This jar comes from the collection of Norman Barnett and he tells me it was his favorite jar.  It is one of the two that I'm aware of with a full closure on it and this closure is amazing, looking like it was built yesterday.

Norm loves to tell how he bought this jar just a few miles from his house for next to nothing ($5?) from a lady who used to put candy in it every year at Christmas.  Lest anyone accuse Norm of cheating someone, this was at a time when there really weren't any set prices on jars and for all anybody knew, $5 was a fortune to spend on an old jar.

There are several versions of the Dalbey jar.  Another version is marked only on the neck.  They come in clear and amber and in three thumbscrew and two thumbscrew versions.  My other one (which you can see in the display) is a two thumbscrew version in aqua.  I believe that the two thumbscrew versions are a bit rarer, but there are only a handful of Dalbey's jars at all and most have reproduction closures.

Clear jars this early are extremely rare.  It's not clear why the Dalbey's came in a clear version.

In my book, this jar is the number one, undisputed king of odd closures.  I just can't imagine grandma sitting there with hot fruit on the inside carefully trying to fit the upper lid and screw in three thumbscrews.  I don't think grandma thought much of the idea either and that's why there are so few of these left around.