By: Jim Thompson
After one spends a year in the beekeeping business, they come to the point where a decision usually is made how they are going to sell or give away their honey crop. Some of this decision will be based upon what they have produced and what they plan to do with their crop. Some of these choices will be plastic, glass, cans, jugs, buckets or barrels. The next obvious choice has to be what kind of containers are available. If you plan to give your honey crop away as gifts, you can use non-traditional containers and even make needlepoint covers for the lids. Designing labels for your product can get expensive and you should do your research to see what is required to be printed on the label. There is data on what colors are preferred by customers and you should check into having the likeness of a bee, award ribbons, beehive, skep or flowers on the label. Some objects can be objectionable to people.
Plastic containers may be shipped from the manufacture or dealer to you cheaper than glass. Plastic containers full of honey may be shipped from you cheaper than full glass containers. If the plastic container doesn’t get distorted during shipping, the contents will arrive safely. Plastic usually can withstand a bump better than a glass container. Honey that is being shipped should have either safety seals or shrinkable cover rings to prevent leakage and prevent the lid from coming off.
If the box that contains glass containers is well padded, the jars do not distort as plastic jars and retain their lids. However if the entire package is dropped, there is the likelihood that some jars may get broken. If you plan to show honey at a fair or a honey show, the requirements usually state that only glass containers are used. Most shows even stipulate which glass containers are acceptable. Some honey in the granulated and chunk classes should be shown in a straight sided container if the rules permit.
Some of the glass jars that were used in the past have so many curves and designs that it is difficult to use them at honey shows but these are the bottles and jars that I will discuss, as you might use them for gifts or creating a collection. However some of these jars were popular over 100 years ago and are quite valuable by themselves. How do you find some of these jars to add to a collection? The first technique is to dig up sites where people used to dispose of glass which means old privies or dumps. Another source would be to visit resale stores that recycle products. You might go to bottle shows that are held in practically every state which are usually a one day event with an early bird privilege option. Lastly, you might search the Internet. The Internet option is somewhat tricky as some items may not be represented correctly and care must be used to find the best search words. Sometimes food blenders are described to have a beehive shape and other objects may have a honey color. If you are looking for jars for bottling your honey, the best source is to visit your bee supply dealer.
I have an extensive collection of old glass honey containers that I will describe in this article. In Part 1, I will cover glass bottles and jars that were and are used for honey. In Part 2, I will mention bottles and jars that contained a mixture of honey and others substances. Part 3 includes glass objects that look like they were used for honey or relate to beekeeping or the honey industry, but may have been used for an entirely other purpose. A discussion of honey pots, comb dishes, salt and pepper shakers, and measuring cups is an entirely different subject area.
Remember that there is a difference between a fluid ounce and an ounce of avoirdupois weight. A one pound honey jar filled correctly to the center of the neck ring holds 16 ounces of honey by weight. That same volume of honey, (1 1/3 cups) would be 10.667 fluid ounces.
Muth Jar
Original models were made of clear or aqua glass and some lacked the background embossing. The jars were developed by Charles F. Muth, Cincinnati, OH about 1831. An easy way to tell if they are an original Muth Jar is to look at the bottom of the jar and it should be clear or sometimes just have a single letter or number.
Reproduction Muth Jars
These reproductions are made of clear glass and are available in many sizes, as 4 oz., 8 oz., and 1 lb. The largest size seems to be 1 pound. But the real identifier is that the bottom of the jars are embossed “Honey Acres”. The reproduction jars are available from most bee supply dealers and make good bottles for gifts or honey sales at a special market. You have to be careful in purchasing these jars from the internet as some people will refer to them as vintage or antique and ask exorbitant prices.
Strittmatter & Wife
Embossed “Strittmatter’s, (bee), Pure Honey, Put up by, F.J. Strittmatter & Wife, RD #1, Ebensburg, PA” currently valued in the $80 to $100 per jar price range. There are two different styles, and in aqua glass. They were made about 1908. When his daughter was contacted and asked why Mr. Strittmatter didn’t list his wife’s name, the answer was because he had been married five times and didn’t want to continually be changing the glass mold. There is a difference between the two styles of jars in the height, the size of the pontil marks, and a small difference in the lettering. The taller of the two jars was made on the older Owens machine.
Golden Tree Pure Honey Jar
About 1909 – 6″ tall clear and blue glass cylinders. The clear glass jar is the most common. It was made by the Maine Honey & Maple Syrup Company, Boston. The jar was also used for maple syrup, mustard and occasionally cane syrup. The company was first mentioned in 1904 and advertised as late as 1920. There were also two sizes of containers the pictured 4 oz. of honey size and a pint.
Honey “milk” Bottle
L.F. Wahl, Chili, N .Y. sold honey in a quart bottle. A close examination shows MTC which were makers of the bottle Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Company. These bottles were made from 1923 to about 1949. Notice that this bottle lists honey as the contents and not like the regular milk bottles that list their names as honey gardens or show bees, skeps, or flowers. Premium Dairy has a nice Eagle and Skep embossed in their crest on the bottle, but the emphasis is on milk.
