On the Table, More!
There are real advantages to shopping in “out of the way places.” That’s how I found these Morton Salters salt shakers— brand new —in a small store in the 1990s. Though they were still “in stock” in that store, they had no UPC code and were probably made in the 1960s. I miss those days before stores had tight and “efficient” inventories—when you could stumble across any old thing in the back of the shelves. That is increasingly hard to do today, as the likes of WalMart gobble up the ‘mom and pops.’
The packaging says Morton Salt, Chicago, USA. There were pepper shakers too; the one on the right, outside the package, is pepper.
The beautiful mid-century candy dish/ashtray/whatever is by Sascha Brastoff in Los Angeles, California. It’s about 9-1/2 inches long. For a while I was finding these in thrift stores. Not any more.
The Select Shaker is a salt shaker and a pepper shaker combined into one. What will they think of next? “An ideal gift. Can’t spill, can’t mix, moisture resistant.” What else could you possibly want? Salt & Pepper shaker collecting is one of the oldest popular collecting hobbies and is still very popular, though it is thought of as a “grandma” kind of thing to do. So show interest when she gets them out and there’ll be freshly baked cookies in your future.
I have found that on life’s journey I tend to favor the less well-travelled roads. And so, while I can certainly see the interest in collecting these little salt & peppers, I don’t have too many of them. I’m never going to pass up an especially interesting one though, of course, in the same way I won’t pass up any especially interesting thing if I can at all manage to acquire it and drag it home.
These vintage Christmas Carol Napkins were designed in the sort of over-the-top riot of Christmas themes popular in the mid 20th century. Makes me want egg nog. The box contained 36 Christmas Carol Napkins, four each of 9 different illustrated carols.
How can one resist the cheery Franciscan kidney-shaped plate or tray for candy, nuts, or whatever? On the bottom it says “Franciscan Earthenware, Gladding, McBean & Co., Made in U.S.A. U”
Those little yellow & green plastic dealies you stick in each end of a hot corn cob are so last year now that you’ve got these industrial strength, heavy metal Air-Cooled Hacker Corn Holders. “Just twist firmly into the corn cob ends for perfect eating pleasure.” They’re from Hacker Inc., Culver City, California, USA. Stamped inside the box, for extra emphasis is: “These are Air-Cooled.”
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