The headline in the newspaper article said that he was set to “take part in all-male review,” but did he? According to the preview article, George A. Ball was to be one of eighty Muncie businessmen to play a Kentucky Colonel in “The Dream of a Clown” at the Masonic Temple auditorium on October 20 and 21, 1943. The revue was sponsored by the Professional Women’s Club of Muncie, and all proceeds were used by the club to purchase furnishings for Army Camp Atterbury near Edinburgh, Indiana.

Recently, some early twentieth century Muncie-related correspondence and Muncie newspapers were donated to the Minnetrista Heritage Collection. As I quickly skimmed through the newspapers, the headline “Workman Slain in Cold Blood” from The Muncie Evening Press of Thursday, December 23, 1920, screamed at me. Next, I read, “George Kling, 45, is Victim of H. M’Hargue” then “Murderer, Holding Grudge Against Fellow Worker Ball Bros.’ Plant Fires Four Times After Man Drops.”

Let’s bust a few myths. The guy on the horse at the point of Granville and Walnut Avenues isn’t the non-existent Chief Munsee, the Indian depicted in the statue didn’t live in these parts, and the city of Muncie isn’t named for that same non-existent chief. So who is he, what is that statue doing here, and why was Muncie named “Muncie?”

It was located on Broadway Avenue in Muncie—now Martin Luther King Boulevard—and it smelled bad. At times, it smelled really bad. It was the meat packing company that started as Kuhner and closed many years later as Marhoefer.

Although I can’t imagine wanting to see meat packing in action, some of the local schools used to tour the plant. My mother once told me that after going through the plant as a child, she swore off meat, especially hot dogs, until her memory of the tour faded sufficiently.

No, not at a movie on Saturday night. Not that kind of date. Instead, I mean how do you tell how old your Ball jar is? I’m the current contact for information about historical Ball jars on the Ball Corporation web site. One of the most common emails I receive comes with a description of a jar—e.g., Blue pint Perfect Mason with the number 5 on the bottom—and the question, “How old is my jar?”  

Earlier, I introduced the Ball brothers, their parents, and their sisters. This month, we’ll meet the wives.

William was the first brother to marry. His bride, Emma Wood, was born in Massachusetts, graduated from Concord Ladies Seminary, and then moved to Buffalo, New York, where she met William. In Muncie, she was active with the county humane society and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her obituary noted that “She was one of those kindly, generous people who derived their chief satisfaction in helping others….”

As the five Ball brothers—Lucius L., William C., Edmund B., Frank C., and George A.—grew to adulthood in Canandaigua, New York, their uncle George Harvey Ball watched for business opportunities in nearby Buffalo. Uncle George, brother of Lucius Styles Ball, was the pastor of a Baptist church in Buffalo. In 1878, the first venture that he recommended was making wooden containers to pack fish in. Frank and Edmund were the principles in this endeavor, although it ended when their entire product was destroyed in a fire. The brothers returned to Canandaigua.

If it wasn’t for the Ball fruit jar, Minnetrista wouldn’t exist. That humble jar, so important to food preservation, generated an industry that put Muncie on the map and provided the Ball family with the wherewithal to give back to their community, particularly in the form of Ball Memorial Hospital, Ball State University and, later, Minnetrista.