Everyone in the USA seems to be aware of the above picture, the logo of a major salt company in the country. The whole idea of the picture helps to sell the idea of salt which does not cake or stick together in humid conditions.

The little girl in the logo is carrying an umbrella in the rain and a box of salt with the spout open. The salt is pouring out. This reinforces the idea of salt which is free-flowing in damp conditions. It is a major selling mechanism for this salt-producing company.

About the girl, she was invented in 1914. She has been updated several times since the logo was first used. The girl has never had a name. This makes more frequent updates less necessary.

Now, to the salt itself-the company which produces this brand of salt uses three means of getting salt before processing it to be a free-flowing salt. One involves evaporation of water from a brine of sea water or ocean water. Once the water evaporates, the deposit which remains is largely salt.

A second way of getting salt is underground mining of salt veins deep in the Earth. These mines are similar to coal mines although much more pleasant than coal mines.

The third method is called the vacuum evaporation method. Several tanks hold brine which is formed when water is pumped into the underground vein area. This brine then goes through an evaporation process. This method produces the highest quality salt available.

How does the company make the salt flow freely even during humid conditions? This is where the slogan, “When it rains, it pours.”, comes from. In 1911, before the girl in the logo was invented, the company learned that by adding magnesium carbonate to the salt as an absorbing element, the salt became much more free-flowing. Thus, table salt produced by this company now contains magnesium carbonate. Not all of their products contain this compound.

In many parts of the world, free-flowing salt is not an available commodity. In parts of the humid tropical world, the people sometimes add rice or other absorbing content to the salt shakers to lessen the negative stick-together quality of salt.