I have actually seen some lid liners that were porcelain, although the
majority are milk glass.  Perhaps they started out using porcelain and
switched to milk glass later.

M. Jay Stottman
Kentucky Archaeological Survey


-----Original Message-----
From: David Babson <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 7:46 PM
Subject: Re: Milk glass CONFUSION!!!!!!!


>Sounds like you have a canning jar lid liner--one of the glass discs that
>fitted into a zinc (zinc alloy, actually) screw-on top, and sealed the top
>of the jar by applying pressure (when the cap was screwed down) to a red
>(usual color) rubber gasket.  Even though these were always milk glass,
>they were often called "porcelain" because of the superficial resemblance,
>esp. in color, and because "porcelain" is a more prestigious word--better
>for advertising purposes.  The place to start with canning jars is Julian
>H. Toulouse's "Fruit Jars," Crown Publishers, New York, 1970.  Out of print
>(and, nowhere available for less that about $150.00), but you might find it
>in a university library or a big public library.