Growler

The older I get the more I find myself explaining things to young people.  Most of them know what a land line is, even if they haven't seen one, but the idea of a rotary phone or a party line seems beyond them.  Yes, TV was once in black & white.  Carbon paper seems to be a head stumper, and so is the practice of sending picture postcards through the mail. 

So what is the lady on the right holding?  Is it a canning jar?  There was once a time when it was common for people, even people in cities, to have a backyard garden.  They'd grow a few vegetables and, in the fall, they would do some canning.  I can still remember the horrors of green beans, all pale and soft.   I was born in the mid 1950s, and when I was growing up fresh fruits and vegetables were still considered seasonal.  Chilean strawberries didn't show up in December. Frozen foods had become common, but if your family needed to save a few bucks, what could be found on the cellar shelf was cheaper.  Blow off the dust, unscrew the zinc lined lid, and flavorless green mush was dinner. 

Yes, it could be a canning jar, but I think it's far more likely a growler.  In our age of mass market and craft beers, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when people brought large metal bottles to the local beer garden and got a fill up of whatever was on tap.  If the local bartender knew your parents, he'd do a top off for the youngest child in the family.  Chores were expected, and what could be more important than fetching dad's evening libation.  But what really sold me on the growler interpretation was the goofy look on the two women's faces.  Who gets that happy over green beans?

Oh, and before I forget, they were called growlers because of the sound they made when they were first opened.