Secret Life of Antiques: All Shook Up, Salt Shakers

Salt is something we take for granted these days. Yet at one time salt was a highly prized, quite expensive and worthy of the most expensive, elaborate holders. Historically, salt was symbolic of social standing and economic standing, not only in society, but even within the same family.

Superstitions and prestige associated with salt holders were due to the scarcity and high prices for salt. Leonardo de Vinci placed an overturned salt dish in front of Judas Escariat in his painting The Last Supper, because he considered it an ill omen.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, dishes for salt were elaborate, and richly decorated, more than that, the salt container marked the boundary line on the table between honorable estate and land owners and the "common" guests, which is how the English term "below the salt" was born, indicating someone of little or no social importance. For centuries salt was carefully placed on the table in dishes with a tiny salt spoon, in just the "right place!

For a time, salt was dispensed in little salt mills, like a pepper grinder, as salt was still sold in the original "rocks" and needed to be ground down. It is believed that John Mason {who invented those darling Mason Jars} invented the very first salt shaker. He punched several holes in a small mason jar, and viola! a shaker was born. Decades later, the Morton Salt Company added magnesium carbonate to their salt for better flow, and the salt shaker truly came into its own.