Recently, I was contacted to ask if I could make some miniature pies with pie birds for a lovely lady who collects life-sized pie birds! Of course, the answer was yes! I did a little research on the history of pie birds (also known as pie vents/whistles/funnels/chimneys) before I got started, and I learned that they originated in Victorian times to help prevent the pie filling from boiling over in the cooking process.

So why a bird-shaped vent, you ask? Historians think that the earlier ceramic funnel form that vented steam eventually evolved into a decorative bird shape in reference to the nursery rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” Remember the phrase “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”?

Anyhow, I had a wonderful time creating these wee little pies with pie birds, and I’m so thrilled to know they will be enjoyed as part of a fabulous collection of life-sized pie birds!