Fun Facts about Kathy's Salt & Peppers:

  • The design of the site is an ode to the Franciscan 'Starburst' or 'Atomic Starburst' pattern (depending on your source) designed by George James in 1954. With the prosperity that came after the war, consumers were ready for something new - and the futuristic starry design on Franciscan Starburst fit in well with a new chrome kitchen and advanced appliances. This pattern also fit in nicely with a young couple choosing their Wedding pattern in 1960 - you guessed it, Bob and Kathy! ​

 

Atomic Starburst CollectionAtomic Starburst Collection

 

Fun Facts about Salt & Peppers:

  • John Mason, the inventor of the screw top mason jar, is generally credited with creating the first salt shakers 
  • Salt and Pepper shakers didn't really take off until the 1940s due to some loosely related events: 
  1. The Morton Salt Company introduced anti-caking agents, such as magnesium carbonate, into salt in the 1920s -- ensuring that it wouldn't clump
  2. Improvements in ceramic making
  3. The Great Depression (really) manufacturers were forced to focus on smaller, less expensive items and a US population on the move created a ready market for small curios
  • In Britain, salt and pepper shakers are often called 'salt and pepper pots'
  • Interestingly, until recently, salt and sugar were often used simultaneously. From Roman times through the Renaissance, chefs routinely served salted and sugared dishes at the same time. It wasn't until the 17th century in France that salt and sugar were separated. It was royal cooks for Louis the XIV that began serving salted dishes throughout the meal to stimulate appetite and only serving sweet foods at the end to satiate the appetite—signifying an end to the meal.
  • Americans consume more than 6.5 million tons of table salt and some 27,000 tons of black pepper annually. Only sesame and mustard seeds are imported in greater quantities than pepper.
  • One of the earliest producers, the German fine quality pottery maker, Goebel, introduced their first three sets of shakers in 1923, and by seven years later they had added a further fourteen pairs to their collection.
  • The word "salary" is derived from the allowance Roman soldiers received to buy salt. Here's the OED: Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French salarie, from Latin salarium, originally denoting a Roman soldier's allowance to buy salt, from sal 'salt'.
  • Andrea Ludden has a collection of over 40,000 salt and peppers -- enough for two museums, once in Guadalest, Spain and the other in Gatlinberg, Tennessee. Fun quote from Andrea: “In one section,” says Andrea, “you see what looks like models of the Southwest U.S.—adobe houses of the style found in New Mexico, with cactus and cowboys and Indians. But behind them are two UFOs that have crashed and two aliens that glow in the dark. It’s the Roswell UFO crash in the 1940s." (KATHY is from Roswell New Mexico!)