“Yes, please,” I respond to the waiter holding a gargantuan pepper mill.  Like a rite of passage, everyone at the table stops momentarily to watch this pungent spice make its way to my ceasar salad.  While dried ground pepper has been around since antiquity, the peppermill we’re familiar with was created in 1842 by Peugeot of France.  Available now as manual or electric, made of ceramic, wood, acrylic, metal, etc. they all have the same basic inner workings.

Wood peppermills, specifically those designed by Jens Harald Quistgaard and made by Dansk Designs is the focus of Todd Pederzani’s website (http://www.tpederzani.com/pepper/Main_Page), although some other companies are covered.  The 1997 movie Peppermills starred Kate Walsh as a compulsive thief – but only of peppermills.  After viewing Todd’s site, can’t say as I blame her.

One would think a piece of wood made into a peppermill would have limitations, but the endless variety of unique and stunning designs defies that theory.  A separate section for variations of the grinding mechanisms and pepper fills is included.  Each mill shown has a load of information: description, maker, designer, mechanism, material, pepper fill, production dates, dimensions, and type.

More photos can be seen at GargoyleMT’s Flickr Set ‘Peppermills’.  There’s several salt and pepper shaker collector organizations, but none solely for peppermill collectors, that I could find.  Perhaps it’s time for these wood beauties to have their own cheerleading squad.

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