Open Salts were used on the table before Salt Shakers were invented. Large Blocks of Salt were scraped and the the salt put into China, Glass &, Metal Salt Dishes and the salt sprinkled onto food using a small salt spoon. There were thousands of different open salt dishes made and basically stoppped being produced in the early part of this century. In the painting, The Last Supper there is an open salt dish shown with salt spilled, giving rise to the practice of throwing salt over your left shoulder into the eye of the devil. The Salary you earn also came from the use of being paid your wages in salt in the early Roman days. Many famous Glass Makers and Pottery and China Makers all made Open Salts/Salt Dishes or Salt Cellars as they are known and it is a fascinating hobby collecting them and their spoons and researching their history. When the chemical was discovered to stop salt clumping together allowing it to be finely ground and put into a salt shaker for pouring, There was an add in 1914 from the Morton Salt Co with a little girl with a Umbrella and the slogan " When it rains, it pours" showing salt which would not stick together and would easily pour from a salt shaker, with this open salt dishes started to become obsolete. Replaced by the Salt Shaker that we use today. In early England, if you were seated below the salt cellar , you were not as in favour as someone seated above the salt, as salt was such an important commodity, and I guess the more elaborate salt cellars made reflected the standing of their owners.
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