From: Gary Tefft / locustent@aol.com
Location: Menomonee Falls, WI
Date: 28 Oct 1998
Time: 00:09:58
The popular answer to that question has been, "For pepper, you had a pepper mill." I've used that answer myself, so I'm not going to tell you that anybody who says it is full of beans. I am going to admit however, that I think that this assessment might have weak basis. Certainly, pepper shakers existed long before the introduction of Gray Line. The only other explainations that I can offer are that Gray Line was a kitchenware item, rather than dinnerware grade. It was intended for stove-side use, rather than on the table. Salt was used much more liberally during cooking than pepper. I know that this too, is weak; those large, green or milk glass salt & pepper shakers were not for table use either. Perhaps it was just coloquial language, or pidgin English; "Salt Shaker" because of its sibilant alliteration, might have had the same casual connotation as "Salt & Pepper Shakers". Opposite of the way that "A Pair of Pants" refers to a single garment.
-Gary-