Before the invention of salt shakers, salt was stored in open bowls called salt cellars. Social status of guests could be measured by their positions relative to the master's large salt cellar. The term "salt pig" may have come from the pygg clay used to make round ceramic bowls used to hold spices and coins (pygg banks). Salt shakers replaced salt pigs in 1858 when John Mason (inventor of the Mason Jar) punched holes in the lid of a small jar, but salt cellars or salt pigs are making a comeback because it makes sense to have salt within easy reach in the kitchen or at the table. And who can resist the whimsey of a round bowl turned into a pig!?
