Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year, and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare Annual Enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th.
If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage. It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit uhcmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more.
UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. Dramatic Pause. A Dramatic Pause says something without saying anything at all. Dramatic Pause is a go-to for podcasters, presidents, and radio voiceovers. It makes you look really smart, even if you're not. Feet deserve a go-to like that, like Hey Dude Shoes.
Light, comfy, good to go to. Hi, this is Jem and Em from In Our Own World Podcast. My Contuda Podcast Network and Coca-Cola celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with empowering voices like Rosalyn Sanchez. My childhood was in Puerto Rico. I moved to the States when I was almost 22 years old. I have so many dreams, I have so many ambitions, and I've been so blessed to be able to come to this country. And little by little, with hard work and discipline, check that list.
I have many things that I want to continue doing and accomplish. But I was just a girl with dreams from a little island in the Caribbean. Listen to He Said, Hea Dijo Podcast hosted by Rosalyn Sanchez and Eric Winter on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Coca-Cola, proud sponsor of the Mike Ultura Podcast Network.
Hispanic Heritage is Magic, Baby. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And all show long, we are celebrating Mother's Day. Stories from the past, stories from our listeners. Stories that are beautiful, some that are a little sad, and you're going to hear it all.
And from multiple points of view, multiple generations, and from men and women. Because my goodness, the impact of a mother on sons and daughters is profound. By the way, we want to hear your stories, your Mother's Day stories, your mother's stories. Send them to OurAmericanStories.com.
That's OurAmericanStories.com. Up next, we have Winter Prosopio, an author from Texas, bringing us a story from a moment of motherhood. Winter has been writing her whole life.
She writes essays about life, motherhood, and is currently a humor columnist for her local daily. Here is her story entitled, Curls. It takes a full 20 minutes to comb through her curls.
I sedate the riot of hair with handfuls of slick conditioner and sit just outside the tub on her yellow footstool, combing through the long black strands that spring back into ringlets after every pull. I never imagined I'd have patience for this before I had children. When I think back to my life before my daughters arrived, I can't remember doing anything quite so methodical as mothering. Nothing has ever been as demanding of skills I didn't possess.
I've never faced so many moments when I was at the end of my rope, where I was driven to shouting at another human being, at my own child, only to apologize later much too late, much too little. The comb catches in the thick nest of twists and turns, and I pull her hair slightly. She rarely protests when this happens. Genetics must tie the curly hair gene with the tough scalp one.
This genetic combination did not include the gene that extends graciousness with curious strangers, however. Her naturally curly hair draws compliments everywhere she goes. Strangers come up to her with hands extended, trying to touch the spirals framing her tiny face and black eyes. Only a few get away with it. Most times she warns them off with a staunch, no touch, her arms crisscrossing her head in a protective shield.
Still, strangers reach for the curls in restaurants, on sidewalks, in doctors' offices. I'm lucky. I can touch them every day.
We sit in the quiet bathroom. She's focused on her floating toys, I on untangling, smoothing. I've become such a different person since I had children. I've become quieter, more careful, more aware of small moments. I'm acutely aware of the chasm between my friends who don't have children and my friends who do.
I've leaped the canyon, never sensing the moment my feet were in the air. Only a few closest friends jumping with us as honorary aunts and uncles. Now I understand why I never saw people once they had their children, why they stopped calling, how they disappeared into thin air. I recognize the way the strange wilds bays grew between us with every step their children took. Toward solids, toward school, toward adolescence, toward leaving, toward never really being gone. Across the vast chasm I see my childless friends moving on quickly as I sit here, still sit here, time turning in on itself so I can see both ends of it, beginnings and endings, all wrapping around my fingers. I risk a higher starting point on her head, thinking I've worked out most of the knots.
But it's no good. I'm back to the thick tangle, prying the teeth of the comb with it. She turns, looking for something.
The cloth has slipped back in the tub. I hand it to her wordlessly. She takes it without a glance and returns to her cups that need filling. My father, a veteran of many wives, always said he would never marry a woman who hadn't had children. They are too selfish, he said. And I wondered, as a single woman in those days, how selfish I was.
When he married a woman with three young daughters, my stepsisters, I wondered if he would be able to share her with them. I lean back for a moment, feeling the dull burn in my back, and clean the comb out. The fine black hair, slick with the conditioner but still twisting, coats my fingers as I brush them off onto a paper towel. Stretched out, a single curl is long enough to reach her waist, yet it will bounce back to her shoulder when it's dry.
