Over 500 Shaker Sets

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 2

Over 500 Shaker Sets

"The Preu" Special Service DUNEDIN, May 28. Pride of place in one Mosgiel home is held by sets of salt and pepper shakers—and so it should because there are more than 500 sets of shakers.

For Mrs Andrea Amos, the unusual hobby began when she shifted to Mosgiel about seven years ago from Palmerston North.

With her she brought a set of salt and pepper shakers that her father had given her and a second set her sister-in-law had given her. Then came a birthday present—a set shaped like a telephone—and so the hobby began.

Now the 512 sets cover one wall of the lounge on their six shelves and are already spreading on to bookcases and any other available space. Mrs Amos has had to have more shelves built to house her collection, and books which have occupied space in shelves have had to be moved to other cases. Hundreds of colours as well as natural wood and shells are to be seen in the collection, and almost every conceivable design has been used for the shakers. Mrs Amos said several of the sets had come from other countries, and pointed out bongo drums from Mexico, flying fish from Fiji, a television set from Canada, and bamboo from Hawaii.

A pensioner, Mrs Amos could not afford to buy every set, but has had the majority

of them given to her as presents. From time to_time she has received two sets the same, but generally she has been able to exchange these with other collectors or friends. On the bottom shelf lies a set of shakers made from cartridges, and on a neighbouring shelf sit shells which have been glued together to make shakers.

Two large walnut shells make up another set, and many bottles used in every household have been convert* ed to make attractive shakers. The mammoth task of dusting the shakers takes time, but Mrs Amos goes about it systematically. When they require a thorough dusting, an additional table is brought into the room and each section is taken down set by set

The shakers are not the only thing Mrs Amos has collected over the years. Before the war she collected handkerchiefs, but because the war created a shortage, the collection was halted and not resumed. Mrs Amos’s collection is not only bringing joy to herself but is also contributing to the expenses of bringing a minister from the North Island to Mosgiel. "The Presbyterian Church here has appointed a new minister and he has to come from the North Island,” she said. “I have now invited church members to come and see the collection and have placed a donation box at the door. Any money given will be used to pay the expenses of the minister in his journey down here.”