I'v not experienced your problem. However, half the time when I enter the forum the sliding board to the right is abscent. Which makes navigation impossible. Strange. So I seldom post and rarely read the boards. A shame. Jeannie

If you have an active local freecycle, you might try posting an ad requesting canning jars. I did that and scored a huge haul of quart and pint jars...almost 200 of them, if I remember correctly. They all came from the same person. I see other people posting requests from time to time, so part of it must be just luck of the timing. Sorry about your jar mishap. I'm sure the cleanup was not a fun chore! I dropped an empty jar last week and it hit the edge of a heavy glass mixing bowl. The jar shattered and shards were all over the kitchen. I was barefoot at the time and couldn't move until my husband brought my shoes and helped with the cleanup. The dishwasher was open and glass particles were in the machine and dishes, particles were all over the counters, across the room, and even down in the garbage disposal. Thankfully, no open food containers were out. Jill

Back before GW was taken over by iVillage, I was a regular visitor on the African Violet Forum. I noticed that a number of new forums had their own galleries, yet the popular AV Forum didn't have one. I posted a "Petition for a Gallery!" message there, and somebody answered that I should check the Suggestions Forum, since someone had posted a message about adding a gallery to the AV Forum. That message had been ignored until I found it and directed other AV Forum fans to it. Within a week or two the AV Forum had a gallery. I will likely soon try to get a gallery added to the Amaryllis Forum. I have no idea if the new powers-that-be will respond as quickly as the old ones did a few years ago, or if they'll even respond at all, but I think it's worth a shot.

" Perhaps a clear coat of something matte to arrest the rust and stop the flaking while maintaining the very vintage look." That's only true after rust has been totaly removed. On farthur consideration I'm thinking flat rust colored paint might be a better choice depending on appearance after rust has been removed. Clear will preserve and protect but color of metal might be unattractive following removal of rust. It's for that reason it might be wise to have both on hand then return unused product. You will of course achieve better result turning it over to a restoration expert as suggested by someone above but I naturally assumed you want to diy. I reccomended a diy friendly approace that yields pretty impressive results. There are indeed better methods but they require special training and expensive equipment. Perhaps you should reiterate your desire to do this yourself. It seams some just don't grasp the self satisfaction derived doing these things themselves instaed of buying/hireing everthing. I am the first to reccomend turning it over to pros if the chore might explode,make toxins,kill or maim the unsuspecting. Oh well,I'm sure most people recconize some free advice is worth exactly what they paid for it. LOL. Best of luck,you do have an interesting item in the boxes. Your sewing friends will be green with envy.