I've never had her hair cut, nervous that the metal will somehow break the bonds of this miracle flowing from her crown. Before they were born, I never really noticed children before. Now when I meet them, as I'm out on my own, in an office when someone brings her son, in a store when four-year-olds bounce into my path, I stop purposely. I kneel before them, look into their eyes and say hello. They smile, usually, recognizing some universal quality I've gained.
Or maybe I just look silly, crouching like a frog. All the tangles are out, and I take great pleasure in running the comb through her hair again and again, separating strands into perfect spirals. She looks up at me. All done? No.
Never. Yes, baby. All done. And a terrific job on the production by Faith Buchanan. And a special thanks to Winter Presapio for her work and for her storytelling. And my goodness, it's more than just work, raising a child. It's a passion.
It's an avocation. And in the end, there's no greater and higher expression of love. I've become such a different person, she said. Since I had a child, I'm quieter, more patient. And then she talked about that chasm between people who have kids and people who don't. I never noticed children before, she said.
Now I stop purposely when I see them. And she described how she kneeled and how the kids either recognized that she recognized them or that she just looked silly. Winter Presapio, her story about her daughter's curls. Our Mother's Day special continues here on Our American Stories. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of $17,000. A monthly gift of $17,076 is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's OurAmericanStories.com. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year. And UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCMedicareHealthPlans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot, and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious. And there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done.
I mean, that can be overwhelming for anyone. So, if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life, try all free clear mega packs. All free clear mega packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All free clear mega packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. My family, we definitely have sensitive skin. So, the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes, just know that all free clear mega packs, they have your back.
Purchase all free clear mega packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. Music And we return to Our American Stories Mother's Day special. All show long we're telling stories about mothers and from mothers. Up next, a story from Alan Brown. Alan's mother had him when she was only 16 and they lived a hard life. Despite the trauma, she's his superhero. Here's Alan with the story. My name is Alan Scott Brown and I have a hero and this is her story. Some soldiers get a medal. Some statesmen have monuments built to them and some people have plots on the wall for their achievements.
And then there are some that you never hear about that probably should have all of the above. She was 15 years old from a small town in Texas and she was day raped. Tried to stop the guy, couldn't do it. She was all of five foot and 100 pounds and she did try to commit suicide twice when depression hit her as she was pregnant with me. And she did marry him.
You might say it was a silent shotgun wedding without the shotgun. But abuses in the marriage were terrible. He was a violent person and it was psychological. It was physical and she protected me as a baby throughout the ordeal.
A divorce did happen finally two years later and there would be no child support. So she knew it was going to be a hard life. It was going to be a rough life.
And back in those days, we're talking early 60s here, that was kind of expected. You just didn't get a divorce unless it was absolutely necessary. But she was a single parent with those psychological demons and she felt like she was worthless. She felt like that her reputation had been ruined.
She was heavy in her faith at her church and she didn't want to have that mark, that stain on her, of course. And she didn't know how to deal with it after all. By this time when I was born, she was 16 years old. But we made it through things. We lived in her parents' house for a while and five years later, she remarried. And we moved all over Texas for four years.
The guy she married was really interested in jumping from job to job to job to job. I was in 11 different towns and 10 different schools and I suffered scholastically. I was at a really bad school where we just didn't learn a lot. We watched Mr. Rogers, you know, on television and we did artwork and listened to music.
And that was about it. And then I was able to get out of there and she was able to talk the principal in my fourth grade year to go ahead and take me. If she got a tutor for me, a private tutor, she couldn't afford that, but she did what she could.
She started getting jobs at overnight hours, so these overnight shifts. And we got through fourth grade just barely. And then she had to coerce the principal in the next school for fifth grade in another town to take me into fifth grade, even though I was way behind. So literally, I'll just tell you, I went from second grade to fifth grade.
Then that's what happened with a private tutor in between that really cared and really did help me. But it was a hard, hard time. We were poor and we had a tough life, but I didn't think of us as poor at the time. I didn't think we were having a hard life.
Yeah, I knew that at one house we lived in, I had I.D. growing through my wall, but I had no idea why. I thought it was kind of cool.
And there were times when there wouldn't be water or gas or there wouldn't be electricity. And I didn't understand why. But nevertheless, she took these overnight positions, mainly assembly line shifts, so that she could be available for me in the daytime. She was an outstanding singer, I should tell you that. She was incredible.
