Vintage Salt Shakers

Do you like knick-knacks?  Do you like collecting stuff?  Do you like having a bunch of things in your home that you can't use, lest its quality diminish?

Then you've come to the right place!

Fairfax salt and pepper shakers in orchid crystal ~$100

Wham.  Vintage salt shakers.  All the rage these days.  But before you dive into the exciting world of vintage salt shaker collecting (you can throw the pepper shakers away), you should first know a few basics about the hobby connoisseurship:

Quality
This is totally important.  The better the condition, the more valuable the salt shaker.  If you're collecting just to decorate your kitchen with cutesy (dare I say kitschy?) salt shakers, then don't worry about this.  But real legit serious awesome collectors (Antiques Roadshow tier) should definitely keep quality in mind.

Materials
Salt shakers can be made of a variety of materials, including various metals, glass, wood, ceramics, and more.

Affordable vintage milkglass shakers ~$8-$10

 

Carved ivory adds a touch of elegance and murder ~$60

Age/Rarity

Like wine and unlike grapes, good salt shakers get better with age.  Sometimes it's not too difficult to determine the age of a salt shaker.  Some vintage salt shakers served to advertise for companies (a popular sub-genre of vintage salt shakers are the Gasoline Pump sets, for example), and so it is simply a matter of recognizing the era of the brand.

Likewise, many salt shakers represent popular characters, like this old-timey Mickey Mouse set:

 Did someone say Suicide Mouse? ~$195

 

Outrageousness Factor

Like this $800 set:

But it's signed!  I think it's a Warhol.

Level of Racism

Also important, apparently.

 

Goodness. ~$85-$100

More info on vintage salt shaker collecting here: http://reviews.ebay.com/Collectible-Salt-amp-Pepper-Shakers_W0QQugidZ10000000000882268