Additional, Interesting Info
September, 2009 Club Newsletter article by Sylvia Tompkins:
Kurt Sebert and Sylvia Tompkins were the Convention Set Committee. Club member Ruthie Denney, Red Peppa Studio, is the producer of the set. She was also involved in the planning and design. We are very pleased that she agreed to produce the set for our Club. Now, a little information about the set.
Do you know why Tennessee is called the Volunteer State? Because throughout early American history, Tennessee was known for having more than enough volunteers whenever their nation called. A large number of volunteers from Tennessee went to fight the British in the War of 1812, especially in the Battle of New Orleans. Then they fought at the Alamo when Mexican General Santa Ana captured the garrison with no survivors; again at the Battle of San Jacinto when Texas defeated Santa Ana and won its independence from Mexico. In the 1840s, Mexico disputed Texas independence and decided it wanted the territory back, starting the Mexican War. The U.S. President called for 2600 men from each state to form an American army - 30,000 volunteered from Tennessee alone.
We tried to incorporate as much of Tennessee as possible into the convention set. The front of the tray, basically shaped like the state, says TN The Volunteer State and includes musical notes. On the right side are the Tennessee River that flows through Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains where black bears live - only black bears, not any other kind. Knoxville is identified with a dot. The shakers - surprise! - are black bears. The larger volunteer bear wearing bib overalls, with an Army cap and gun slung across his back, is proudly on his way to fight in the latest skirmish. He is smiling wistfully as he has to leave without having any moonshine. Waving goodbye and tending the wood-fired still mustard is the moonshine bear, dressed in a red shirt with a blue T and a white-strapped banjo on his back. To honor the state animal, the raccoon, this bear also sports a coonskin cap, the same type worn and made famous by TN resident Davy Crockett. The mustard has a traditional real copper coil imbedded in the lid and a spoon spout for the moonshine to flow into the jug held by the bear.
The music score and banjo are for Nashville, the Music Capital of the World, home of the Grand Old Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame; for Memphis, Birthplace of the Blues, home of Elvis Presley's Graceland and Beale Street; and for the many music and arts festivals hosted by Knoxville. We assume there have been moon shiners in the moon shiners in the mountains, and perhaps still are.
Photos of the set in production:
From a portion of Pat Yedlin's convention shaker unveiling presentation at the 2008 Convention:
- As you can see it’s a nodder, condiment set.
- It has a postcard base which represents the vacation destination that San Francisco is. The front has a picture of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge with the words “Greetings from San Francisco.”
- The back of the base has the words “Dear Salty, Having a great time at the 23rd annual convention of the Novelty Salt & Pepper Shakers Club. Wish you were here! Love Peppy”
- The postmark shows the convention location “San Francisco, California” and the convention dates of our convention July 18-19, 2008.
- The stamp is a play on the California state flag. It is a 27 cent stamp, the current rate. When we first started the postage rate was 26 cents. We had to scramble to make the change just in time before production.
- The postcard is addressed to Shakers by the Bay, San Francisco, CA with a zip of 2008
- The salt shaker is a pagoda. It represents San Francisco’s Chinatown, the oldest Chinatown in the United State and one of North America’s largest Chinatowns. When you get a closer view of the set you’ll notice a “S” for salt on the back of the shaker.
- The pepper shaker represents the lovely “painted ladies” that San Francisco is famous for. When you have a chance look for the “P” incorporated in the house’s design. It’s painted blue and yellow, California’s colors.
- Of course the buildings nod, representing the famous 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
- The mustard pot represents the older forms of public transportation that still exist in the City – cable cars, street cars, trolley cars. The spoon has a gold luster bell.
September, 2004 Club Newsletter:
The convention shaker for "Shaker Wonderland" was conceived by Michael D. Hall. He is widely known sculptor with many installations at various sites around the Detroit metropolitan area. He is also an educator and lecturer, a prolific author and a collector of folk and regional art. Part of that collection includes salt and pepper shakers, and Mike was eager to design a shaker for the Michigan convention.
He and Pat Glascock first worked up a preliminary sketch, an oversized model made of plastoline and painted with poster paint. Then they produced a clay study in actual size for the first slip cast prototypes to be fired as test models. The first rough castings were used for color tests, applied to acrylic paint just to experiment with various color combinations.
