Salt and Pepper Shakers: Start Your Collection Today

Are you looking to start a collection of something that is rather small, doesn't take up much room, comes in all sizes, shape, and styles, well I have the perfect item to start collecting, salt and pepper shakers. You can find them everywhere you go, big retail stores down to little hidden away mom and pop shops. Salt and pepper shakers is the most easiest and least expensive item to collect.

For centuries salt and pepper was very expensive and hard to come by. Salt goes back to the fifth century and even beyond that. Rome paid the Huns salt, tons of salt, so they wouldn't raid their city also Roman soldiers were paid in salt. Salt was also used to preserve meat so it wouldn't spoil. If you didn't have salt then your diet would only consist of vegetables and a little fruit. Salt was so important that many cities roes in power to become the great cities they are today but on the other hand many cities saw their down falls because of salt.

Salt was so important that it was a factor in the outcome of wars. Stealing the salt from the enemies salt wagons was a way of making sure they had no way of preserving their meat, so basically the men would starve and this would enable the enemy to destroy them.

Pepper was once called "black gold." That's what Christopher Columbus was looking for when he discovered America. But pepper can also be traced back centuries just like salt. Pepper was a luxury and only the rich could afford it. It was more expensive than salt. So expensive it was considered gold. At one point in history taxes, rent, and even dowries were paid in pepper. If a father could offer a dowry for his daughter, pay with pepper, the husband to be, had to be of some status in society.

Pepper comes from a plant that has been dates back to before prehistoric time in India. It was used as a spice and also used as a medical remedy for a number of illnesses.

So salt and pepper have been around for along time but today we just take both for granted. We go to the store buy both and fill our salt and pepper shakers with out even thinking of it. But when did the salt and pepper shakers that we use today come about?

The saltshaker came in the 19th century, but in the 1940s, is when companies started mass produced the shakers. The salt and pepper shakers were made out of ceramics and it was a big hit. People were buying them as fast as they could be put on the shelves. The biggest difference of the 1940s salt and pepper shakers is the cork. Back then companies used cork but today they use rubber for the stopper. Companies would make them in all different shapes and styles. The animal shapes were and still are today the most bought and collected. Many salt and pepper shakers made today are just for the collector and rarely are used to actually hold salt and pepper.

The next time you visit your local antique mall or stop at a yard sale, check out every little nook and cranny. Salt and pepper shaker are usually hidden in the out of the way places. You can start your collection very easy and it won't break your pocket book. The vintage ones are usually the most expensive ones; you can find them for under $5.00. Other ones will run you about a $1.00 a piece. With so many different styles out there you can basically pick the style of salt and pepper shakers you would like to start collecting. If you do want to narrow it down to one particular style then take your time to check out what is out there. You might even find something that represents what you already have in your home. As you can see in the picture, I have picked Roosters. I have been collecting for several years now and had to finally stop because I ran out of places to put them.

If you want to go a step further in your collecting of salt and pepper shakers. There is a club you can join called National Novelty Salt and Pepper Shakers Collectors Club. You can go online and find it. I personally haven't joined this club but I do know of several people that have.