In recent posts, I’ve been talking about animals and other objects depicted in salt and pepper shakers as wearing various items of human clothing. This time, I’m going to look at a set that depicts a more or less human-like being who isn’t wearing quite enough clothing. I begin with the actual shakers: Readers whoContinue reading “Shake Your Booty”
Category Archives: Jokes
Both Elegant and Kitschy
My favourite salt and pepper shaker set that transforms the surface it sits on from a hard surface to one that implies the surface’s permeability is this one: It consists of just those two quite elegant and curvy triangular shapes–each on their own an interestingly abstract sculpture, perhaps. But somehow, together, their representational intent becomesContinue reading “Both Elegant and Kitschy”
One of Chicken’s Children Got Shoes
The fifth or sixth egg of the eleven in my salt and pepper shaker collection is most notable for its footwear: This freak of nature was born with its shoes already on, it seems. How the shoes got inside the shell is unclear–unless perhaps, those are not shoes at all, but this particular chick’s actualContinue reading “One of Chicken’s Children Got Shoes”
Polyamory
Recently, my friend Joseph Thomas made a comment on Facebook that relates to my interest in salt and pepper shakers: What I think is wonderful about salt n pepper shakers: although they come as a pair, they so often aren’t bound together, save by their maker’s intent or owner’s whim. Thus, even pairs “meant forContinue reading “Polyamory”
The News Is a Woman
In the miniverse of salt and pepper shakers, almost everything is either humanized or genderized or both. Most of the apples and bunnies and fire hydrants and yachts have been given some sort of human characteristic–human eyes or mouths or human smiles on non-human mouths. And apparently objects can’t be represented as somehow human withoutContinue reading “The News Is a Woman”
Breeding Like Rabbits
Sometimes sand-and-pepper sets make clear distinctions between the masculinity and femininity of the shakers they contain without having to resort to putting the animal figures they represent into human clothing. You might guess that this particular shaker represents a female rabbit just because she happens to be pink: But if you place her in relationContinue reading “Breeding Like Rabbits”
Shaker. Sculpture. Shaker Sculpture.
In my last post, after discussing the unsettling disproportion of a shaker set that contains a human figure accompanied by some relatively giant shakers (or perhaps, some normal-sized shakers accompanied by a decidedly tiny human figure, I promised to talk about another set I have that consists of the usual shaker-sized miniature human figure and aContinue reading “Shaker. Sculpture. Shaker Sculpture.”
Once More for Old Times’ Sake, Once More
When I wrote about shaking in my last post, I realize, I was taking something important for granted: you are allowed to give the shakers a symbolic shaking that implies violence to the person or thing a shaker represents because the shaker is, in fact, merely a representation–not actually the thing it represents, but aContinue reading “Once More for Old Times’ Sake, Once More”
Scriptive Things, Fifth Verse: A Little Bit Louder, A Little Bit Diverse
The question remains the same. Generally speaking, what actions or responses do novelty salt and pepper shakers invite when they appear as part of a table setting for a meal? Most obviously of course, they invite those at the table to shake them, i.e., to put salt and/or pepper on their food–and whatever kind ofContinue reading “Scriptive Things, Fifth Verse: A Little Bit Louder, A Little Bit Diverse”
E.T., Go Home
This is another example of a stacker (or nester). As two separate pieces it represents a somewhat odd couple brought together, it seems, by their shared connection to outer space: One is some kind of one-eyed alien or ET; the other appears to be an astronaut in a G-suit. Neither appears to be happy, the reasonContinue reading “E.T., Go Home”
Perry Nodelman 