She was like a Doris Day type vocal. And she could have done a lot of things with her career, but she put that aside to make sure that she was available for me just being that selfless. She kept getting rejected for loans and credit simply because in the 1960s, a divorced woman was, well, she was somewhat looked upon in a different light than she would be today. This would be her second divorce. So she had very difficult times trying to get any kind of credit, any kind of way to get a leg up, so to speak, and she was so independent that she would not accept help from her own parents.
So we lived a life of poverty and we ate government cheese. And in the churches we would go to, she was even a second class citizen there because they would call her Mrs. Brown. They wouldn't call her by her first name. And then she was only in her mid-twenties at the time.
Again, I didn't understand that. She didn't really talk to me about those things. But that was a way that she saw as protecting me from keeping me from the struggles of life.
And struggles of life they were. There were layoffs galore from a lot of her jobs that she took. I remember a time when she took in-between layoffs, in-between jobs. She took an overnight shift at a 7-Eleven store in, again, another small town in North Texas. And that summer, she invited me to come with her. And I did. I had been staying alone overnight in these overnight hours since fourth grade.
So we would go in eleven o'clock at night and stay until seven in the morning. And that was quite unique to be able to be with her, to see her interact with customers, and to actually help her do her job. You know, I was sweeping my floors and whatever. And that felt like warmth to me, you know, that she wanted me there. There were little things like that that she would do, and little surprises that she would do to, again, make me feel like that we had a great relationship and to remind me. But then early puberty came. And it was not always easy for her.
I physically resembled my bio-father. And that tour at her, just sometimes looking at me walking down the hall, it ripped her apart. And there were hard times. She began to act out in different ways.
And for about two or three years, there were some abuses that happened. And eventually, she began to better herself. She stood on her faith. She continued to make sure that I was in church and that I studied the scriptures and that we prayed together. And in my endeavors, I can point back to her and see that she was my number one fan, that she was a cheerleader for me. She encouraged me in my talents and the things that I wanted to try. I took piano lessons and violin lessons, guitar lessons, vocal lessons.
I got into junior high football, and then it was karate. And how she ever came up with the money to do all that, I still don't know. I mean, she saved as much as she could. But again, we were poor. But she wanted to make sure that I was able to do the things and use talents that I had and to do the things that I loved.
Even if it meant working harder, longer, making overtime hours happen. And that's the kind of soldier that she was. And now at 77 years old, she's starting to fade. Cognitive struggles are happening.
And I know there's going to be decisions that are going to have to be made soon. She lives by herself and she was an umbrella for me all of my life. And now it's my turn to be her umbrella. It's an honor to be able to serve her because she taught me servanthood and that's who she is today.
So with my family and knowing what the future may or may not hold, I can tell you this. We are her Medal of Honor. We are her monuments. We are her memorials. And that's the plan.
That's what I'm sticking to. But all in all, she was my mom. She was my dad all at the same time. I was bettered as a child. I shouldn't be here. You know, one can say that, but that wasn't God's plan.
You know, it just wasn't the plan. She is a grade A number one mother of the century. And a great job on the production by Monty Montgomery and a special thanks to Alan Brown. All show long, we're celebrating Mother's Day here on Our American Stories. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done. I mean, that can be overwhelming for anyone. So, if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life, try All-Free Clear Mega Packs. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. Which, my family, we definitely have sensitive skin. So, the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes, just know that All-Free Clear Mega Packs, they have your back.
Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. And we continue with our American stories and with our Mother's Day celebration all show long. Up next, we have Andrea Luden from the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. That's right, I said Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.
And again, it's in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The museum was the dream of Andrea's mother and Andrea has continued her mother's legacy through the museum. At the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, they have 20,000 Salt and Pepper Shaker sets and 1,500 pepper mills. Here's Andrea with how a dream like this got started. The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum started because my mother, who was an archaeologist for most of her life, was basically getting bored.
We had moved to the U.S. back in the 80s and so she was no longer affiliated with any universities in the States, so she didn't have any projects or programs to work with. So she started looking for pepper mills because one broke at home and she wanted another pepper mill. And so we were searching for pepper mills and we would get another one and it would eventually break. And as she was searching for pepper mills, she started running into salt and pepper shakers. And as she ran into more and more salt and pepper shakers, she started to realize that you can trace our society changing over time.
So what was popular in the 20s changes by the 40s, the 70s, all the way until now. And that really got her passion going because she just wanted an object that's so simple that we all take for granted. But yet every single household in the whole planet has is also a snapshot of our history. And that's what's so fascinating.
