Pepper Bird on everyone’s lips – and dining tables
By the end of the 1950s pepper was widely used for cooking. And it needed to be freshly grinded. But the grinders are not very amusing. Not until the self-taught design craftsman Tonn-P invents the Pepper Bird.
By the end of the 1950ies the pre-grinded pepper was unpopular at the lunch tables. The cardboard cans with sprinkled powder was out. It didn’t protect the taste.
Even household experts were upbeat: Only self-grinded pepper was acceptable.
Hip to grind pepper
The pepper grinder had become hip and most people realized that pepper could be something else than the powder you sprinkled out of a cardboard can.
As a matter of fact, it was not even up for discussion that the coarsely grounded pepper you garnished your luxurious open sandwich with yourself just tasted better.
Unfortunately, many families at the Danish dining tables were left with one problem. The pepper grinders were not that pretty, and how were you suppose to grind the corns?
The answer was: Pepper Bird.
Favourite object at the dining table
Entering the stage is the self-taught artisan Sven Erik Tonn-Petersen. Also entering is playful, artistic design combined with functionality.
During a very short time the Pepper Bird is born and it quickly becomes a favorite object on the dining table – a little piece of unique arts and crafts that most people know and talk about.
The Pepper Bird amused both young and old people.
It was offered as a prize in competitions and it was mentioned in commercials as a bait luring people from inner city ALL THE WAY to Ovengaden oven vandet.
The Pepper Bird created life around the dining table, it was funny and decorative – and not least it sparked joy amongst the children. It was so popular and known that it was used in a crossword puzzle.
In no time the Pepper Bird was on everybody’s lips.
A design icon flies the nest
After some years on the market the Pepper Bird quietly flew the nest.
Other products arrived and focus moved away from the playful and into the tightly functional.
A design icon flew the nest and did not return until 2015, when Spring Copenhagen re-launched the Pepper Bird in collaboration with Tonn-P’s family.
Get your own edition of the Pepper Bird for your dining table.
