Globe Fruit Jar

Globe Fruit Jar


Hemingray Glass Company, Covington, Kentucky

Pale Green Quart

Provenance: Jerry McCann Collection

On display in or Jar Galery is this pale green Globe quart fruit that possesses an abundance of character in the form of small to medium size air bubbles in the glass. The quart jar can be attributed to Hemingray Glass Company and is in perfect condition with the original ground lip glass lid, iron clamp, and metal band around the neck. The name ‘GLOBE’ is embossed horizontally on the face of the jar in a serifed, uppercase typestyle. The ‘PATENTED MAY 25 1886’ patent date is embossed on the glass lid.

The jar was made by the Hemingray Glass Company of Covington, Kentucky, and Muncie, Indiana who is associated with many glass pieces, most notably glass insulators. They also made a variety of other jars besides their big-seller Globe Fruit Jars to compete with the likes of Trade Mark Lightning fruit jars. Hemingray also made Globe Tobacco Company jars.

See our museum example of a Hemingray Push Down Wax Sealer

Globe salesman’s sample.

The Globe jars were produced in three primary sizes; pints, quarts, and half-gallons. You can also find one-half and one-quarter amber pints that are considered extremely rare. These were probably salesman’s samples.

The Globe jars can be found in a wide range of colors from clear, sun-colored amethyst (SCA) to aqua to all shades of amber from pale straw yellow to dark black amber. The jars are also listed in light green, olive green, and black olive.

Amber glass color chart prepared by Greg Spurgeon at North American Glass

Robert Hemingray held Patent No. 342,602 dated May 25, 1886, for the Globe fruit jar. The jars, however, had been made prior to the receipt of the patent as some jars are embossed ‘PAT. APPLD. FOR’ on the base. Hemingray actually registered the GLOBE trademark on February 3, 1903, claiming its first use in 1886. The closure was described as a glass lid, held by a hemispherical cam moving in a socket, held by bail. The glass lid is typically embossed PATENTED MAY 25 1886 or PATENTED MAY 25th 1886. The jars are also reported to have a large number embossed on the base.

We first see Globe Fruit Jar advertising in 1886, the year of the patent. The advertisement below, from 1887, has a nice illustration of the jar.

Wm. M. Stevens agent for Globe Fruit Jar – Evening Journal, July 11, 1887

Globe jars were undoubtedly made from 1886 to the end of jar production sometime around 1910. The presence of the 1903 trademark and machine-made jars both indicate a post-1903 production. All of the jars were made by the Hemingray Glass Co., in Ohio although some of the earlier ones were certainly manufactured at their Covington factory.

Primary Image: Globe Fruit Jar imaged by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio by Alan DeMaison.

Support: Reference to Fruit Jar Annual 2020 – The Guide to Collecting Fruit Jars by Jerome J. McCann

Support: Reference to Red Book #11, the Collector’s Guide to Old Fruit Jars by Douglas M. Leybourne, Jr.

Support: The Hemingray Glass Firms by Bill Lockhart, Beau Schriever, Bill Lindsey, and Carol Serr with contributions by Bob Stahr and David Whitten

Support Image: Three Globe fruit jars from the Bill Dudley Collection when auctioned by North American Glass in 2011.

Support Image: Globe fruit jar with swirls. A piece submitted by Pat Mahon.

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