always held on November 30th.
It’s National Mason Jar Day which is always held on November 30th. This Holiday exists to give recognition to the Mason Jar. While we celebrate, the invention of Mason Jars. While everyone can celebrate the Mason Jar, home gardeners find Mason Jars invaluable for canning Fruits and Vegetables.
History of Mason Jars for Canning
Food storage and food safety has always been a vitally essential issue. In ancient History, man hunted and foraged for food. Whatever was available, had to be consumed either right away, or shortly thereafter. Only a few Vegetables and Fruits could be saved for longer than a few days. Even then, those Fruits and Vegetables had a very short storage life of a few weeks to maybe a few months. Eventually, Man discovered ways to preserve some foods including drying and salting Meats, and drying Fruits and Vegetables. This significantly extended the shelf life of many foods, but taste and texture wasn’t ideal.
On November 30th, 1858, John Landis Mason received U.S. Patent # 22186 for the Mason Jar, and revolutionized the world of food safety and storage. The Mason Jar patent was for a square shouldered glass jar with a matching lid, rubber ring and screw top. In addition, the Mason Jar is reusable. Needless to say, the Mason Jar became widely popular with home gardeners. Over the years, the Mason Jar became available in Pint, Quart and a Half Gallon size. Did you know the Quart Size Mason jar has always been the most popular size. The Ball Corporation became the leading manufacturer of canning jars.
The popularity of Mason Jars peaked during World War II. At the time, the Federal Government encouraged people to grow their own food as a way to preserve resources. It allowed additional labor resources to be directed to the War effort. After the War, the invention of the Refrigerator allowed for easy storage of foods, avoiding the time consuming canning process. However, canning continues to be popular with home gardeners.
While Mason Jars are generically called “canning jars”, most people refer to them as “Mason Jars”.
Evolving Uses for Mason Jars
John Landis Mason’s original invention was intended for use in canning Fruits and Vegetables, significantly and safely extending the storage life for foods. For over a hundred and fifty years, that’s exactly how Mason Jars were used. They served this purpose exceedingly well. With the arrival of Refrigerators, and people moving into the City, home canning slowly declined. People stopped using Mason Jars as canning jars, and they accumulated in people’s storage areas, or were donated. These donated Mason Jars found little demand.
Over the past ten or twenty years, and longer, people began to find alternative uses for Mason Jars. Some of these alternative uses now include:
- Turning them into drinking glasses. which has caught on in Bars, Breweries, and in the home.
- Fill a Mason Jar with the dry recipe ingredients for Cakes, or Brownies. Adorn them with Seasonal Decorations and give the Mason Jars away as gifts. Or, sell them in stores.
- Schools and youth groups use Mason Jars in Seasonal Art projects. Kids bring Mason Jars decorated home to their parents.
- Crafters are extremely creative and find countless ways to create works of Art out of Mason Jars.
Most canning jars are made of clear glass but for a while blue mason jars were manufactured. Check your attic and basement for the blue jars, which are old and valuable. Did you know Zinc lids were also made for a while.
Origin and History of National Mason Jar Day:
This Holiday was created in 2017 by Misty Campbell-Olbert. Misty is also the founder of “Unbox the Bizarre”, a maker of Gift Boxes for a wide variety of Holidays or events. As you can imagine, Misty promotes the alternative uses of Mason Jars, for uses other than canning foods.
Mason Jars revolutionized and vastly improved the world of Food Storage. As a result, it makes sense to have a special Holiday to recognize the importance of canning jars.
This relatively new Holiday is called a “National” day. However, we did not find a Congressional or Presidential Proclamation making this day a true National Holiday.
Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day– always held on November 30th.
Stay at Home Because You Are Well Day is today. Do you feel okay? If’ so, its a good day to take off from work.
According to Wellcat.com, the creators of this Holiday, the objective is to call in “well” to your work. It’s as simple as that.
We recommend you use caution and good judgment. Following the concept of this Holiday could get you a reprimand or cost you your job. Participating in this Holiday might not be the right thing for you to do.
Origin of Stay at Home Because You Are Well Day:
Stay at Home Because You Are Well Day is a copyrighted Holiday created and is provided, courtesy of the great folks at Wellcat.com
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
