Collecting Vintage Fish Salt and Pepper Shakers

I have collected vintage fish shaped salt and pepper shaker sets for the past 20 years. My collection consists of approximately 150 sets (I admit to losing count this year), along with the occasional lonely, single shaker. The majority of my sets were manufactured and sold between 1940 and 1980. Although shakers are made of many materials, including metal, wood, plastic, and glass, I collect only the pottery and ceramic sets. My collection has come from many sources: garage sales, flea markets, antique malls, gifts, and especially Ebay.

My "fish" were manufactured by several companies: Napco, Relco, Ucagco PY, Enesco, Victoria Ceramics, Empress, Goebel, Virginia Ann Ceramics of California, and Ceramics Arts Studio of Wisconsin. My fish salt and pepper sets have come from a variety of countries as well: Germany, Japan, Australia, England, Canada, and the United States.

The bottoms of most sets are back stamped with "Japan", or "Made In Japan", with a single color: red, blue, black, orange, or green. I find that vintage sets which still possess their original paper or foil labels are usually in the best condition. A label which remains intact after many decades indicates a set which was either seldom used, or maintained in a collection and never used. Their condition is usually mint.

Although this article concentrates specifically on vintage fish shaped salt and pepper shakers, some of the information provided may be easily applied to other types of shakers as well.

Categories

I divide my collection into three subjective categories based upon physical appearance and style.

Realistic: These shakers bear a close resemblance, in both color and design, to the living fish after which they are patterned. Both freshwater and saltwater species are represented: Blue Gill, Red Snapper, Smallmouth Bass, Barracuda, Yellow Perch. For nearly every species of fish on Earth, there is probably a salt and pepper set which represents them.