Well-seasoned Wisconsin woman wins record for massive salt and pepper sachet collection
Just like collectors, salt and pepper sachets can come in all shapes and sizes – such as Linda Schulz (USA), a 67-year-old from Brookfield, Wisconsin who has spent the last decade acquiring different variations of the classic seasoning packets.
Most are small, papered rectangles printed in black-and-white. Yet throughout the years, she’s accumulated a colourful assortment: decorated with cartoon characters or food-franchise icons, snatched from hotel-branded handouts, and obtained from airlines, fellow collectors, and other hobbyists from around the world.
“I guess collecting is in my genes,” said Linda to GWR, explaining that she inherited the passion from her mother, who always had some kind of collection going.
Nevertheless, in 2024 the student officially surpassed the master, as Linda became recognized as the Guinness World Records title holder for the largest collection of salt and pepper sachets on Earth. With a grand total of 494 packets, she would rest easy until serial collector Salacnib "Sonny" Molina (USA) swept in with 594 the following year.
Not to be outdone, she stepped up her work and came back this 19 January with 724 matching pairs – allowing her to reclaim her title, and cement her status as the queen of seasoning.
“I find collecting very interesting and fun,” she said. “To have a goal of a Guinness World Records title makes this hobby even more fun and interesting!”
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Linda says that she first started her collection journey at the age of eight, when her mother encouraged her to start keeping an eye out for some of the small, consistent pleasures in life. She selected banana stickers – the plastic label found on each yellow fruit from the grocery store – and over the years, she’s accumulated over 10,000.
About 15 years ago, the pattern repeated when her own daughter asked her what free item she should collect – and Linda recommended salt-and-pepper sachets, giving her a helping hand by connecting her with traders from her banana-sticker network.
Later, her daughter unfortunately lost interest… but Linda continued on, adding more packets to a collection that was steadily growing into her new passion.
“I guess my daughter didn’t get the [collecting] gene,” joked Linda. “But as a graphic designer I enjoyed the variety of packaging designs and artwork.”
Throughout the years, Linda collected hundreds of colourful, matching sets, each qualifying for Guinness World Records’ standards that the pairs must be corresponding.
And while she may always have a soft-spot for the packets that started it all – allegedly a pair from the Arby’s food chain – undoubtedly her favourite find is the Hawaiian shirt packets obtained by flying first-class on Hawaiian Airlines. She discovered the pairs on eBay, one of the many locations where she looks for the papered containers.
Moreover, in addition to finding new salt and pepper sachets, one of her favourite aspects of collecting is also the new faces she gets to meet along the way.
While adding up all of her packets for her record attempt, she hosted two complete strangers – Erik and Hannah – from Texas to witness her make seasoning history. Both are enthusiastic collectors of condiment packets, and they flew up just to meet their collaborator and watch her achieve her goals!
“We had a lot of fun and ‘packet talk’,” said Linda.
And even though she’s now completed the record, Linda continues to spread the love of seasoning wherever she goes – whether that be by wearing her iconic salt and pepper sachet T-shirt, or by displaying her collection at her local library for everyone to enjoy.
“Enjoy the journey, meet new friends, make yourself proud!” she said, as a word of advice for future record breakers.
So congratulations to this well-seasoned collector – Linda, you are Officially Amazing!