47HC Teepees: 1957 Celebration shakers
Grace Lee Frank was born in 1905 in Indian Territory. When she was two years old that territory became Oklahoma the state. In 1957 she and John Frank set about seriously to celebrate Oklahoma's first fifty years of statehood.
John Frank designed the basic Teepee shaker set in about 1940. When he modified it for the 1957 statehood celebration the shape had been in production for seventeen years.
The clay on the celebration teepees is always dark red and the hole set is 4/3. Because of the limited production time only the glazes vary.The glazes in use in 1957 give the group a colorful look. Available glazes are the usual prairie green and desert gold plus clay blue, terra cotta rose, white sand and turquoise. The latter two glazes are the most difficult to collect. Neither is yet in my collection.
The inscription is the same for both the salt and pepper. One side has "1907", the other "1957". The base inscription is "Oklahoma semi-centennial". The only difference is the number of pour holes in the side.
When collecting these be aware that the dates are always verticle. Any teepee shaker with a horizontal date is from the teepees-to-towers set. This is a common collecting error.
I have included the desert gold "DECA" pair to show the horizontal date. This is neither a celebration teepee set nor is it a teepees to tower set. It probably should be placed in the advertising section. This use Of DECA may reference the national marketing organization of students.