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The Early Jug Shakers #86B: 1938
The Early Jug Shakers shared the same design as a 2 quart jug #86 in the regular Frankoma line and a miniature #554 just like the shaker but with a pour spout. Like the early Barrels #44H these Jugs also share their name with a later shaker set modeled after a whiskey jug. I therefore reference them as “Early” Jugs to differentiate the two.
The 86B Jugs are by far the rarest of the Frankoma shakers. I have heard talk of about six pair in the hands of collectors Beyond those in my collection I have seen a prairie green single, and an onyx pair listed for sale both at prices I could not bring myself to pay. Additionally I have heard discussed among other collectors another six pair.
Schaum lists these as made from 1938-1942 but I cannot confirm the latter date. The 1942 catalog does not offer this pair of shakers although it does offer the very similar #554 Jug. The glazes I can document do not include any 1942 only glazes as with the #44’s and the #45’s. I have yet to see an oval “o” on these also. These appear in the 1938 catalog only. A very short production run, possibly only the partial year 1938 before the fire, accounts for the rarity of these. If that is the case the #554 pitcher might have been molded from an existing #86B for production after the fire.
Two different pour hole sets seem to be available, a “large” arrangement and a “small” arrangement. The royal blue and prairie green shakers below are the “large” type the ivory and Osage brown shakers are the “small” type. Another interesting feature of the 86B jugs is the fill hole size. Almost all Frankoma shakers have a 13mm fill hole. The 86B’s I have seen vary from 9mm to 13mm. Perhaps these were made at the very beginning when Frankoma was deciding just how big the fill hole should be. It is certainly a slow and precise process to fill a large shaker like these through a 9mm hole!