On Jan 14, 2026, David Todd wrote:
The Vernet shaker is based on the original Aldini Miracle Salt Shaker which was made from a real glass shaker (with metal cap). These are hard to find nowadays. Aldini (Alex H. Weiner) actually marketed three different magic salt shakers over the years. The first was the Aldini Miracle Salt Shaker (1969), then later he marketed one called the "Improved" Aldini Magic Salt Shaker (1978), fabricated entirely from plastic. It worked on the same principle as his original Miracle Shaker, but in my opinion did not look as good.

On Apr 2, 2026, smithart wrote:

Quote:

On Jan 14, 2026, David Todd wrote:
The Vernet shaker is based on the original Aldini Miracle Salt Shaker which was made from a real glass shaker (with metal cap). These are hard to find nowadays. Aldini (Alex H. Weiner) actually marketed three different magic salt shakers over the years. The first was the Aldini Miracle Salt Shaker (1969), then later he marketed one called the "Improved" Aldini Magic Salt Shaker (1978), fabricated entirely from plastic. It worked on the same principle as his original Miracle Shaker, but in my opinion did not look as good.

I am confident that this was the salt shaker I owned (and which was destroyed with all of my other magic props when my workshop collapsed). It was tapered, had a metal cap, and would have been purchased prior to 1985. And it definitely did not use the gimmick described in The New Tops.

As you mentioned, it would not be hard to re-create this at home (unlike many of the props I lost).