Back before the wedding, a friend from church gave me more than dozen boxes of canning jars from her basement. Recently retired, Debby was trying to follow through with a personal pledge to clean out her cellar and after some soul searching, had determined that her canning days were long past.
I was totally delighted to receive the jars (although my apartment is now officially overcome by glass vessels) and as she unearthed them from a nook by the washing machine, I was instantly charmed by the box art (they just don’t design packaging the way they used to!).
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save many of these boxes, as the years, a few leaks and a bit of crumbling drywall had not been kind to them. But before I sent them to the big recycling plant in the sky, I was careful to capture some of their simple appeal.
This canning wax wasn’t from Debby’s basement, I actually spotted it at a thrift store while we were on our honeymoon, and could resist grabbing a photo (even though it’s not recommended to can with wax anymore).
Related posts:
Browse Timeline
Comments ( Be the First )
Oh, my mom had JUST that jelly jar box in our pantry for many years, waiting for her yearly strawberry jam. LOVE these packages.
1. maggie added these pithy words on
Oct 22 09 at
8:02 am
WOW! What neat boxes. I hope you got some real good jars too. I think I have finally gotten to my jar limit that I will need. I have to can some blueberries, chili, and chicken broth to make room for the half of pig coming to the freezer. Half of beef is coming in December. I better get canning I guess.
2. Amelia added these pithy words on
Oct 22 09 at
8:15 am
Fantastic score! I too was the gleeful recipient of a faithful aging canner who is moving and just didn’t see much canning in her future… so I got several boxes of mixed pints and quarts, plus many good ol’ glass mayo jars, which are great to use for water-bath canning projects as gifts, so I don’t have to bed and plead for my jar back! Some people just don’t get it… Anyway, wonderful pictures of the retro boxes. I agree that the whole visual vernacular back then was different, and very lovely. And touching somehow as well. Thanks for sharing those.
3. Bonnie Story added these pithy words on
Oct 22 09 at
11:02 am
4. um. gee. I have boxes just like that in my garage and house…
5. Lynne added these pithy words on
Oct 24 09 at
12:03 am
I love the Samoas box in the last picture! That brings back memories of selling cookies
6. Jill added these pithy words on
Oct 25 09 at
5:51 pm
Love the Girl Scout Samoa’a box in the bottom photo. Yum!
So you’re not supposed to can with wax anymore? I didn’t know that. Nothing says “home made jam” like popping that little disc of wax off the top of your jelly jar. . .
7. daisy mae added these pithy words on
Oct 25 09 at
6:30 pm
Great boxes, nice that you captured them in photos before the big demise!
8. Throwback at Trapper Creek added these pithy words on
Oct 26 09 at
1:43 am
I absolutely love packs with directions and information….these are great. At least you captured a few memories for posterity
9. Kitchen Butterfly added these pithy words on
Oct 26 09 at
1:01 pm
That’s, um, a lot of canning jars.
10. Doris the Goat added these pithy words on
Oct 28 09 at
12:43 pm
