Objects series

The Objects series contains salt related items collected by Carol Litchfield, dating from 1864 to 2008. Every subseries is organized alphabetically.

Salt bags subseries

The Salt bags series contains bags that salt would be purchased in. The majority of these bags are cloth, although a few are paper or plastic. There are a variety of sizes, and bags are stamped with all or some of the following information: the salt manufacturer, bag size, and type of salt.

Morton salt objects subseries

Morton salt objects are collectable objects generated by Morton Salt. It includes creamer and sugar bowl, mugs, and a storage tin. These objects are decorated with the Morton Salt Girl and Morton Salt logos. The mugs depict a variety of historical Morton Salt Girl logos.

Edible salt subseries

The Edible salt series contains salt that was manufactured and packaged to be consumed by humans. It includes salt shakers, bags of salt, salt in jars, salt packets, and boxes of salt. Many of these containers contain salt, although some are empty.

Ephemera subseries

Ephemera contains items used as advertising material by salt companies. For example: pins, matchbooks, key chains, and pencil toppers.

Coins and medallions subseries

The Coins and Medallions series mostly consists of coins. The coins are either made by the salt company for internal reasons (i.e. Worcester Salt Don’t Worry Club), or in celebration of a salt related event or place (i.e. anniversary of a company or town, salt museum).

Salesmen samples subseries

Salesmen Samples contain product samples that salesmen would bring to a customer to demonstrate different types of products. This series contains five sample cases, which contain multiple vials of different varieties of salt. Other items in this series are samples of water softener salt, and also vials, blocks and packets of salt used as example and display rather than for consumption.

Salt crystals subseries

Salt Crystals are examples of salt in their natural rock state. Some of the crystals were purchased by Carol Litchfield, and others were collected by her from natural sites. Many of the crystals are labeled by location, while a handful are unlabeled which is noted in the title.

Salt related items subseries

Salt Related Items is a miscellaneous subseries that contains salt materials that do not fit into the above subseries. It contains items that distribute salt, such as grinders and salt holders for livestock. There are also decorative household items in this subseries such as a souvenir jar of salt from the Dead Sea, an hourglass, a candleholder, and a commemorative tile. There are also salt company related items, such as seal embossers, a Detroit Salt Company mason jar, and an advertising linocut. Of note is a slab of salt gathered by salt collectors in the Sahara Desert, and a Twareg Salt Crusher, also from the Sahara.

Researchers interested in marketing, advertising and design history will be especially interested in the Salt Bags, Ephemera, Edible Salt, and Salesmen Samples series.