By Eavin Moore
Last week I got the kind of call I just love, from a lady asking would I like to come see her boyfriend’s salt and pepper shaker collection. Heck yes I would!
I’ve spent too much time lately visiting retailers. Not that I mind that, there’s plenty of interesting places with unique merchandise to peruse, but my passion is collections. I like nothing better than seeing the items others hold dear, and digging to find out why.
I had the great pleasure to visit St. Joe resident Jonal Felder in his beautiful home in the shadow of
The couple had moved last winter and the entire collection had never been unpacked. I watched as he carefully unwrapped a good number of his treasures and set them out on the kitchen counter, each pair bringing a smile to his face as he was reacquainted with old friends. Sometimes through the exhaustion of moving, you get the necessities situated, but the various personal items take a while to come back out. I think this project served as a good excuse to do so.
I have some standard questions I always ask collectors to learn the origin of their hobby. Jonal explained that it was probably his years as a chef at the Ramada Inn that influenced his collection. At work, salt and pepper shakers were tools of the trade, but on his shelves at home they were just for his own enjoyment.
He pointed out a pair of wooden shakers shaped like tombstones, and mentioned them as the first pair in his collection. He acquired them about ten years ago in a
I saw quite a few wooden shakers, lots of ceramic animal pairs and some pretty bizarre stuff too. My favorite was a small metallic toaster with two removable slices in the slots, one marked “S” the other “P”.
Working at Triumph Foods for the last three years has kept him out of restaurant kitchens, but Jonal Felder continues to add to his collection. In fact he recently received “The Big Book of Salt and Pepper Shakers”, a major source book for the seriously addicted.
“And really, that’s what it is”, he tells me. “You start with a couple of tombstones, and the next thing you know, your friends and relatives are on the lookout for them. This is just a few boxes,” he says indicating the mass of shakers on the counter. “There’s at least this many more still packed away.”
I guess it doesn’t really matter whether its salt and pepper shakers, Elvis on black velvet or presidential spoons, when the collecting bug hits you, it hit’s hard. At least these are smaller and easier to display than the guy with the 200 rusting Cadillac convertibles in the field behind his house.
As I gathered my notes to leave, I noticed Jonal glancing around the house. It looked to me like he was contemplating display space. I’ll be surprised if the entire collection isn’t unwrapped before this issue hits print.
If you happen to know him, you might have the inclination to give him a hard time about his collection. I say keep it to yourself. I’m grateful to individuals who open their homes to this reporter and share their passion with our readers. For others of you who do a bit of collecting yourselves, the number and email are right there on the cover. Give us a peek at your antique fishing lures, your beer can collections, your Christmas ornaments made of human hair. Give us a call and tell us, “Come Look At My Stuff!”