Introduction

Kreiss & Company was started in 1946 by Murray Kreiss who began importing ceramics from Japan.  He imported a large variety of novelty ceramics including salt and pepper shakers.  The company quit dealing in ceramics in the late 60s/early 70s.

 

Psycho

Their most popular ceramic lines were the Psycho-Ceramics.  Pictured beneath are a few examples of these highly collectible creatures.

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Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Kreiss never made a Psycho salt and pepper shaker.  However, they did produce egg cups, which we found paired together with egg salt and pepper shakers.  Probably not originally sold as shown, but it has made it into our collection none the less.

Kreiss Psycho egg cups with egg salt and pepper shakers

Christmas

Even though Kreiss & Company's most famous collectible lines like the Psycho and Beetniks are not available for us to collect as salt and pepper shakers, Kreiss did make plenty of shakers that share that same cartoon and comical appearances - which is what makes these sets so fun to find and collect.

Kreiss Christmas kids salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas kids salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas kids salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas kids salt and pepper shakers

Christmas Kids

Kreiss snowmen salt and pepper shakers

Snowmen

Rudolph Red-Rosed Reindeer Kreiss salt and pepper shakers

Rudolph

Kreiss Christmas rabbits salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas skunks salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas chipmunks salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas cats salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas mice salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas pigs salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Christmas skunks salt and pepper shakers

Christmas Animals

Notice how many of the shakers have rhinestone eyes.

Kreiss Christmas deer salt and pepper shakers

Deer

Kreiss Christmas Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers

Cartoon Style Santa & Mrs. Claus

Kreiss Christmas Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shakers

Realistic Santa & Mrs. Claus

Kreiss Christmas clocks salt and pepper shakers

Christmas Coo Coo Clocks

Kreiss Mistletoe men salt and pepper shakers

Mistletoe Guys

Birds

This cute cartoon style birds are classic Kreiss.  Sometimes we have seen them paired with a worm.  Not sure how many styles exist, but they all seem to have rhinestones embellishments.

Kreiss bird with worm salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss birds salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss birds salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss birds salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss birds salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss birds salt and pepper shakers

Other Animals

We'll continue with showing photos of other Kreiss animal salt and pepper shakers.  So far, they are all cartoonish in style.  I hope you are getting a feel for what a Kreiss shaker looks like, because they are not always marked.  When they are marked, it is usually a simple black inked "Kreiss" stamp on the bottom.

Kreiss dogs salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss dogs salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss dogs salt and pepper shakers

Dog Series

Kreiss sheep salt and pepper shakers

Sheep

Kreiss donkeys salt and pepper shakers

Donkeys

However, not all Kreiss shakers are cute and cartoonish.  Just like the one oddball "realistic" Santa & Mrs. Claus set above, there are more realistic looking animal shakers.  You'd never guess they were Kreiss unless they are marked.

Kreiss cows salt and pepper shakers

Cows

Kreiss chickens salt and pepper shakers

Chickens / Roosters

Other People

Similar to the animals, the Kreiss people shakers come in both comical and more realistic styles.

Kreiss monks salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss monks salt and pepper shakers

Monks (with and without rhinestones)

Kreiss children praying salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Little Devil salt and pepper shakers

Little Devils

Kreiss Asian salt and pepper shakers
Kreiss Asian people salt and pepper shakers

Asian couple in two different colors

Series

Here are a couple different series that Kreiss released.

Couples from Different Countries

Kreiss Mexico people salt and pepper shakers

Mexico

Kreiss couple from United States salt and pepper shakers

United States

Kreiss Switzerland couple salt and pepper shakers

Switzerland

Kreiss Spain people salt and pepper shakers

Spain

Germany Kreiss salt and pepper shakers

Germany

Animals - Large and Small Versions

Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - bobcats
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - penguins
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - bears
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - elephants
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - large dogs
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - large pigs
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - rabbits
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - large hippos
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - donkeys
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - gorillas
Kreiss animals salt and pepper shakers - owls

The End

This is not a complete list of all the shakers Kreiss produced.  Please see the shaker database for more examples.