Ball Brothers Company Sponsors a Canning Contest
What a great idea! Give away a jar, encourage canning, and, of course, sell a few products. That’s exactly what Ball Brothers Company did for the International Canning Contests held during the 1930s.
The world was in the midst of the Great Depression and people everywhere were pinching pennies and struggling to feed their families. Gardens were planted and harvested and the produce was preserved in Ball fruit jars. The canned products fed families, but many ardent canners wanted more. They wanted cash or prizes.
Ball Brothers Company was a primary sponsor of the International Canning Contests. One of the more successful contests was held in conjunction with the 1933 Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago. More than $8,000 in cash and prizes was awarded. According to the rules and regulations, “This contest is open to anyone in the world.” After judging and exhibition, entries were given to charitable organizations such as orphanages and hospitals.
There were nine classes in the contest including Balanced Meals, Fruits, Vegetables, Meats, Pickles, Fancy Packs, Jellies, Jams, and Soups. The Fancy Packs class included, “…all fancy or unusual arrangements of canned foods, or unusual foods themselves.” For the Balanced Meal class, the entrant was required to submit eight canned products that together would make a nutritionally balanced meal. Entries without at least one green vegetable were disqualified.
Tips were provided for each of the categories. Those who entered the Meat Class were advised to “Keep product free from excessive solidified fat insofar as possible, because cold fat on meat is unattractive, hides the quality of the meat, and in excess makes the meal unbalanced.”
Ball Brothers Company provided a jar and lid to everybody who requested one. Along with the jar, the entrant received the rules and regulations, literature advertising Ball jars, recipes, and eight identification labels to be used on entries. A few of these kits survive including this one from the Minnetrista Heritage Collection.
