These small, colorful salt-and-pepper shakers used to be plentiful and surprisingly affordable at antique shops. “Now they’re few and far between,” Jane says.
Style
Time for Turkeys
A seasonal collection of turkey-themed porcelain brings autumn flavor to a Little Rock home
BY
Laura Keech Allen
PHOTOGRAPHY
Nancy Nolan
STYLED BY
Mandy Keener


Jane’s collection began with the gift of turkey salt-and-pepper shakers and has expanded in serving pieces and other porcelain works.

Each autumn, Little Rock collector Jane Fraiser celebrates the first of November by bringing out her array of turkey salt-and-pepper shakers, china and other decorative pieces, amassed over many years of antiquing. “I got a set of shakers as a gift many years ago,” she says, “and I’ve always loved antiques, so I gradually began picking them up here and there, especially on my travels with the Little Rock Antique Club.”

A classic symbol of autumn, turkeys often adorn ceramics meant for the Thanksgiving table, since the bird was purportedly served at the first Thanksgiving. It was certainly hunted by early settlers, and Benjamin Franklin famously referred to it as a “Bird of Courage.” For Jane, it was her love of the season that prompted her to begin her collection, which primarily consists of early to mid-20th century pieces. “Autumn is my favorite time of year, and the turkeys are definitely part of that,” she says. “They’re certainly not fine antiques, but I love them, and my family loves them.”

Unearthed at collectibles stores across the region, the turkeys are displayed in a place of honor in Jane’s kitchen each fall until it’s time to set the Thanksgiving table. “Then I do a cornucopia centerpiece and nestle them in amongst the gourds and vegetables,” she says. The platters, of course, are used for serving the family meal, and nothing is too precious to be used and enjoyed. In fact, Jane’s grandsons Parker and Garrett, publisher Kelly Fraiser’s sons, have grown up playing with them. “Garrett asks about them every time he’s at my house,” Jane says.

Jane’s celebration of fall doesn’t stop there; she also has a large collection of decorative pumpkins. “Autumn is just a great time of year,” she says, “and these collections go hand in hand.”