I spotted what I thought was a salt and pepper shaker made of wood but when I picked it up I instantly knew it wasn’t. It was cold and heavy and brightly detailed and I knew I had an interesting piece with some history.
The style, texture and quality was different. It felt of substance in your hand like this is something designed with thought and not just a whimsical item.
Thanks to an in-depth article on Antique Trader written by cookie jar collector Brian Parkinson, and a dedication website by Jerry Whetstine I’ve learned about the designers of this set, Twin Winton Ceramics of California.
According to Brian all the cute little animal figurings and famous cookie jars were created by 17 year old twin boys by the name of Don and Ross Winton. They cleverly called themselves Twin Winton Ceramics!
The boys were just trying to help make ends meet for their father during the height of the great depression in 1936. They obviously had talent and perseverance to achieve what they did.
According to the article many of their designs did resemble Disney characters which caught the eye of Disney attorneys that put a stop to their production. It wasn’t until Walt Disney himself stepped in realizing these boys were the sole source of income for the family and allowed them to resume. Don, the eldest twin, went on to design hundreds of items for Disney – one of them was the famous Disney Mickey Mouse phone.
Don also designed the Emmy award used still today and the Bust of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon used in the presidential libraries that hundreds of people see every day.
I don’t know exactly when the ye olde salt and pepper buckets were made since Don Winton produced over 1500 items over his life. According to Whetsine’s website in 1947 the Hillbilly line was introduced and lasted about three years until 1950. However the wood finish on the very popular cookie jars which are similar to this salt and pepper set was developed in the early 1950s and was a main stay until the company closed in 1977-1978.
It’s neat to think of the things we see everyday in America and where or who created them and what their story was.
