Speaking of stereotypes (as I have doing in recent posts about salt-and-pepper depictions of Asiatics): did you notice how chubby all those chefs are, in the set I talked about in my last post? And indeed, not really very much to my surprise, other sets depicting non-Asiatic chefs are equally chubby–like this one: This timeContinue reading “Chubby Chefs”
Tag Archives: salt and pepper shakers
On Top of Old Smoky–and Other Places to Be on Top of
In my last post, I talked about a shaker set that consisted of two parts of Mt. St. Helen’s: the top part of it that blew off in 198o, and the bottom part that remained behind. According to the website of the Novelty Salt and Pepper Shakers Club,this makes my Mt. St. Helen’s set a representativeContinue reading “On Top of Old Smoky–and Other Places to Be on Top of”
Oppositional Curating
Looking for some ways of thinking about collections of objects of which one takes a less than purely sympathetic view–the one being me and the objects being my salt and pepper shakers–I came across “Racial Kitsch and Black Performance,” an insightful article by Tavia Nyong’o (Yale Journal of Criticism 15.2 [Fall 2002]: 371-3910. The “racialContinue reading “Oppositional Curating”
Two Seated Ladies
A seated woman sits down for a chat with another seated woman:The newcomer is a much more business-like looking woman. She has a crisp white collar, and no flowers, no puppy, no gardening hat. Is she, perhaps, a therapist of some sort, trying to assist our old friend with whatever horror it is that hasContinue reading “Two Seated Ladies”
What Is It?
This is the most mysterious set of salt and pepper shakers in my collection. I have no idea at all about what it’s supposed to represent. It appears to be a humanized creature of some sort holding a musical instrument. But what sort of creature? While it’s dressed like a human in what might beContinue reading “What Is It?”
Ethnic and Racial Slurs
Shortly after I bought my first set of salt-and-pepper shakers, I came upon this one: It’s a perfect representation of the kind of adorable miniaturized cuteness that defangs–or at least makes less immediately noticeable–its toxicity. What could be less harmful than this cheerful pair of people at rest, depicted in a world of shiny primaryContinue reading “Ethnic and Racial Slurs”
Perry Nodelman 