Hello Whimsyboppers!
Where have I been? Well, I've decided to enjoy the lazy days of summer before school begins in a few more weeks which includes spending more time with my family and less time on the computer.
Summer is winding down but the excitement continues at our house where Brian, our 15 year old is now driving with a learner's permit (which is almost as thrilling as a roller coaster ride), and our daughter Autumn has been busy purchasing items for her college dorm (she is soooo excited!). My husband has a great tan from mowing the lawn and keeping the yard gorgeous, and my mom's beautiful vegetable garden is keeping us all healthy and well fed.
I wish you all happy and restful summer days full of wonderful times spent with those you love most. Please visit Whimsybop in a few weeks when we're all refreshed and ready to pick up where we left off! Blessings, TJ
My first job after being honorably discharged from the Navy was in a shopping mall working at a coffee store, grinding beans and whipping up specialty coffee drinks - ahh, the aroma was delicious! Only one other place in the mall smelled just as wonderful to me and that was the tobacco store next door. I loved going in there on my breaks because just inside the tobacco store's entrance was a stack of empty cigar boxes for sale: $1 for the cardboard boxes and $3 for the wooden ones. I was particularly attracted to the wooden boxes and bought them to make crafts out of them, transforming them into quirky little purses or jewelry boxes (that was during my Modge Podge years).
Years after my gig as
coffee barista was over, I was in an antique store when a cigar box caught my eye. The beautiful artwork, vivid colors and typography style made me want to take it home - and a collection was born! Most of the cigar boxes in my collection have come from antique stores, estate sales and flea markets. Cigar boxes can be found anywhere from the $2 - $45 range, depending on the condition of the box, the graphics on the box and the rareness of the brand of cigar. I try to keep my cigar box budget under $5, which is why my collection is rather small.
I often display them stacked in a tower of color, either on the floor or on a chair. Unfortunately, since they are made of cardboard, the stack can't get too high on account of the lids caving in beneath the weight. Currently mine are perched on the top of a built-in bookshelf in the living room, which allows me easy access to the weird and wonderful treasure I keep inside each one.
Sometimes I find the boxes with labels attached to them where folks have used them through the years to store various items inside such as stamps, nails & screws or tax receipts (I know this because I've painstakingly soaked and peeled off such labels). I actually don't mind finding labels on them because it's proof of what kept the box from being discarded - and every collector should be thankful for that!
This White Owl box is one of my favorites. I found it at the Pickens Flea Market in South Carolina with my Dad, who was just as excited to see it as I was to buy it. The box brought on a wonderful memory he shared with me of his high school shop class where he and his classmates were instructed to make transistor radios from cigar boxes - and they actually worked! If you look real hard at this photo, this White Owl box has the holes cut out as well as pencil markings diagramming where the knobs would be placed (pretty neat!).
My dad was known to smoke a cigar from time to time and as little girl I was intrigued to watch the smoke curl around his face and dance off into the air in mysterious swirls. Unlike my Dad, however, I have never had the desire to smoke a cigar - except in my dreams. Oddly, I have had a recurring dream for most of my adult life in which I smoke, and seem to immensely enjoy a cigar (that's one dream that would make for an interesting interpretation!).
When I think of someone enjoying a good stogie my mind immediately goes to the late George Burns, the iconic cigar smoking Hollywood legend. Mr. Burns and I shared a special moment many years ago when I (in my early twenties) collided with him as I raced through an airport to catch a connecting flight and nearly knocked the old man over (my only brush with a celebrity). Perhaps it was that brush with Mr. Burns which was the catalyst to my recurring cigar smoking dream...hmm, now there's something to ponder.
I guess I wouldn't be a collector of vintage junk if I didn't have at least one pair of salt & pepper shakers in the house now would I? Unlike a "normal" person, however, I can't just stop at a couple of S&P shakers - no, I have to collect more than my share to feel as if I've truly tackled something!
The first time that a salt & pepper shaker made me stop in my tracks was about twenty years ago when my friend Debbie and I were shopping at the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena, California. We were looking for good junk, good deals and hoping for a chance of catching a glimpse of a celebrity or two. No celebrities that day, but I did stumble on the coolest thing EVER - a tiny chrome toaster with two cute little plastic slices of bread inside - the white slice for salt and the brown slice for pepper. It had a lever on the side which made the toast pop up or down; when in the "up" position, a slice could be removed in order to use it's contents. I couldn't resist - I laid down my $12 and it was all mine!
After our flea market fun was over, Deb and I found an antique mall on the way home where I happened on a salt & pepper shaker in the form of an adorable plastic television set. It was so cool with a little knob that turned to allow the S&P shakers to emerge from the console. For $10 it came home with me.
Surprisingly, when I gave my husband the "show and tell" from my day's adventure later that evening he wasn't nearly as thrilled as I was (imagine that!). Since that day I have not been able to pass up a plastic salt & pepper shaker with movable parts; it is a day that my husband shall never forget.
Thanks to flea markets, antique shops and e-bay I accrued quite a collection in the years that followed - and what I couldn't find on my own, my dear husband and a few generous friends presented to me in the form of birthday and Christmas gifts!
After I had purchased about every movable salt & pepper shaker known to exist on the planet I began to broaden my search and collect S&P shakers bearing advertisements and marketing icons which led to collecting the S&P shakers bearing the groovy colors and funky shapes of the 1950's and 1960's. Once in a while I'll see a ceramic one that catches my eye but I quickly turn and walk away because if I know if I start on those - Yikes! There's no end!
When my kids were little I let them take turns choosing a pair of salt & pepper shakers that the family would use during the month, which was lots of fun for them. It stopped being fun, however, after we moved a few times and had salt & pepper EVERYWHERE during the unpacking process (I wasn't efficient at emptying the shakers before they were packed), oops!
Since moving into our present home four years ago, I'm sorry to admit that most of my collection has been hiding in storage. I have brought a few out to display on a tray to add a little color and whimsy to my kitchen. Because they are my worst dust collectors, I'm not ready to see the entire collection out just yet - not until I figure out a dust-free way to display them. In the mean time I have two little friends who are in elementary school who love to come over and dust my tray of S&P shakers to earn a little money - I don't know what I'd do without them (thanks JJ and Graysen!).
I find these vintage S&P shakers just about everywhere from yard sales to flea markets to antique malls. The prices range from 50 cents to about $40, depending of course on the condition and the design. My budget is around $10, although I'd spend a little more (but not too much) if I find a rare one that I don't have.
I like having these S&P shakers around because they remind me of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:13: "You are the Salt of the Earth..." Salt does three very important things: it seasons, it preserves and it heals, reminding me and challenging me to keep my salt shaker full and to remain salty for my God! 
Thanks to my friend Erika, whose blog post "Salt" was the inspiration to this post - Find her blog at www.Erikaunstuck.blogspot.com