At this point, Jerry Berta took over the process. Jerry is a ceramic artist who is the owner and artist-in residence of Diner World in Rockford, Michigan where he produces, among other things, Rosie's Diner sculptures. He also created the shakers for the Ohio Shaker Fair in 2002.
The final clay prototype was sent to Hong Kong for the first castings and glaze tests. After a lot of artistic tweaking by artists and producer, the sets were ready to go into final production.
The idea was to incorporate the idea of Michigan as a year-round recreation state - the Water Winter Wonderland. The kissing skaters evoke the lyrics of the song "Winter Wonderland" in which two lovers fantasize a snowman as the Parson Brown. In this case, the parson is decked out for a day of fun in the sun with his sunglasses, tennis racket and inner tube.
The yellow and blue colors on the boy skater and the green and white dress of the girl represent the Big 10 Football rivalry between the University of Michigan and Michigan State. Go Spartans!!
The snowman is securely attached to the tray and he serves as a handle for moving the set safely. The tray rests on has two levels, upper and lower, to represent the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.
September, 2003 Club Newsletter:
The German Doll Company - The Convention Shaker Story
The German Doll Company is the maker of the 2003 Club convention set. In 1996, Susan Bickert of Ohio, now company president, visited Germany with her two daughters. Little did she know when she planned the trip what it would lead to. Stopping in an antique shop, she met Roland, the owner. One discussion led to another and another, and finally the German Doll Company evolved.
During the heyday of the German porcelain making industry in 1900, the area of the Thuringian Wald, in the former East Germany, had as many as 200 factories producing dolls and other items for export, including figurines, salt and pepper shakers, egg timers, mustard pots, etc. Seconds were usually disposed of by dumping them behind the factory or using them as filler beneath the floorboards, an inexpensive substitute for insulation. Along with the huge number of items being turned out every day, came an equally large number of plaster molds. At the most, each mold could be used for 15 pours, as the features of each piece become less crisp with each pouring. Instead of disposing of thousands of molds per week, molds were often mortared into interior and exterior walls of the factories, or given to the poor factory workers who used them to build chicken houses, barns or homes - again, an inexpensive substitute for building materials.
Uncovering these turn of the century porcelains is the most wonderful treasure hunt one can imagine! As these factories are now being razed or found sitting idle after years of neglect, floorboards were ripped up to expose bucketfuls of century-old porcelain. Digging in old dumping grounds yields handfuls of broken parts or an occasional compete piece. Today only a few of these factories remain standing. Most have been torn down since the reunification of Germany to make way for various businesses.
Through knowledge of the region's history and countless searches, many of these early molds have been found. The German Doll Company is once again producing quality porcelain, poured in original molds, which have been carefully reworked by trained artisans. Once again the beauty and quality of Germany porcelain is available for people to enjoy in what is sure to be the antique of tomorrow.
While our convention set was not made in Germany, as a production run of 400 sets is too costly, the set was made entirely from old German molds. The set was produced in a quality factory in China with guidance provided by Susan Bickert, now a member of our Club.
Per Dan Schwitzgable, Convention Registration Chairperson:
"The Ohio convention shaker committee, chaired by Betsy Zalewski, decided on certain points for the design of our convention set. It had to be smaller than 6" and we wanted it to be a nodder. In keeping with our convention theme of the county/state fair we knew that there were usually midway rides associated with them. Also, at about the time we were beginning to plan the convention, an article appeared in the USA Today newspaper calling Ohio the roller coaster capital of the world because there were so many roller coasters in the various amusement parks throughout the state. The committee came up with the name "The Shake Up."
Jerry Berta of Rockford, MI was commissioned to manufacture the set. He felt he could make a set based on the sketches of what the committee wanted and expressed interest in the nodder idea since he had never seen one (until he was presented with several examples). The colors used were suggested by the artist based on those used in his other works in fitting with the bright colors usually on a roller coaster. Jerry did say that the yellow-haired person in one of the cars depicted Betsy Zalewski because they worked so closely on the project."
Per Janie King, Convention Chairperson:
"The 1999 Convention Set was designed by the Lone Star Chapter of the Novelty Salt & Pepper Club. It was produced by the New Rose Collection and presented at the 14th annual club convention. Only 600 sets were made.
