Full disclosure: they’re not all Masons…that one on your left is an Atlas. And apparently I was focused on only the Atlas…wish the other two were as sharp. Anyway, just some more photography using the light box. And don’t these appear to be floating? Interesting.

I love the color of these jars. They were handed down to me by my mom…to her by her mom. Who knows how many pears, green beans, corn and other delectables have graced these. On visits each July to my grandparents in Kentucky, I would spend my days roaming the hills and investigating the outbuildings. Sooner or later my hikes would lead me to my grandmother’s cellar, and I would hesitantly inch into it…dark, with garlands of cobwebs crisscrossing its whole. But the air was cool, and it was a nice escape from the summer heat. Once inside, I’d find a spot free from spiders and just stand and take in the scenery. The earthen walls were shelved with row upon row of these jars all lined up atop old boards. They were filled with the garden’s harvest and my grandparents’ toil…planting, gathering, washing, blanching, boiling, “putting up.” I don’t think they had a need for much, if any, canned goods–almost all came from their trees and garden. And I still remember how yummy her pears and green beans tasted.

Here’s a photo I took of the cellar just a few months ago. Directly opposite this side of my grandparents’ house, it’s now in disrepair, shadowed by a decades-old oak tree. Again, what would Grandma say… .

Correction! Actually, all three of these are masons, named so for John Landis Mason, who invented and patented the canning jar in 1858. The one on the left is made by Atlas, and the other two are made by Ball…which shoulda rung some bells, as that is my grandparents’ surname. HellO…Earth to Holly!