It's not a car part. It's not photographs. It's it's something that's functional and the creativity behind them and the ingenuity in a lot of them is just amazing. So that's how the collection started. And so over the years, she just started collecting more.
Now, this this was never the intent was never to create a museum. The intent was just to find the creativity, how unusual the artistry behind so many of these. And as time went by, my mom started collecting more and more and she would pack them up, put them underneath the house and boxes. And then one time, one Christmas, my brother got my mom a digital camera when they first came out. Now, when they first came out, you have to understand the digital camera. The little chip card was 16 K was the biggest one that you could get.
So nowadays, that's barely a photo you could use on a website. So she would take pictures of them. She was cataloging them all.
So my dad would bring a box. She would unwrap them, measure, describe them and then pack them away. But in the evenings, she would leave a few out and she'll say, oh, look, isn't this so cute? And we would be like oohing and aahing. And then we would come back home from work or from school.
And we would be like, so what did you find this today out of the boxes and boxes of salt and pepper shakers? And so sitting around the table like any family does, we just started kind of chit chatting and going like, well, wouldn't it be cool to like share this with people? And we were like, well, yeah, but where would we do that?
What should we do? And so slowly the idea formed of creating a museum. And then the question was, where do we put a museum like this? And at the time we were living in Texas and a friend of ours told us about Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which we had never been to before. So we decided to do a quick trip. And so we we came to the Smokies and fell in love and we thought, oh, my goodness, this would be a perfect place to place a museum. And so in 2002, we moved from Texas to here and opened the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum. So she collected for about 35 years.
It was a family activity. We would go out and start looking for pepper mills and salt and pepper shakers back then, you know, 30, 40 years ago. Flea markets were the big thing and they were really nice and rich. Now, flea markets are a great place to find socks, but you don't really find what you used to find. What happened is over the years, those kind of vendors moved into antique shops and antique malls. And we've been to pretty much every single state in the US and whichever antique shop or antique mall we would find, we would definitely stop and we would start looking around at all the different booths.
And it was fun. It's a scavenger hunt. A lot of people ask, you know, how how did she know what she had and what she didn't have in the condition? And one of the things that she always said is, if you are a collector of anything, you have an affinity with that, whatever subject matter is. So if you are a baseball collector and you have 10000 baseball cards, you know exactly which cards you have, in what condition they are or the ones that you're missing.
Or if you're into comic books or anything like that, you you know, it becomes part of you and your interest and a hobby that you research more and start to appreciate. I remember I was in a little town called Abingdon, Virginia. It's actually not too far from here. And they had in the summertime, they have an arts and crafts show.
And they also have like a vintage market. And I remember just walking and there was like this lady that had a booth of jewelry. I'm a girl. Hey, I love anything that's sparkly and fun and jewelry. So I'm like looking around and all of a sudden behind a bracelet and behind the pendant, I see this black and white, what looks like salt and pepper shaker earrings. And I'm like, and I'm like and I'm looking at I like I look at the lady really quick and I, you know, make a poker face.
You know, ma'am, excuse me. But what are these things over here? And and she pulls it out and she's like, oh, these are salt and pepper shakers. Oh, they're salt and pepper shakers. Well, that's so weird.
Isn't that weird? She's like, yeah, they're kind of weird. And I'm like, OK, well, how much are they? And she said 20 bucks. And I was like, 20 bucks.
OK, I'll give you 15. And she was like, OK, I'll take it inside. My heart was racing because I'd always heard about these earrings that are salt and pepper shakers. Literally, they're salt and pepper shaker earrings. They're the screwback, you know, old fashioned. So, you know, they're dated 40, 50s, you know, and the screwback thing. I like inside.
I'm jumping in outside. I'm just like, cool. You know, like, oh, you know, I mean, I would have paid 50 bucks for these. But I just remember and I'm like running back to my mom, like, you won't believe what I found.
And so little moments like that. But there are so many. What's amazing about salt and pepper shakers is you get surprised even after so many years of collecting salt and pepper shakers.
We'll still run into shakers we've never seen before and just be completely blown away. So like some of the favorites are Mount St. Helen. So they actually make the Mount St. Helen volcano mountain out of the ashes of Mount St. Helen. And it shows the volcano before it exploded and after it exploded. So the the part that exploded the top part is one shaker and then the rest of the mountain is the other shaker.
And then things like I like a lot of things are interactive also. So there is the Mona Lisa. And so the Mona Lisa lady, she is the salt.
You take her out of the frame and the frame is the pepper. I mean, just that ingenuity, just that surprise. And you just go like, oh, my goodness, who would have thought? And so it's always a surprise.
