Want to know a quick way to spice up a trip to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tennessee area? Dash inside the Museum of Salt & Pepper Shakers!
My husband and I couldn’t resist going inside on our last trip to Gatlinburg. There were thousands of salt & pepper shaker sets. I actually enjoyed milling around, looking at all the different designs. Or maybe I just enjoyed being child-free for half an hour, since my children refused to come inside and waited in the car instead. I would have– no, should have– spent longer looking at the displays. But with a sulky teenager waiting in the car, I only looked long enough to get the flavor of the museum.
What’s funny, though, is that ever since our visit, I cannot stop myself from picking up salt & pepper shakers at every yard sale, thrift store, or flea market and think about that museum and wonder whether they have the same set that I’m holding? I almost want to buy the sets I come across and send them down to Tennessee to add to the museum collection. Or start my own collection. A “Museum North,” if you will. I’ll start with my I Love Lucy shakers. Because aren’t you dying to see those now?
Do you have any ‘museum-worthy’ salt & pepper shakers?
Update: As requested, here is a picture of my I Love Lucy shaker set. Her torso comes off and holds pepper. The grape vat is for salt. I think this trip inspired the gift.
Browsing The Atlas 
OMG! I wish we had kept my grandmother’s collection! We could’ve donated. She had dozens and dozens of old-time and kitschy ones.
Oh. I bet those shakers were neat. I have some of my grandmother’s kitschy knick-knacks. Mostly glass shoes that she kept on her dresser. They’re little treasures to me.
no because all the salt shakers go missing
Ha! That’s funny. I only imagine this happening in restaurants. 🙂
I have saltaholics living with me–can only find the pepper mill
Oh, yes I am! And I think you should have to show your I Love Lucy salt and pepper shakers to us since you brought it up. 😉 I am not a collector of anything, but I love all the crazy salt and pepper shakers that we see in antique malls and shops. They’re just so “fun.”
Okay. I’ll take a picture and share.
I definitely contemplate buying salt & pepper shakers as souvenirs now when I travel. But the odd thing is that we don’t really use salt in my house, so never actually need them.
I am too 🙂
I used to collect all sorts of things, but not anymore…not since we decided to ‘de-clutter’ our lives. Have given away all those little boxes, and bells and spoons 🙂
Smart. I can’t do it. I’m a terrible collector (bordering on hoarder), but I admire people that can de-clutter.
I haven’t been to Gatlinburg since middle school, when we went “skiing” on some broken leg-inviting ice mountain. We had a blast, though. I still have the “See Rock City” signs burnt into my brain from trips between Louisville and Atlanta. Great memories, thank you!
I’m very familiar with the Louisville-Atlanta trek. And the “See Rock City” signs. Iconic.
My mother has been collecting salt and pepper shakers for years – she would love this place! And, by the way, I visited quite a few places on last summer’s vacation while a sulky teenager waited in the car – you are not alone! 🙂
It’s kinda nice, isn’t it? To escape the sullenness and enjoy your alone time?
Encourage your mother to go. There are rooms after room. It was really interesting, and I don’t even collect them.
That is one unique and creative museum. That’ll be cool to see your own collection starting with the I Love Lucy shaker.
I have a feeling I’d end up on Hoarders. I’ll leave the museum to the professionals. 😉