Richard Roller began collecting glass fruit and vegetable canning jars around 1968. At that time jar collecting was a small hobby; not many people collected and those that did had little information about the history of their jars. By Roller's death thirty years later all that had changed; he made a remarkable contribution to the increase in collectors' knowledge of jar history. In addition to collecting, Roller devoted much of his time to researching and publishing information on the development of the industry and of numerous jars. In 1973 he began his Fruit jar newsletter, which he edited until his death and for which he wrote many articles. The 1983 publication of his Standard fruit jar reference attempted to bring together in one publication what was known about the history of over 1400 fruit jars at that time. These two publications remain Roller's most important legacices to the hobby. Richard Roller died in July, 1998, at the age of sixty-eight.
From the description of Richard Roller papers, 1968-1998. (Ball State University Library). WorldCat record id: 58044314
