Kilner jar The company was forced to close down to convert to gas furnaces and struggled along for a 66 years despite 3,000 people losing their jobs. In 1937, there was a bankruptcy sale, in which the patent rights to the "Kilner Jar" were sold to the United Glass Bottle company along with the rights to the very similar "Mason" jar that had also been made by Kilner. In 2003, The Rayware Group purchased the design, patent and trademark of the original Kilner jar and continues to produce them today in China. A more detailed history of the companies by the Society
Fowler's Vacola while still hot (and presumably sterile), the lids are secured by metal tension clips which are removed once cooled and a vacuum seal has formed. Other equipment marketed by the company included a large electrically heated waterbath and "sterilizing thermometer", a glass thermometer mounted on a concave stainless steel backing, graduated in both degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit. Fowler's Vacola products are still produced by the original Fowlers Vacola company, and are available from some hardware stores, and directly from the company via their online store. Used equipment is frequently sold on online auction sites and in opportunity shops. Fowlers Vacola