02/26/2026
☞You Can Burn My House,
Steal My Car,
Drink My Liquor from an Old Fruit-Jar…
☞Today in History -- On today’s date 124 years ago, Wednesday, February 26, 1902, noted American tinsmith John Landis Mason (1832-1902), inventor & patentee of the metal screw-on lid for glass storage jars, also known as “fruit-jars,” met his earthly demise at the age of 70 when he died in poverty from the effects of unspecified natural causes at Manhattan, New York.
☞Requiéscat in Pace, John Mason.
☞The fruit-jars that used the screw-on lids that Mason invented have come to also be known as Mason jars. Many such jars were embossed with “Mason’s Patent Nov 30th, 1858,” reflecting his U.S. Patent № 22186 for an “Improvement in screw-neck bottles.”
☞Besides Mason’s namesake fruit-jar lids, he also invented the first screw-top salt shaker in 1858.
☞Mason’s fruit-jar lid patent expired in 1879, after which several competitors manufactured Mason jars without owing any royalties. As a result, John Mason died in poverty in a tenement house in New York City, never benefiting from the notoriety or the financial gain from his inventions.
☞The ☞The undated photograph depicts John Landis Mason surrounded by a variety of his namesake of the Mason Jars.
