EGCo JARS
EGCo. stands for the Excelsior Glass Co. of St Johns Quebec . In 1879 the Yuile brothers took over the St Johns Glass Co.and renamed it. These jars though were made in Montreal by the EGCo ( when they moved from St Johns to Montreal in 1880 ) till 1883 when they became the North American Glass Co. then till 1890.
When the name was changed again in 1890 to the Diamond Glass Co. these were no longer made.
These jars are reworked many times, all jars represent only a particular time in the mould life . Only the ones that are listed scarce would I consider special. Clear ones are most difficult
BEWARE OF IRRADIATED JARS they are more lavendar than light purple.
It is very likely that the first moulds used were from reworked moulds from the U.S. ( see post on Excelsior Improved )
In checking EMBOSSING on these measure the word THE , all other info will give an idea of where in the mould life the jar is.
IMP . PINT
Mould with base # 1
This is actually the second mould used as the EGCo. Pt.
This jar was the Imp. Darling .On being reworked it recieved a base # 1 . This places the rework after Darling no longer needed the mould , my guess aprox 1885 till 1890 as EG Co..
Embossing width of the word THE , 1 & 7/8ths inches . It has the regular base used on the early Excelsior glass moulds.
It began life without a diamond in the center of the main upright of the letter E , there is an oval O in the Co. but no center circle to the O. Embossing only has serif's on some letters , R is like the one used on the Darling.
Logo has flaws early in the life of the mould and is plugged but not re-engraved. This jar comes in clear ( suncast) at the end of it's life.
Below is a pic of the Darling & EGCo from the same mould.
Mould # 2
This was the first pint EGCo. Aprox. 1880-1890 It may have been ( because of old style mould ) the first of the EGCo. jars as there was no pint in the EXCELSIOR IMPROVED.
Embossing width of THE is 2 & 1/16th inches , It is a tapered jar ( bullet shaped) .
Early style base that almost immediately needs a repair , a small plate was riveted with two rivets. This plate was replaced later in the moulds life.
It began life with a diamond in the main upright of the letter E. There is no center circle in the O of Co.
This jars letters and logo were reworked during it's life , but by the end , the word THE is almost gone , it also comes in clear ( suncast)
.IMP QUARTS
Mould with base #1 , This is actually the second mould used as an EGCo quart jar , but it comes with a base #1 after it is reworked.
It was used as the single lined Darling . Peening of the Darling logo can be seen behind the EGCo logo when fresh. I place this mould in the 1881-85 time frame as a Darling jar, then as an EGCo to 1890.
It has the regular EGCo base ,( making it earlier than the Mould #3 )
Embossing width 2 & 3/16ths inches .
It came with diamond in center of main bar of letter E , also has the center o in letter O of Co.
Soon glass stuck in top half of the E in the logo. This was fixed by a large blot and re-engraved , the diamond is not redone in bar of E , the little center o of the O in Co is redone. It is during this rework that the 1 is put on the base
As time goes and the mould is cleaned the blot becomes faint , later engraving is redone but not to the word THE.
Mould # 2
This was actually the first EGCo Quart. 1881-1890.
Embossing width 2 & 11/16ths inches . It has the regular base.
Came with the diamond in the main bar of the E in the logo. Also the small o in the O of Co. It needed reworking very early and lost the diamond and small o in the O of Co .
The end of the center bar in the E of the logo is changed , the original looked like a sideways three leaf clover but whose top leaf is a point . The redone one looks like a side ways squashed heart.
The original engraving with the diamond and center o would seem to be quite scarce.
A later rework adds forks to the center bar in the letter E in Imperial . There are circle repairs on the back of jar.
Over time the whole of the engraving fades .
I have one of this mould in clear ( purple tint ) as well as a very unusual blue one. ( these have not been irradiated )
Mould # 3 This was originally the double lined Darling .
Embossing is 2 & 7/16ths inches , It has a domed base like the North American Glass Co , THE / AMERICAN / PORCELAIN LINED jar.
Aprox. 1883-85 as a Darling then as an EGCo to 1890.Making it the 3rd mould used as EGCo..
This jar has a tall oval O in the center of the main bar of the letter E in the Logo.
The O in Co is oval , also it has a center o .
When glass sticks in the logo , the logo is plugged off but not re-engraved ,there are circle blots on the back of this jar as time goes on.
Mould was used till embossing is hard to see. When logo is virtually gone the words are re engraved.
The two types of base styles are shown below with the old Excelsior style on the left and new North American Glass Co on the right.
.IMP HALF GALLON
Here I give width of both words The & Imperial.
Mould # 1
Embossing width 3 inches .The word IMPERIAL is measured from bottom of the I to the right side of L and is 6 inches on this jar . Regular base style The machine line around the heel of jar where it curves under to base plate is 5/16ths of an inch up .
It came with the diamond in the main leg of the E in the logo. Also has the center o in the O of Co.
It sticks in logo and is reworked. This is the most common of the half gallon EGCo jars aprox. 1881-1890.
Mould # 2
This is the least encountered mould in the Imp half gallons .
First
Embossing width 3 & 1/8th inches .The word IMPERIAL is measured from bottom of the I to the right side of L and is 6 & 1/4 inches on this jar .Regular base style ,on this jar the line on the heel of the jar is 1/2 inch up.
It comes with the diamond and has no center o in Co.
Second , after rework
The mould was reworked and the large circle panel removes the logo and part of the word THE , these features are re-engraved. Aprox. 1883 to 1890.
The base plate was turned making this jar now look taller than the original . By putting about 1/4 inch under the original jar the embossing lines up and the jar form is the same as the rework.
I find it odd how after 30+ years of collecting these EGCo jars I still find a new jar for the shelf.
Third , after rework.
It is this same jar but it is again reworked,the logo is stronger embossing yet again and the letters are very thick with heavy serif's . The word IMPERIAL is measured from bottom of the I to the right side of L and is 6 & 3/8ths NOTE this is 1/8th wider than original because of heavy serif bar on base of the letter I . On the T the serif's come down from the top bar 5/16ths on the left side and 3/8ths on the right. They are pointed like spikes.
The jar on the right has the circle panel
.Mould # 3
Embossing width of T is 2 & 3/8ths inches. Regular base style , line on heel is 1/2 inch up.
As written up in the DARLING this is the former Darling jar. At the end of it's life as a Darling it gets flaws on the sides of the mould and these are repaired when changed to an EGCo These repairs fade as time goes on .Aprox 1885-86 to 1890 as an EGCo.
Below I show the defects on the side of the Darling jar , I couldn't get a good pic of the repair on the EGCo but they are there .
The two lid variants below are likely for this jar alone, but it is possible that they could apply to the Excelsior Improved. These lids are scarce. Lids are shown front and back view.