Based on the "Saga of Pecos Bill" written in 1923 by Edward O'Reilly for the Century Magazine, the set is entitled "Pecos Bill." The set features some of Pecos Bill's exploits. Bill sits on a mountain lion and holds a rattle snake which he used as a lariat to rope a tornado. The top half of Bill is one shaker. The other shaker is the tornado which is hitting a barn. The tornado is also a nodder and it has several items caught up in it - a steer head, a cactus, a boot and an animal. The roof lifts off the barn which is a mustard container. On the roof is a weather vane and it is also a spoon.
All these sit on a grassy base which has "Lone Star Shaker Roundup" written on it. An outline of the state of Texas rises up from the base. Written on that is "1999 Fort Worth S&P Shaker Club 14th Annual Convention." A yellow star on the state represents where Fort Worth is located.
A printed insert accompanied each set with details about the legend of Pecos Bill. The set sold for $42 before it's unveiling at the convention and $45 after unveiling."
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
The set has a 2 inch deep base of a surf shore with a large yellow setting sun as a backdrop, similar to a convex band shell. The shakers - 3H & 2H - are lying on the base and are in the shape of the state of California in two pieces - And yes, the "Great Shake" earthquake broke em'.
It was designed by David & Jan Peters, Susan Frank and Sanda Sosa. The sculptor was Don Winton of Twin Winton Ceramics. 400 sets were ordered for the convention and 200 more were ordered at a later date for future sales. They were produced by Laurie Gates of Los Angeles Pottery.
The back is marked on 4 lines "THE BIG SHAKE 10TH ANNUAL CONVENTION NOVELTY S & P SHAKERS CLUB CALIFORNIA - JULY 1995." The bottom has a circular stamp "Designed by Peters, Frank, Peters & Sosa" and is also signed by the sculptor and dated 1995.
A single set was made with the sun in bronze and was presented to Irene Thornburg for her 6 years as Membership Chairman. The #1 set, with the sun in gold was sold via lottery. It was then placed into the auction and sold for $2000.
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
This is the first set issued as a condiment set. The chapter was given the task of what the set should be. Chapter member Jerry Fuller had sent a publicity flyer to the Newsletter with the phrase to wit: "Just blast on down to Florida." Thus was born and then approved by a joint decision of the chapter, the idea for the Space Shuttle.
Chapter member David Himmelheber, a designer for Pratt & Whitney, made sketches and sent them to D & H Studios, in Palm Beach County. D & H made 600 sets, allowing a $2.00 discount for each because they were made in one order, rather than two, as some previous orders were made. (If the set sold out, additional sets could be ordered).
The base is a large cloud, in which the booster rockets - salt 1H & pepper 2H - sit. When the first sets were being assembled, the shakers did not have a snug fit. D & H revamped the mold, adding to the cloud, making for a better fit. The red colored main rocket has a space shuttle attached to it. The nose cone is the mustard, and may have slight color variations, is removable, and contains a spoon. The back is inscribed on 3 lines, "8th Annual Convention, Novelty S & P Shakers Club, Florida, 1993."
The #1 set sold at the convention auction for $1550. Pre-convention cost, if picked up, was $35.50. Some sets were found in a storage locker in late 1996. However, they may have been sold by publication time. Otherwise, all known remaining sets are in private collections.
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
This set is two Maple Leaf people - a girl marked "S" on the back 3H & a boy 2H - on a forest green color base in the shape of Vermont, a design decided upon by the chapter.
Negotiations to produce the set were held with Regal China and all went smoothly. The chapter called to get an exact date of delivery. The response was no answer. Finally, some one picked up the phone and said that the company was closed. Unknown to the chapter, Regal China had filed for bankruptcy, and had closed their doors on June 30th, 1992.
So, where were the shakers? A few days prior to that, a truck was loaded up with the shakers and was somewhere on the highways. Norma Montaigne received a phone call on the weekend prior to the convention. It was the hotel saying that they had some pallets on their loading dock, addressed to her, and a trucker was there to deliver the shakers, whether they wanted them or not. The driver had been told to leave them there and not to contact Regal. The driver's job, as far as he was concerned, had been done, and that he could not wait around. It turned out that not only were there the 400 sets of shakers, but also the original molds, and some were broken. The remaining molds were destroyed, according to club procedures.
The chapter tried to contact Regal China and even tried to sue the trucker. Without copies of any contracts or other written proof, the matter, after many months, was dropped. The set was the last order ever produced by Regal China.
