What’s up with our obsession with Glass Jars?

Vintage Industrial Lab Glass Jar circa 1975

Growing up, we had a green coin jar that we filled with all of our change (pictured above) - change that we found on the floor of the car or on dad’s bedside table.  This coin jar paid for many a family vacation, fun nights out at Pizza Hut, grocery trips, or gas in the tank.  And our obsession with glass jars was born!

Well, we finally got the real story behind the jars.  They were old laboratory jugs from Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland.  Our Papa (Nancy’s dad) started working at Fort Detrick in 1975 in the former Germ Warfare Department that had been converted into the Cancer Research Department.  They had all the old equipment from their Germ Warfare days and were giving away the equipment for free (Papa assured us that everything had been decontaminated).  Our LouLou (Nancy’s mom) went to visit him where he was working, and she saw these large research jars.  So in true LouLou fashion, she took 3 or 4 green colored jars, some of which had their old stoppers.  LouLou used them to store pasta, split peas, or other things that “looked pretty”…  

We don’t know what was stored in those jars - Anthrax? Ebola? Papa says, “I worked in those research areas for 3 years, and I’m still alive.”  LouLou says, “that’s why I’m so short and so funny,” because she ate food stored in those jugs! (This may explain some things about our mom and aunts…)

We are happy to share our obsession with glass jars of all shapes, sizes, and colors with you in our curated Sand and Pine collection.