One of the advantages of being a general collector, is that you can collect a mishmash of things without worrying about the purity of your individual collections. I mean, it's fun to just acquire stuff, without worrying if everything is in mint condition, or if it's rare, or in the case of my small salt & pepper collection- if you actually have mates to each shaker.
I never even considered that I HAD a salt and pepper collection until now, but as I looked at my little blue and yellow fish that sit in my kitchen, then at the Fiesta Ware set in my china cabinet... it occurred to me that I had. They are all in different places, so I gathered them up, and was surprised that I had so many. After I photographed them, I realized that I also have a wonderful Yosemite salt shaker. I set off to buy the set from a friend's estate sale a few years ago, but as I browsed through her stuff, I dropped one and shattered it. The guy in charge of her sale made me pay for it anyway (gee, you'd think I was in a fine china shop!) so I kept the mate. So, alas, it's not in my photo. Maybe I'll add it in later.
Willie and Millie the penguins above, were a promotional set from Cool Cigarettes in the 50s. I think they are rather charming!
I recently bought the Santa shaker because I love vintage 50s Christmas stuff. Isn't he cute?
The one mystery of my little collection is this little set- a quaint girl and clownish looking boy. For some odd reason, I've always thought of them as Snow White and one of her dwarfs, but I have no idea why. She doesn't look a bit like Snow White, and he looks nothing like a dwarf. So, if you know who these characters are, please let me know!
The pretty pink single is marked Occupied Japan, so it's a treasure to me, even without its mate!
I can't wait to use my Turkey shakers on Thanksgiving. They always have a prominent place on the table. The pretty pink rosebuds are
Franciscan Ware, and are part of my collection of Desert Rose dishes.
