My grandmother, Grace, passed away nearly a year ago. She was a maker and hacker, although she wouldn’t have used those terms, her whole life. Everything was a prototype. If something didn’t quite work right, she’d go to her tractor shed or basement and find some parts and improve it. Her meat grinder had a suction cup stand she robbed from another appliance. She was always gluing, duct-taping or screwing one object to another.
When her dexterity became limited, she started modifying household items.
She wrapped these salt shakers with rubber bands to improve their grip. They are still on the farm’s kitchen table. I think of them as a monument to her ingenuity – how she saw the world and objects.
