Preserved...For Preserves!

We found this crazy wire contraption in the eves of our attic the other day, and didn't know what it was. But you guys did! You were right: it holds Mason Jars for canning, and I did indeed have it upside-down in my last post.

So now I need to find a wacky oval pan and I can make a heckuva lotta jam! (That always makes me think of Monica's Jam Plan to get over her breakup with Magnum P.I. Richard.) Or wouldn't it be a cute holder of containers? I could fill them with silverware and flowers and things at a picnic! Or, I could do THIS.

I spent an hour looking all over the internet for one like it, and I only found small round canning racks, or single-jar holders. I haven't found any that are as large as this one. And by the way, there is a whole world of Mason Jar arts and craftiness that I find super-cool.

So my questions now are these:

• What was this doing in the walls of my attic?!?!
• How the heck old is it??

I should show you some of the other cool stuff we've found in our centurial home.....