It's always brings a smile to your face and something you just want to share with others. And it was just neat because the other thing about going to antique shops and antique malls, when you're when you're a younger person, you're going with somebody who are in their 50s or 60s or something like that, because that's about the age of my parents were is they you'll run into like I would go with my dad and you would run into tools. And I would be like, hey, dad, what's this for?
And then he would say, oh, well, this would be used at a farm or on a ranch or in a factory or blah, blah, blah kind of a thing. So that's one of the fun things about going to antique shops and antique malls is it's walking down our history as a culture, as humans. Look at all these things that used to be used. All those things are part of our history and legacy. And I think they're getting forgotten. But it's it was just part of the the extra bonus of the adventures of going in search of salt and pepper shakers is also to look back at our history in this planet. And you're listening to Andrea Luden and she is talking to us from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the home of the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum.
When we come back, more from Andrea Luden on salt and pepper shakers here on Our American Stories. Soon, millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year, and UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices. For those eligible, Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know everything there is to know about running a coffee shop, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They make sure my business stays piping hot and I stay cool and confident. See, they're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. State Farm is in your corner and on it. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Doing household chores can already be time consuming and tedious, and there's nothing more daunting than facing piles and piles of laundry that need to be done. I mean, that can be overwhelming for anyone. So, if you want to get those larger laundry loads done right and get back to your life, try All-Free Clear Mega Packs. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are bigger packs with two times the cleaning ingredients compared to a regular pack so that you can tackle any laundry load without the worry. All-Free Clear Mega Packs are also 100% free of perfumes and dyes and they're gentle on skin, which is great for any family's sensitive skin needs. My family, we definitely have sensitive skin. So, the next time the whole family gets home from long vacation or you get the kids back from summer camp or whatever the situation is that's caused this big pile of dirty clothes, just know that All-Free Clear Mega Packs, they have your back.
Purchase All-Free Clear Mega Packs today and conquer any laundry load for all fabric types. We left off with Andrea talking about what it was like searching for all of these salt and pepper shakers across America. Back to Andrea. In searching for salt and pepper shakers, you also get to see not only antique shops and antique malls, but you see the small towns also. So, the reason why we traveled so much is my mom, my dad and I made jewelry. We would go to arts and craft shows around the country and those shows are usually on the weekends. So, during the week, we would be going from one location to another and it would usually be, you know, going from one state to another. So, from Indiana to Ohio or to Pennsylvania or Michigan and all of this during the summertime. So, during the week, it would give us a great opportunity to look for antique shops, antique malls and a lot of those places are found in the hearts and in the main streets of these little towns in the middle of nowhere in these states.
So, you had to get off the interstate and start searching. Also, as you look around in a map, just take, just pull out a regular map, any map, it doesn't matter what map and start looking at the little towns. And there are certain words in the town that will have a reference to salt.
And that's pretty interesting because it turns out that a lot of the roads that we use were roads used for commerce. And one of the main things that was sold and traded was salt because without salt, humans can't live. Without salt, your food would spoil because this is before refrigeration.
So, it was a very important item and mineral that you needed. So, you have like Saltville, which of course it's a pretty basic obvious name. You have Saltville and then you have all these other names of towns that you can see like anything that has lick on it, L-I-C-K. It has to do with a salt lick. That's because animals used to go there and they would lick the salt because they need the salt. The thing about salt and pepper shakers, it's like an onion. So, it's not only these containers for salt and pepper.
You start to peel one layer of the onion and then another layer and you get into more and more history. The Romans had a whole road, their own interstate. It would be like Interstate 40 kind of a thing called the Saltavia. And that was a road that was only having to do with commerce of salt. There's a time when salt was more expensive than gold. So, it's really amazing when you start to go into the history of something that we all take for granted, that salt. And then with pepper, that's also another fascinating thing. Because if it wasn't for pepper, Columbus would never have gotten on a ship and tried to cross the Atlantic to get to the Indies. Because he ended up running into what he later called the West Indies. Because he was trying to find India and the Spice Islands because he was in search of pepper as well as cinnamon and all of these other spices that we now take for granted.
But it's so rich and flavorful. So, it's just amazing what something so insignificant as a container of salt and pepper, what they actually represent. The creation, the forming of salt and pepper shakers is very American in the sense of there's always been a container for salt. But back in 1909, 1910, 1911, around that time, Morton, a gentleman by the name of Morton in Chicago and Detroit area, he came up with an additive that would help coat the little crystals of salt and allow it to pour. And that's when the Morton Salt Company became so famous with their slogan of, when it rains, it pours. He, by finding an additive and creating this type of salt, he created a boom for salt shakers. And so that created a whole industry.
