Title Champions Pack a Punch

And in this corner… Here is a follow-up to Mike’s great article in the September AB&GC

Mike Beardsley poses with the monster fruit jar. Like a new puppy it loves to jump up on your lap.

By Mike Beardsley

Just east of Syracuse, N.Y., you can find Madison County, a lightly populated, mostly rural, but lovely slice of New York State. It’s an unlikely place to find two World Champions, but both boxing legend Carmen Basilio (Welterweight and Middleweight Champion of the World) and his nephew Billy Backus (Welterweight Champion of the World) called Madison County home. With the recent discovery of another true heavyweight, Madison County may be able to claim yet another World Champion.

In this corner, straight from a sale in southern Madison County and weighing in at a strapping 22 pounds, comes what may be one of the largest fruit jars ever made? This potential World Champion wax sealer stands 11 ¾ inches high and measures 15 ¼ inches across at the handles. As have so many heavyweights before him this newcomer has a big mouth: a full 7 ¾ inches in diameter. And talk about capacity, this behemoth can handle 5 and ¼ gallons before getting full: an incredible 672 ounces.

I first spotted this promising rookie sitting quietly on a stool at an online auction preview. The auctioneer’s online photo included no ruler or scale, and the description consisted of “brown glazed crock.” I was expecting to find yet another standard, two-quart stoneware wax sealer. Nothing prepared me for the shock of meeting this oversized contender in person. I was sucker punched, and let out an audible gasp.

A successful bid enabled me to bring this big boy home. Like a new puppy he loves to jump up on your lap or settle into my favorite recliner. He’s not much for training, but then his credentials may have already landed him some titles in the Canning Hall of Fame without even lacing up the gloves. It appears that this jar has never been previously reported. If so, it’s in good company.

Decades ago my Dad (Leigh Beardsley) and I discovered the first Griswold Fruit Jar (RB 1156), the first Mansfield “jar on a jar” (RB 1618), and my wife and I turned up the first X-Ray Fruit Jar (RB 3383). We were “scouts” for Alice Creswick, as it were. My Dad would have been pleased with this knockout. Was this wax sealer actually made to be used or was it perhaps a “one-off” prepared as an advertising draw for a booth at a fair or an exposition? At the risk of being slugged, I’ll say that this bruiser appears to have more in common with a sewer pipe than with Grandma’s jelly jar, but, as they say, “It is what it is.”

Here’s the takeaway. If you enjoy online auctions try to attend the open house if at all possible. You just might find yourself surprised by a true contender!

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FYI: Dad was true to his word about not being a fruit jar collector. He never saved a single jar for himself. The really wonderful collection of colored Mason jars was a collection that I put together over the years. I had them here at my home in Chittenango for many years, then along came kids and other priorities, and I finally, reluctantly parted with the collection: black glass, a breath-taking teal, etc., etc. That collection and a F. A. Bunnell Empire jar from Syracuse were the only jars that I kept for myself.