Hoosier Jar

Attributed to Ohio Valley Glass Company
Bridgeport, Ohio

Blue Green Aquamarine Half Gallon

Provenance: Phil Smith Collection

Our very rare Hoosier Jar is simply embossed in two lines on the face of the jar. The first line, in a sans serif alphabet, reads ‘HOOSIER’ in a soft arch over a straight-line horizontal ‘JAR.’ The base is marked with an embossed ’18.’ A base variation is embossed ‘HOLWEG & REESE’ (arch) and “INDLS. IND.’ (inverted arch). There is a variant misspelling with “Holwig” instead of “Holweg.” The glass color is a very pleasing light blue-green aquamarine.

The Hoosier Jar is hand blown with a ground lip Mason shoulder seal and glass screw cap with three lugs on the inside. The cap is typically embossed ‘PATD SEPT 12TH 1882 JAN 3D 1883’ in a circle on an outer ring and ‘HOOSIER (arch) JAR’ (inverted arch) in an inner circle. A center circle consists of an embossed ring around a slightly convex midpoint

William M. Wallace applied for his first jar patent on March 18, 1882, and received Patent No. 264,379 on September 12 of the same year for a “Mode of Making Glass Screw-Caps.” He assigned one-half of the rights to Charles M. Rhodes of Bridgeport, Ohio. On October 10, 1882, he applied for another patent, this one for a “Mold for Forming Glass Screw Caps.” He received Patent No. 270,162 on January 2, 1883. This was an improvement on his 1882 patent. His final jar-related patent was for “Manufacturing Glass Articles.” He applied for the patent on April 28, 1883, and received Patent No. 278,472 on May 29, 1883.

W. M. Wallace Mode of Making Glass Screw Caps. Patented Sept. 12, 1882.

Charles M. Rhodes was the president of the Ohio Valley Glass Co., which was probably the manufacturer for Holweg & Reese. These jars are related to the Cadiz Jar and The Eclipse jar by their closure style and patentee.

See the museum example of a very similar Cadiz Jar.

See the museum example of The Eclipse jar.

Primary Image: The Hoosier Jar imaged on location by Alan DeMaison, FOHBC Virtual Museum Midwest Studio

Support Images: Auction Lot 802: A greenish aqua half-gallon shoulder seal jar embossed “HOOSIER JAR”. A sharp example with shiny glass, strong embossing, and no damage. Correct original glass screw cap in nice shape, with one thin flake on the top edge, not quite detached. The threads are perfectly smooth. The ground mouth of the jar has the normal edge flaking. The base is embossed with a “16” encircled very lightly by: “HOLWEG & REESE INDPLS IND. From the Philip Robinson Museum Collection. – Greg Spurgeon, North American Glass, March 2009

Support: Reference to The Glass Firms at Greenfield, Indiana by Bill Lockhart, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr

Support Image: Auction Lot 5947: Quart, Greenish Aqua, Original Hoosier Jar glass screw cap with 1883 patent date (small flake on the bottom edge of cap), shiny glass, the jar has no damage including an excellent ground mouth with very little nicking. Embossing: strong. Base: “2” Age: c1883 Very scarce, it’s been many years since we’ve had one of these for sale. – Greg Spurgeon, North American Glass, October 2013

Support: Reference to Red Book #11, the Collector’s Guide to Old Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr. Use of Creswick illustration granted by Douglas Leybourne, Jr.

Support: Reference to Fruit Jar Annual 2020 – The Guide to Collecting Fruit Jars by Jerome J. McCann

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