Innovators have a knack for spotting trends, but to stay on our game, we always do our homework. I promised my readers that I'd jump out ahead of the curve on the next glassware craze -- the one that will have us all canning our mason jars -- and I'm heavily into the fact finding part of this journey.

But let's start with my gut, who tells me that, as a society, we are simply not done with the repurposing of jars as drinking glasses, even though the mason jar brought with it some noteworthy downsides, namely, lip gashes and clothing stains due to thribbles (dribbles from threading at mason jar opening). On the other hand, jars bring a wink of coziness to a dinner party, and they can be popped into the dishwasher at clean up time, unlike the crystal we would normally use, which has to be hand-washed in water that is room temperature, and then dried with a soft cloth -- all this right when you want to crash.

Let's start our research by looking at the essential features of a mason jar to see how it gained popularity in the first place:

Okay, I don't know if you were shrewd enough to notice, but the name Ball is embossed saucily onto these jars, with Mason shoved down as a stiff all-right-already acquiescence at the bottom. Upon noticing this phenomenon, I immediately smelled controversy. I guess I also have a knack for spotting trouble, because apparently, in the late 1800s, the Ball Family got wind that the patent for the Mason Improved Fruit Jar had expired. So they rushed in and started producing the jars, newly emblazoned with their company logo. The family also added the word "perfect" before "Mason," implying that the Masons had botched the whole damn process from the get go. Historical note: This is where the phrase, "having the Balls to do something like that" originated. 

Wait. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Stay with. My unearthing of this ugliness is the first chink in the mason jar stronghold. I mean, knowing what we now know, what kind of person wants to sit down at a beautiful picnic and see Balls every time he or she has to take a drink (although I think they do some version of this on Saturday nights at Connecticut College). 

What this means is that my window to identify the hottest new glass trend is closing, so I need to get cracking today and Sunday, which is fine. Sometimes we innovators are way too busy at home thinking to have weekend plans.