IMPROVED JAR & IMPROVED CROWN etc.
IMPROVED JAR
This is the Imperial quart jar with nice script writing similar to the Improved Gem group. It comes with a small scar ( 7/8ths inch ) on the base .
Smooth lip ,only in this one size. WHY ?.. Now that I feel I have the answer it becomes obvious to me . A product jar, produced for a special order.
At a flea market I happened on a Improved Corona jar , normally a low end piece but this one had a label. These are Consumers Glass jars .
HARRY HORNE connection ..
The label is approx 2 & 3/4's X 4 & 1/2 inches , in a red black and gold coloring.
It has.. Harry / Horne's in a circle at the top . Under this is IMPROVED with the letters done very similar to the IMPROVED GEM jar's embossing with the long extended bar on the " p ". Under this is FRUIT / JAR then BAKING / POWDER in a gold band.Then in fine print beneath that is Harry Horne Co Limited / Toronto. In the right corner there is net weight 1 1/2 lbs.
The IMPROVED & JAR on the label , with the almost identical letter form as the Quart IMPROVED JAR leads me to believe there may be a IMPROVED JAR with his label (possibly Coffee) as a private mould . Harry must have switched at some point to the Consumers Glass made Improved Corona . Possibly when the Toronto plant closed in 1925.
There is another jar that adds to this thought. It is RED BOOK 1210-5 It has HARRY HORNE'S IMPROVED FRUIT JAR COFFEE on a label . It is also a 40 0z. jar made by Consumers glass ( the IMPROVED JAR in script is also an imperial quart , 40oz) . Also RED BOOK 1297-2 a 32 0z. jar.
As a side note , I heard there was a case of the labeled Corona jars ,I got two of them and would have taken more .
IMPROVED CROWN
These come in regular Qts. & half gallons . They have the large scar ( 1 & 3/8ths inch) , they have the same nice script writing as the Improved Jar. Yet this same embossing style was used on the first Improved Gem jars . These also have the large scar on the base.
IMPROVED GEM in this style
These can be identified by the large base scar and that the TRADE MARK REGISTERED is very low on the jar.
The T in "TRADE" is right at the base of the jar on the heel.
Note how low the letter T in trade mark is to the base . large base scar
I feel these are made at Toronto
This leads me to the SCHRAM with the very ornate S it has the extra curl on the ends . It seems to me that it has the same style of engraving. John Barclay found these mentioned in the 1904 Bottle Blowers Book for Canada & the USA as being made in Toronto Can.
The jar on the right is an unlisted Imperial Pt. -Red Book # 2565 I feel it is the Toronto made .
The jar on the left is #2566-1 made later .
I feel these jars were all made at the Toronto Glass Works , before and after the full take over by Diamond Glass .
The Improved Gem & Scham jars were also later made at other factories of the Diamond Glass Co. The Toronto plant closed in 1925 with all moulds going to Hamilton.