They’d never been to Schaumburg. They weren’t sure of its location, knowing only that it was within a geographical construct called “Chicagoland.” They knew that meant it was in the metropolitan area. In planning their trip from New York City, they made no provision for a breakdown in Toledo. They learned: everybody breaks down in Toledo.
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Novelty salt and pepper shakers are as different from antique or crystal salt and pepper shakers as the Rockefeller mansion is from the House on the Rock. Five years ago the novelty collectors were asked very politely, in an undertone hushed by a repugnance bordering on horror, to leave the Antique and Art Glass Salt Shaker Collectors Society, to hit the road with their assorted Noah’s Arks, Laurel and Hardys, grinning duckies, and smirking bellhops lugging salt and pepper suitcases. At the very last joint convention, this desire was summed up in a comment by a lady from Roanoke, Virginia, to Irene Thornburg of Battle Creek, Michigan, now membership coordinator of the novelty club. Irene was looking over a pair of glass swans, and wondered aloud whether they were crystal or novelty glass. The lady replied, “This isn’t crystal. It isn’t glass. It’s just vulgar.” The new club had its first convention the following year, in Pittsburgh.
The collectors are a diverse lot, bound only by their collecting habits. The club has 1,123 members, hailing from nearly all the 50 states and five countries other than the U.S., including England–the home of eccentric collectors. Nigel Dally was one of the Englishmen who showed up in Schaumburg, his 19-month-old son in tow. Nigel had so many sets with him the kid had to vacate his crib early to allow room for display. With his long hair, shades, and dangling cigarette, Nigel is a shadowy figure in the shaker world. If the shakers in his collection were piled into a mound, they’d show up on the radar at O’Hare. He’s been referred to as the William Randolph Hearst of the salt and pepper set. It’s said that Hearst himself collected novelty shakers (salt and pepper in Disney figurines joined Heinz catsup in a bottle to form the condiments offered at his table), but then, he collected everything.
