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| Van Tellingen Hugger Salt and Pepper Shaker |
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| The Sailor and the Mermaid |
I have an overwhelming interest in preserving items from the past, especially the 1940’s through the 1960’s. Periodically I stop by vintage stores or visit antique fairs looking for treasures. This past summer, I discovered vintage items right in my own garage.
Several years ago, a relative was moving and asked that I take some of the items from the house. At the end of all the packing, a cabinet full of glassware still needed to be packed. I quickly wrapped all the glassware in a box and when I arrived at home, I put the box on a shelf in the garage.
Last month, I decided to go through the box. There were four sets of vintage glasses, a beautiful vase, and a cordial set of red glass complete with decanter and 2 cordial glasses. I’ll share pictures of those another time.
At the bottom of the box was a very dirty old figurine of a sailor. I admit that I left the figurine in the bottom of the box for weeks. Finally about 2 weeks ago, I wanted to put the empty box away and so I took out the dirty figurine. Much to my surprise, it was a salt shaker. I carefully washed it and noticed that on the bottom were the words “Pat Pend” and on the back the words Van Tellingen.
Thanks, as always, to Google, I was able to research the name. Well sure enough, the sailor was part of a 1940’s salt and pepper shaker called the Sailor and the Mermaid. The set is part of a Hugger collection because the two pieces fit together as though hugging.
I needed the mermaid and several more Google searches and ebay searches, I found my mermaid. She arrived yesterday and now my set is complete and I’m very happy to own and preserve it.