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inventory · questions · updated 2026-07-26

Does the H&H 3-lb Crystalvac jar really carry a 1932 Owens-Illinois date code?

question active p2

One Hoffmann-Hayman three-pound Crystalvac jar bears the Owens-Illinois 'Diamond-Oval-I' mark read as plant 7 (Alton, IL) / year code '2' = 1932. A base photograph of the jar now CORROBORATES this reading: a '7' left of the logo (Alton plant), a single undotted '2' right of it (a 1930s date code = 1932), and a '2' below (mold number). This supports Owens-Illinois supplying H&H from the very start of the Crystalvac line — reinforcing the dual-sourcing reading over 'switched after the 1937 shutdown.' Residual caveat: one weakly-struck mark from a single photo, not a bench examination.

Next action: Corroborated by the base photo (plant 7, undotted date code 2 = 1932). Optional: confirm across more examples / an expert bench read before closing.

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The question

A three-pound H&H Crystalvac jar carries the Owens-Illinois “Diamond-Oval-I” mark, read as plant 7 (Alton, Illinois) / year “2” = 1932. Is that year reading correct?

Why it matters

The Crystalvac line launched in 1932 and was first supplied by the Three Rivers Glass Company. If Owens-Illinois glass is genuinely present from 1932, then H&H was dual-sourcing from the start — which settles the larger question (Owens-Illinois and the Hoffmann-Hayman Crystalvac Jars) firmly toward overlap rather than a discrete switch after Three Rivers’ 1937 shutdown.

The base photograph

Base of the H&H 3-lb Crystalvac jar: the Owens-Illinois Diamond-Oval-I mark, a 7 to the left (Alton, IL plant), a 2 to the right (1932 date code), a 2 below (mold)

The base carries the Owens-Illinois “Diamond-Oval-I” mark with a 7 to the left (Alton, IL plant), a 2 to the right (date code), and a 2 below (mold number). See hh-3lb-crystalvac-jar-bottom-photo for the full reading.

How it was resolved

  • Applied the Owens-Illinois dating rule: an undotted single digit = a 1930s year (a dot after the digit marks 1940–45); the 2 sits in the year position, right of the logo → 1932.
  • The plant code 7 (Alton, IL) confirms the jar was made in the Midwest and railed to San Antonio — consistent with a national O-I account, not a Texas plant.
  • Still worth doing before fully closing: cross-check Michael David Smith, Texas Glass (1989), and confirm the reading across additional jars / an expert bench examination.

Current best answer

Supported. The base photograph corroborates the 1932 reading (plant 7 · O-I mark · undotted date code 2). Together with the well-established 1936 (“6”) and 1938 (“8”) codes on other Crystalvac jars, this places Owens-Illinois supply across 1932–1938 — overlapping the Three Rivers years and reinforcing the dual-sourcing conclusion. Held at active (not closed) only for the residual caveat that it is a single weakly-struck mark read from one photo.