Early Barrel Shakers #44: 1936-1938 and 92-H 1939-1942
This small shaker type fits the hand nicely,and the grip is good because of the tab handles. The 1936 catalog lists these simply as “Small salt and pepper” and assigns the mold number “44.” The 1938 catalog lists them as “Barrel salt and pepper.”
In the 1942 catalog Frankoma changes the mold number to 92-H and again calls them “Barrel salt and pepper.” Since Frankoma later issued a shape that actually looked like a whiskey barrel (the #10H) most collectors add a descriptor to the name. I call them “Early Barrels”. I have also heard them called “Beehive” shakers and “Tabbed barrel” shakers.
Schaum lists these as made 1936-1938 with the mold #44 but the 1942 catalog offered this shape with a new mold number 92-H. Several of the glazes shown below are 1942-only glazes. Otherwise, if a piece is unmarked dating it before or after the fire of 1938 is difficult.
The early Barrel shakers all have a consistent 7/5 hole pattern where most of the other early types vary from set to set. They are also usually un-marked as there is very little room on the base for marking. The only marked set I have seen is the jade green set below with the impressed round “o” mark.
This is a very durable design. The holes are sometimes chipped out and occasionally the tabs are chipped on the end but normally if you find a pair of these the condition will be good.