Bernardin Shield Wide Mouth Half Gallon Mason Jar

Bernardin began in 1881 in Evansville, Indiana, when Alfred Louis Bernardin started a bottle-cap business. He developed a metal clamp cap after corks blowing off wine bottles during shipment caused losses. The company moved into two-piece metal mason caps for home canning sometime between 1916 and 1922, and for much of its history it supplied lids that were sold with jars made by other companies.

Bernardin of Canada, Limited was incorporated in 1960, though it stayed wholly owned by Bernardin Inc. of Evansville. National Can bought Bernardin Inc. in 1980, and in November 1994 Alltrista completed its purchase of Bernardin of Canada. The Toronto-area lid plant closed in fall 2001, with production consolidated in Muncie, Indiana, but the Bernardin name carried on in Canada for home-preserving products.

The brand is especially remembered for its Canadian Gem lids. When Bernardin discontinued them in 2002, canners responded with petitions and public lobbying. Production returned in 2003, then ended again in spring 2022. Bernardin jars appeared later, and the start of its own-brand jar sales is still uncertain. The 2015 vintage green jars carry an "1881" inscription that honours the company's lid-making roots, not jars from that year.