And so you have all these salt and pepper shakers from the early 1920s and 30s kind of thing. But then World War II happened. And with World War II, there was the occupation of Japan. Which is really amazing because what happened with the occupation of Japan is the American government decided that they wanted to kickstart the Japanese economy. So they sent representatives from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, from all these factories of goods like teacups and kettles and dishes and things like that.
Pottery, porcelain. Because Japan is very famous for its porcelain and pottery and artistry. So they sent these representatives over there to kickstart those factories back up again for only the American market. So they were creating items to be sold back in the United States.
World War II is over now. You have all of these servicemen that are coming back home. They have been traveling all over the world. So they come back home and everybody's pumped up. There's a new energy in the US.
This is in the late 40s, early 50s. You start to get into the tradition of the road trip. Let's get the family everybody on the car and let's go.
So they go Route 66 is born. Going to Florida is the big tradition as well. And along the way, they have to buy souvenirs. And what do they end up buying? Salt and pepper shakers.
Because it's also helping an economy getting boomed and coming up as well. So again, there's all of this history that is surrounded in something that we all take for granted that's sitting at your table. And it's just incredible how how one thing is is connected to another through something as simple as salt and pepper. We have a lot of people that will come out of the museum and they were like, oh, my gosh, I saw this shaker that I haven't seen since I was five years old because my great, great aunt, she had them. And it brings these memories to people. It brings these family connections that they hadn't thought about in so long. And then they always go like, I wonder what happened with that set or they have it. You know, they'll say, I still have it. I can't believe I saw it here. And it's just so neat to bring that connection back to to the family, because this is this is a labor of love.
It's not like we're, you know, making riches here. We are sharing a passion and a love of of an item that we don't think should be taken for granted because everybody has it in their house. Not everybody has a computer or has a purse or whatever, but everybody has this one thing that connects us all together.
And that's so cool. My mother passed away in 2015. She passed away at the age of 80. She had a very full life, a very rich and full life. I always said that if she had seven lifetimes in one lifetime, she would take everything to the extreme. So so she didn't let anything go to waste. She hated napping or sleeping because she didn't want to miss anything. Any time we would go on an airplane, you know, she would always be looking out the window. It's like she just loved it. She had a passion for living in a passion for this world and a passion for for this planet.
So she always lived to the fullest. And so when she passed away, she was the driving force behind all of this. And so for me personally, it was a stumbling block because all of a sudden it was like my motors were taken away from me. I started drifting. I didn't know where I'm going.
Now what? But being in the museum, definitely she's here. This is part of her will always be a part of her and just continuing to make her dream an everyday thing. It's not that she ever wanted to become famous or be known like, oh, she's a salt lady. No, she just wanted to share with everybody what she found fascinating. You know, and she would say, look at this, isn't this fascinating?
And she would just get you contagious about whatever interesting thing that she found. And there's so much hiding behind salt and pepper shakers. And so so it's been really neat and an honor to be able to continue her legacy with the salt and pepper shakers. And a terrific job on the production by Faith Buchanan and a special thanks to Andrea Luden and her terrific storytelling on how the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum came to be.
So many Americans with these hobbies and pastimes as a pretext to just enjoy family time and whatever yours might be. Keep going all the way. Look at what it did for this family.
Our Mother's Day special continues here on Our American Stories. Soon millions will make Medicare coverage decisions for next year. And UnitedHealthcare can help you feel confident about your choices for those eligible. Medicare annual enrollment runs from October 15th through December 7th. If you're working past age 65, you might be able to delay Medicare enrollment depending on your employer coverage.
It can seem confusing, but it doesn't have to be. Visit UHCmedicarehealthplans.com to learn more. UnitedHealthcare, helping people live healthier lives. I know pet grooming, but for small business insurance, I need my State Farm agent. They're small business owners, too, so they know how to help you best. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Call your local State Farm agent for a quote today. Each year, about 9% of new breast cancer cases are found in women under the age of 45. Do you know your risk? One of the first steps you can take toward understanding your risk is learning your full family history of cancer on both sides. Learn what questions you should be asking and other tips on how to manage your breast cancer risk at cdc.gov slash bring your brave. That's cdc.gov slash bring your brave.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-02-15 21:18:15 / 2023-02-15 21:35:15 / 17