The Collector's Guide to Old Fruit Jars

I really like the fact that this book is a tremendous resource of information for the new or old fruit jar collector. Since mid July '07, my wife and I have been collecting fruit jars, and until we purchased this book, we really had no idea of just how many types of fruit jars there are, not to mention their value. This book is a wonderful compilation of information and illustrations that clearly show the jars defining aspects, including their value, of just about all the fruit jars in existence. I wish the book had an index and a table of contents. That would help to access the information much quicker and easier. I purchased this book because other fruit jar collectors would reference this book as they were describing their jars that were up for bid on ebay. After doing some research and talking to veteran fruit jar collectors, I was told to get the Red Book #9 if I had any thoughts of purchasing more jars. Clearly, this has been one of the best purchases I have made on ebay, 40 jars later and very happy.

This book was recommended to me from someone I look to as a true expert in the Ball jar field. I cannot seem to put this book down. It is packed with valuable information. I find myself looking at this book late at night when I can hardly keep my eyes open. Great tool, highly recommend to the fruit jar collector! Many years of hard work went into this book.

I bought this book because I found a cellar on our property, and it was full for fruit jars. I started watching the sales on Ebay and became overwhelmed with all the different information needed to make a good description. This book has been extremely helpful. I am no collector and I have learned so much from it. I am hoping to start listing my jars soon. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This book is great. It's considered to be the "bible" for old mason/fruit jars and it's the reference book used most by collectors and dealers. It's the most comprehensive book of all known jars out there. It's the only one I use.

I own previous versions of the Red Book and this one is good, however the pricing is now out of date due to the fact that it was compiled in 2001. There is now a 10th edition, which I did not realize had just come out out when I purchased this #9 recently in 2008. These books have helped me tremendously, as many of the fruit jars I purchased 17 years ago are now worth over 100-400 dollars. You have to appreciate the jars for themselves though and not just be in it for the money. I suggest starting out with the same $3-25 price range today as I did many years ago and finding interesting examples and names. A problem with this book, (and probably because it is in B&W) is that it is hard to identify jar colors accurately and the author has not described the various subtle differences in colors well. I suggest Pantone. Another major problem is that there is not a line drawing of each jar, just a few here and there although there are many more in #9 than I had in #7. Finally the lid or closure information is missing on most jars and it seems there should be as accurate a description of each jar's closure, as the jar itself and jar drawings should be combined with a line drawing of at least the more unique lids and closeures.

This is my second copy of "The Red Book #9", I bought this one as a gift for a friend. This really is the premire collecters guide as it has 99.9% of all fruit jars listed. Book is compiled alphabetically for easy reference, and has many illustrations for reference as well. Over 397 pages and 3126 listings.

This book was an excellant buy! The price was great and the information it contains is even better. If a person is a serious jar collector, this is a great buy!

The book covers in detail about 99% of all fruit and canning jars ,values and makers , in depth descriptions, of items . A1++++++++I bought because i need to get values on the jars on ebay ,to know what's a good price or bad or a good selling price.Its a great tool for the ebay bottler ,and atiquer.