Check out hundreds of vintage salt and pepper shakers at the Bean Scene Coffee House during the month of December.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - Hundreds of endearing salt and pepper shakers on display at a Vernon coffee shop are capturing peoples’ hearts and their curiosity.

Looking like something out of miniature world, the collection of salt and pepper shakers can be found at the Bean Scene Coffee House on 30 Avenue in downtown Vernon. Inside the glass display case you’ll find an enchanting world of figurines, some from as far back as the 1920s.

The collection of approximately 400 pairs came together thanks to Dustin Cromarty, who first became interested in the world of salt and pepper shakers when he discovered the perfect set for a friend of his.

“My buddy’s name is Froggy, and I found these shakers at the Salvation Army or the Value Village in Rutland, and it cracked me up. I picked them up and it just triggered something for me,” Cromarty says.

His group, The Purple Halo Journal, got together with another group called the Happy Collectors, and began acquiring boxes of collections from different collectors.

“These are museum quality pieces,” Cromarty says. “We have no doubles, everything is one-of-a-kind. You’ll never see these again.”

One collection came from a woman in her 80s who had been collecting them since she was seven-years-old.

“There are sets from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s,” Cromarty says. “You can feel the different time periods in your hand, the different weight and sense of the pieces. It’s like time travel in a way.”

And while the collections have been kept together, in some cases for decades, they are now going their own way, and it’s all for charity.

The sets are for sale at the Bean Scene with the proceeds going to the Purple Halo Journal and the North Okanagan Youth and Family Services Society. Prices are listed on the bottoms, but Cromarty says the cost is flexible; those who can’t afford full price can offer what they’re able, and those who might be able to give more are welcome to do so.

“Each shaker has a story, and there’s truly one for everyone,” Cromarty says.

The shakers will be on display at the Bean Scene until the end of December.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015