A Sprinkle of Salt & Pepper at Gretna Green

Who knew there was so much involved in collecting salt and pepper sets! We recently got quite a few pairs into stock here at Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop ...which got us thinking about these unique items and those who collect them!

Take a quick glance at the table, and it's easy to see that most of the pairs which get sold at Gretna Green are novelty items....which, according to the collectors themselves, means the salt & pepper sets take the form of people, objects or animals and can be made out of just about any material imaginable! (Hmmm you learn something everyday!) But it doesn't stop there - nope there are different terms depending on the form the salt and pepper pair takes - hangers, magnetic, carriers ....the list goes on for age.

(A pair, by the way, is any salt and pepper set in its original combination.)

Since we were busy adding a sprinkling of salt and pepper to our site (sorry - couldn't resist!), we thought we'd pop over to the Foodhall where you can find more than 30 different designs of these quaint and quirky ceramic salt and pepper pots! We spoke to Rhona, our Foodhall manager, about these ... we may have received a bit of a funny look we received when we mentioned wanting to speak about salt and peppers pots.

According to Rhona, the dog sets are highly popular (no argument there - they are rather cute). Many of our international visitors love the hen and cockerel sets....while those from the UK love Edith and Squash (these two adorable cats). 

Can't decide which one is your favourite? That's fine....neither can most of our visitors! Each pair is quite popular! The small size of these charming salt and pepper sets makes them perfect gifts or souvenirs which can be taken home.....without requiring another suitcase! If you had to choose one, what would be it?

Do you collect salt and pepper pots? Or anything else novelty? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter or here!