The bottom is marked "7th ANNUAL SALT & PEPPER NOVELTY SHAKERS CLUB CONVENTION BURLINGTON VERMONT 1992, MFG. BY:REGAL CHINA CORP." There are two felt pads on the bottom, which could be a mark for the set, as this and the 1991 set were the only S & P Club sets made by Regal China.
The #1 set, which was trimmed in gold, sold at the convention auction for $1000. A set sold at the 1996 convention auction for $150.00. Pre-convention cost, if picked up, was $45, a bit pricey at the time. All know remaining sets are in private collections.
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
This set is a bust of Abraham Lincoln with two black children nodders, one in each of the shoulders. Abe has the traditional black stove pipe hat. The girl 3H has a pink dress and the boy 2H has a blue shirt and black bib overalls. The bottom is marked "Regal China USA."
Regal China, based in Antioch, IL was contacted to make the sets for two reasons. First, they had made the Van Tel Huggies, and second, rumor had it that they might be going out of business. This could be the last chance to have a product made by them.
The set was designed by Betty Harrington of CAS. The committee felt that the first sample was too large, so it was resculpted to be smaller.
A surprise arose near the end of production. After going through many inspection checks, it was found that the pivot points for the nodders was incorrectly designed, and would not nod properly. The production was too far into the process, so the sets were issued with flat pivots. Also, the sculptor had left Regal China and was unable to redo the mold. The set has been in our cabinet for 5 years, and we never did check that out. Yes, they don't nod as they should.
A report surfaced recently, that while cleaning the set, some of paint flaked off.
400 sets were ordered, to be delivered in two separate orders of 200 each. When the committee asked for the second order, Regal China was taken aback. They had destroyed all of the molds, except the Master mold. Regal China made additional molds, however, it took a bit longer to fill the order as each mold was good for only 25 sets.
Of the 400 sets made, only the #1 set was numbered. The logistics of numbering and distribution had now become too much of a hassle.
The back, carries the inscription on 3 lines, "6th S & P CONVENTION 1991 CHICAGO ILLINOIS Designed by: B H." Interestingly, the base has two felt pads attached so that it would not scratch the area where displayed.
The #1 set had the colors of the children's clothes reversed, and was signed by the designer. It sold at the 1991 convention auction for $1100. The last non-privately owned set sold at the 1996 convention auction for $200.00. Pre-convention cost, if picked up, was $35.00. All known remaining sets are in private collections.
Per Sylvia Tompkins:
"The 1990 convention set "Afloat on the Mississippi" was designed and produced in several color variations by pottery artist Rick Wisecarver. These variations are primarily in the blue and white clothes. The No.1 set has both boys dressed in medium blue overalls with white shirts. Many other sets have each boy dressed in different color shirts or overalls.
In this time period, the No.1 set was not trimmed in gold, but all 400 sets produced were numbered.
Number 1 set (sold for $450):
Examples of Color Variations:
There was an alternate convention set made, the "Gone With the Wind" Scarlett O'Hara and Mammy shakers on a Tara tray, also in several color variations. The convention chair selected the boys on the raft for the convention set."
Alternate Number 1 Set:
Color Variations:
From "Convention 1989" by Joyce and Bill Fisher, an article in the September, 2003 Club Newsletter
The next step was making a convention shaker. The year "1988-1989" was celebrating a birthday for "Superman." He originated in Cleveland, Ohio. Bill got the idea to do the phone booth as salt and Superman as the pepper shaker.
Hubert and Clara McHugh volunteered to help us. After many phone calls it was determined that D C COMICS held the copyright to Superman. Hubert called them several times, and they were very co-operative when they heard that it was a Club project, and actually waived all copyright fees. BUT they insisted that their sculptor had to make the model, and that cost a minimum of $5,000. With the projection of only making 200 or less shakers the cost of each would have been a minimum of $25 for the sculpture, plus another $20 cost of manufacture. The projected cost killed the Superman idea.
The second idea was to make the state as a tray with a trailer and camper as the salt and pepper shaker. Ohio is second in the nation for tourists and vacations. Hubert knew of a company in Pennsylvania to make our mold and shaker. We ordered 150 sets with 50 more to follow at a later date.
