Tobacco Jar with Clay Humidifier

[slrichman]

I've come into possession of my late dad's tobacco jar (with at least 40-year-old Captain Black inside!). Inside the lid is a huge and thick clay disk. Do I soak it in water? Distilled water? It doesn't seem super-absorbent, though it does eventually soak it up.
Info appreciated.
Sheldon

 

[slrichman]

Here's a pic.

 

[slrichman]

And inside the lid.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

I don't know an awful lot about them, but I did see something here: Humidor Jar
That being said, I couldn't help but wonder if something that old still has a good seal on it, but if it does, I'd imagine you just drop water on it very slowly. Distilled might be a way to go since it's not going to contain a lot of the stuff they put in tap water like chlorine which would be awful I would think. Also, even if you had well water, don't know what's in it that might put off some sort of smell. I would think dropping some drops of distilled water on it very slowly until it can't hold much more would be a good place to start until you figure out how moist it will keep your tobacco you put in it. Plus with the freshness of it in mind, I might only put enough in it at a time that you could smoke through it all quickly enough. That's just mostly coming from what I've read about them when I was considering one myself.

 

[craiginthecorn]

As much as I like these old humidors (especially ones with history like this one), I consider them a decoration. Only tobaccos drenched in humectants survive in them and I no longer smoke those. I do sometimes transfer a bit of my most commonly smoked bulk tobaccos into one for the summertime when humidity is higher.

 

[pepesdad1]

Now that is a hunk of clay in that humidor. I remember those back in the 60's and yeah you used distilled water. But as mentioned before the seal may not be in the best condition...best used as decoration rather than putting your valuable tobacco in it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Lovely remembrance and decoration, but almost useless for storing more than a few weeks, unless heavily cased with humectants.

 

[warren]

That'd only hold a week's worth plus of tobacco. Soak the stone and put some blend into it, give it a try. Were you I, I'd fill a suitable container and set the lid into it for, guessing here, probably a half hour or so. I've used similar and they are a pain with the soaking of the material. That, and you aren't regulating the humidity, simply offering it up for the tobacco to suck up.
I used my "hard" well water, lot of iron, with no discernable taste problems. My palate isn't/wasn't that great.

 

[slrichman]

Brian Levine helped me out. He told me to remove the clay disc and submerge it in distilled water overnight. Done. He also said the jar is not for long-term storage or for rehumidifying. It for more or less the week's supply of tobacco.
It has no seal per se. What keeps it tight is the weight of the clay disc. I think it should work fine.

 

[slrichman]

Update: Last week, after soaking the clay, I placed into the jar a half-ounce of Sutliff 150 Mark Twain. Its moisture level was about right. Today it is far wetter, too wet! So it was (re)humidified by a jar that wasn't supposed to do that. Go figure.

 

[slrichman]

I had to take the Sutliff 150 Mark Twain out of the jar to dehumidify it.

 

[crashthegrey]

These jars are fine for holding a regular every day tobacco that won't last long in the jar. Depending on relative humidity around you, the stone can over wet a tobacco. Usually though it will barely maintain. Each jar and location are different.

 

[kickinbears]

After doing a full soak, if the moisture starts to get too high in the tobacco, you can leave the jar top offset by varying degrees to manually regulate. I personally wouldn’t try to humidify an aromatic. My biggest struggle with aro’s in general is trying to get them dried out enough not too gurgle / bite.
Sorry to hear about your dad as well; really cool that you have something like this, that he personally used, to keep you connected