You have all seen these beautiful vases but probably didn’t pay much thought to what they were. Maybe you even saw them called that on a tag in a shop and dismissed it as I did. I decided a few years ago to do a little research after finding one in a shop in North Carolina and having a delightful conversation with the shop owner.

A celery vase actually had a very regal during Victorian times. Celery was an expensive luxury and putting it in and adding water to the vase was a symbol of prestige. It showed all who entered the home the family’s upper-class status.

These vases were beautiful to look at with or without celery and were often filled with flowers when not used for celery.

By the beginning of the 20th-century production of celery, vases began to decline.

Mass production and agricultural advances were to blame. With the ability to grow celery with ease it became less prestigious. People began to simply serve celery on flat dishes without the pomp and circumstance they had in the past.

Pretty cool, huh? Next time you see one in a shop remember what a great symbol of wealth they once were. I love them and use them often to put floral arrangements in!