Per Hubert & Clara McHugh:
"Irene & Jim asked us (Clara & Hubert) to take on the shakers for that year. They did the rest of the Convention. At a meeting at our house, in the fall of '88, Irene, Jim, Larry, Sylvia, and we tried to carve, mold and/or create the RAISINS. You should have seen the initial results, most of which looked like Frankenstein's Monster. The box was straight forward - a little taper to release it from the two piece mold, and patternmaker's letters glued on the back. We hand-carved the cereal bowl and glued it on.
The convention was at the "Kellogg Center" in Battle Creek, and the original idea for the RAISIN Nodders was Kellogg's RAISIN BRAN, with each shaker named SCOOP. The scenario was ...October 1988, we would call Kellogg and discuss something, they would write back. November 1988, we would call them, they would write back. December 1988, we would call them, they would write back. Finally, Christmas came and went, and we decided to go generic, with Cereal City, as we HAD to get rolling to have them finished in time.
By the way, the Club had $400.00 at that time. The shakers cost $12.00 each X 100 = $1200.00. No one knew if the shakers would sell, as there was insufficient precedent, so we (Clara & Hubert) discussed the problem and decided to take a chance and pay for the shakers ourselves. We ordered 100 sets and put down a deposit. The shakers were offered at $24.00 before unveiling and $27.00 after the unveiling. 85 sets were committed for before the unveiling and several more were ordered that night after they were seen. Irene and Jim saw the finished shakers at the unveiling. A few weeks later, after orders were received, the total came to 163. Larry Carey said to order him a dozen for his business. That is how the second order was placed for 75 and the issue was closed at 175 total.
We received a letter from Kellogg, dated Jan 19, 1989, to go ahead with a prototype and submit it for approval. Much later we found out that "POST" had the copyright for the "California Raisins" and Kellogg was concerned that our nodders would look like California Raisins.
85 X $12 each = $1020 and 90 X $15 = $1350, so the shakers made the club $2370.00 for the Treasury. The convention made a similar amount, so the treasury grew by over 10 times.
We made the model and Aura made the mold. Both Kellogg & Post were in Battle Creek."
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
This convention was the first to have a theme. The set is a ceramic hand, 3H, 4 1/2" long, holding a ceramic world, 4H, made by Trish Ceramics of Pittsburgh.
Melva Davern had written a poem entitled "Reach Out" which was published in D2,P213. The set is shown above the poem.
The original design was the hand holding a blown GLASS shaker. It was specifically designed to satisfy the novelty shaker collectors and the antique and art glass collectors, for at the time there was only one club (S.S.C.C.) who collected both. The design was changed in part, with the glass shaker being replaced with a blue ceramic world. The wording on the world is "2nd Annual Salt & Pepper Convention 1987 Trish." This wording is very significant in that it refers to A salt and pepper convention. It was at this convention, hosted by Melva Davern and Betsy Zalewski, that the club split into two clubs, forming the Novelty Salt & Pepper Shakers Club and the Antique & Art Glass Salt Shaker Collectors Society.
An undetermined number of pieces/sets were made. Problems with the kilns and temperatures caused some of the pieces to be destroyed, especially the brown hands. The final number produced for sale was 250, all numbered, with an original issue price of $30.00. 215 hands have a cream color and 35 have a brown color. Objections were made at the convention such as cost, poorly designed, the world was "ugly and bumpy," and it was not acceptable or collectible set. Oh, how little they knew! The committee re-offered the set at $12.00. If the buyers were not satisfied, the set would be bought back at the same price. A set of the brown hand and world sold at the 1994 convention auction for $100.00. All know remaining sets are in private collections.
From "The First Ten Years, a History of the First Ten Commemoratives," by Steve Justin in the February, 1997 Club Newsletter:
The shaker was made in a limited edition of 47, all numbered and sold for, at the time, the unworldly price of $16.00. If you wanted a set, you had to buy two. Those who pre-ordered received a shaker with their name written on the bottom.
The commemorative was a single, hand thrown, round stoneware shaker, 3 1/3" high. This was a bit unusual, as most shakers are made from a mold.
The shaker was accompanied by a certificate stating "LIMITED EDITION from HILLBOTTOM POTTERY Alfred Station, NY. July 31, 1986. For this convention of the S.S.C.C., Hillbottom Pottery has crafted one-of-a-kind salt and pepper shakers on special order, only. This limited edition has been completed and no more will be made by Hillbottom Pottery (Signed) Bruce Greene."
All known pieces are in private collections.