Lake Shore Honey Jars
Made in 3 sizes and patented 1932, 1933, and 1935, the 6″ high bottle had a sliding metal top. Lake Shore Honey was located near Chicago, Illinois and Walter F. Straub was at the helm and the holder of the three patents.
Beehive Jars
The Beehive Jars were listed for sale in 1935 in Bee Culture and were made by Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, Wheeling, West Virginia. They were made in three sizes from ½ pound to 2 pounds. The Killions of Illinois were strong supporters of these jars.
Noble Ornamental Honey Jar
Embossed on the bottom of the jars is D.E.S. Pat. 94984. The patent was granted March 26, 1935. Olbert C. Noble of Washington, PA. is the inventor. Evidently he worked for the Tygart Valley Glass Company, which was a corporation of West Virginia. The jar is approximately 41/s” tall and is embossed with skeps, honey bees and honeycomb.
Queenline
Originally patented as the J.B. Smurr jar, May 22, 1951. John B. Smurr lived in San Francisco, California, but evidently had a connection with the Hazel Atlas Glass Company, of Wheeling, W. Va. who was the first to produce the jars. The queenline jars were one of the first jars approved for displaying honey at shows and fairs. They may be available at many bee supply companies and were/are made in many weight sizes.
Honey Jar by Armstrong
These were available in 2 sizes. The Armstrong Cork Company (Glass Division), Lancaster, Pennsylvania made these jars. The smaller jar is approximately 5 ¼” tall and the larger jar is 6¼” tall. They were made in a two piece mold that left a line in the center of the side. The top and the bottom of the jars have three bands to indicate layers of a skep and there is a bee in the upper right hand “corner” of the jar.
Anchor Hocking Honey Jars
Anchor Hocking jars were made in two different sizes and carry the model numbers L-627 A and L-628A. The trademark indicates that they were made during the time period of 1937 to 1968. The jars are somewhat oval in shape and have a honeycomb pattern at the top and bottom of the jar. In the upper left “corner” of the jar there is a bee. The smaller jar is 4½” tall and the larger jar is 5½” tall.
The Anchor Hocking jar -marked 1232 Patent applied for 3, 6, and the anchor hocking trademark are on the bottom of the jar. The jar is 5¼” tall and has curved sides. The markings on the jar are similar to the jar listed above. (Honeycomb pattern top and bottom with a bee in the upper left of the jar.) It is estimated that this jar was made in 1944.
Brockway Honey Jar
The Brockway is 5 3/8″ inches tall and has a honeycomb pattern at the top and bottom of the jar. It was made in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1944, by the Brockway Glass Company.
Gamber Classic Jar
Gamber Classic is available from most bee supply dealers. These jars are made in different sizes and have been approved as another display container at most honey shows. Since they are slightly thinner in total thickness than a queenline jar, the same honey will appear lighter in color.
Hexagonal Jars
Currently available from most bee supply dealers. Some of the sizes available are: 1.5 oz., 3.75 oz., and 9 oz. These jars make good gift bottles but are generally too small for show requirements. Original patent 1,073,459 granted September 16, 1913.
Straight sided pickle jar
2½ pound square jar, and the 5 lb. honey jar – are jars that are not always specifically mentioned in show rule books, but make excellent jars to use. These jars are also available from most bee supply dealers.
The following are jars that have been made or patented, and I do not have a jar to show. However I do have a patent drawing of most of them.
Larry M. Taylor jar patented Feb. 17, 1987 Gales Ferry, Conn. The Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo. was the assignee for Patent Number Des. 288,294.
R.H. Dallas– Feb. 22, 1938, Southgate, California. The jars were made by Glass Containers, Inc., Los Angeles, California. Patent Des. 108,592.
Cole’s Honey – about 1980, California
Dwight Stoller – bottle patented Des 428,342 on July 18, 2000. The bottle has many curves to the sides and honeycomb patterns on the top. I suspect that this bottle was not a glass bottle.
Dwight Stoller – bottle patented Des 433,948 on November 21, 2000. The bottle has straight sides with the exception of an indented part for a hand grip. There is a honeycomb pattern on the top part of the bottle. Again I suspect that this bottle was not a glass bottle.
Francois Bertrand – of Boulogne, France. He was working with Famille Mchaud Apiculteurs, Gan, France. Patent US D513,188 S, granted December 27, 2005.
John Corbett -April 11, 2006, Little River, SC., working with Cadbury Schweppes plc., Birmingham, Great Britain. Patent US D518,722 S
There were several more honey jars that I noticed in advertisements were made by the various companies but the jars must not have caught on to be used by the beekeepers or the jars were plastic and couldn’t be covered in this article.
