I went with a friend to the house of her friend Joyce Chapman Savage.
We entered through the kitchen. Per usual, I did not pay much attention to the contents of the kitchen as we passed through it to the living room.
My friend introduced me to her Ms. Savage, and I was invited to have a seat. When seated, I noticed the shelving next to me was filled with ceramic figurines of a variety of sizes and subjects: birds, insects, flowers, animals, people and inanimate objects.
Oh, my goodness. I realized they were pairs of salt and pepper shakers. Oh, my gosh.
I made a comment to the hostess about her fantastic collection. She then told me that there were more in the hallway near the bedrooms and encouraged me to look at them. I went to that area and was shocked at how many more salt and pepper shakers there were on shelves.
When I returned to the living room, I told the hostess again how amazed I was about the great number and variety of shakers I saw in the hallway. She then encouraged me to look in the kitchen at the shakers she had there.
I returned to the kitchen and was almost speechless when I saw the shakers. There were three shelving units, each filled with different shakers: one filled with Aunt Jemima shakers, one filled with “nodders” (bobbleheads), and one filled with “Occupied Japan” shakers (not made anymore).
My, oh my. I would never have guessed so many salt and pepper shakers existed.
The hostess told me that she had been collecting the shakers for many, many years. She is now a senior.
I told her it would be great to have a news article featuring her and her shakers, but she said “No.” She feared that someone might try to steal them. She’s probably right. Some of them must be very valuable.
I certainly am glad she trusted me enough to let me see them all. She truly has a plethora of salt and Pepper shakers.