Pie Birds

An old English Nursery Rhyme goes like this:

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds,

Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing;

Wasn't that a dainty dish,

To set before the King?

The King was in his counting house,

Counting out his money;

The Queen was in the parlour,

Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,

Hanging out the clothes;

When down came a blackbird

And pecked off her nose.

They sent for the King's doctor,

Who sewed it on again;

He sewed it on so neatly,

The seam was never seen.

That is a little scarey at the end, but I do remember that nursery rhyme from when I was a child.  Now, back to the pie bird collectible!  These collectibles are practical and precious.  I have had pie birds for several years in my collection.  Baked in a pastry, these ceramic utensils offer an adorable way to let off steam.  And displayed on kitchen shelves, they positively sing!  "Pie birds evoke warm feelings of gathering around a table for fresh-from-the-oven desserts," says Texas collector Jeannie Kolger, whose cabinets bulge with more than 1,000 of these tools designed to prevent pie fillings from boiling over by creating a steam vent.  Though English bakers started using workmanlike ceramic funnels for this purpose in the early 1800's, the utensils didn't take on fanciful bird forms until migrating to the States in the 1930's.  The inspiration?  The nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpense": Four and 20 blackburds, baked in a pie.  Today, fans of the figurals drop anywhere from $10 to $3000 for avian as well as other, rarer shapes.  Pie birds were featured in the November 2010 issue of Country Living Magazine (pictured).  Perhaps you read the article.  I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a few of these Pfaltzgraff high quality pie birds.  When they are gone, I am not sure that I can get any more.  Don't miss out on your opportunity to start or add to your collection at Persnickety Primitives.

Information taken from November 2010 Country Living Magazine