We spent all August canning and half of it spoiled by Christmas

Something in the cellar is fizzing. I hear it from the stairs. — Farm wife, 1855

Before 1858, home cooks stoppered their jars with corks, sealed them with wax, boiled them, and hoped. A 26-year-old tinsmith in New York named John Mason patented a glass jar with threads molded into the neck, so a lid could screw down tight, with a rubber ring to seal it. He sold his rights the next year for notes that turned out to be worth next to nothing, and he died a charity patient in 1902. We still call the jar by his name. That's about all he got.

Noted: the jar and the screw band can go for years. Use a new flat lid every time; it only seals once.

Relates to No. 03200.