Back in the early 1940’s my mom bought the Humpty Dumpty cookie jar you see above. It has been cracked several times and mended but is still a beloved member of the family. My mother’s generation believed that a good homemaker always had a full cookie jar. So, of course, my mom made cookies often for my dad and her four children, plus family, friends and neighbors who dropped by. Old Humpty Dumpty took quite a beating.
When the grandchildren started arriving (late 1960’s or early 1970’s) my mom bought this second cookie jar. Humpty Dumpty still sat on the counter but now he had a partner. Although no one told my mom, all the children loved the second cookie jar the best. Why?
Humpty Dumpty was just too noisy. Every time you went to get a cookie, you had to lift off the entire ceramic top. It made a lot of noise. Putting it back down was even worse. All that noise announced to Mom/Grandma that someone was in the cookie jar.
As you can see, the second cookie jar is a plain white ceramic jar. The beauty is in the wooden lid. You can lift that wooden lid, pull out your cookies, put the lid back down, and there is absolute silence. The second jar never tattles. All the grandkids and now great-grandkids love Grandma’s plain cookie jar.
Just in case the nutrition police are reading this post, I’d like to point out that childhoods of the past are considerably different from those of today. In the “olden days” little bodies were on the move from the time they got out of bed. Except for reading books, there were few sedentary pleasures. (We had no TV or game-boys.) No one worried about childhood obesity. Eating a couple of cookies a day was not considered the sin that it is today. So, please, don’t turn my family in for food abuse.
Out of all the cookies my mom made, we tried to figure out which cookie filled the cookie jar most often. The first two decades it was a spicy molasses cookie. The last five decades it’s been a bar cookie we call Congo Bars. No one remembers where the recipe came from or how it got it’s name. It’s Mom’s most requested cookie. I’ll share it with you one of these days.
My mom has been re-living the memories of her cookie baking days. Since she now has dementia, those memories are very vivid at times. She’s very curious about what kinds of cookies and cookie jars you remember from your childhood, or perhaps as a parent for your children. Share your memories in the comment section and I’ll pass them on to Mom.
Talking about food is a regular feature on my blog and others as well. Visit Beth Fish Reads for other bloggers who are participating in Weekend Cooking.
NORTHERN CALLIFORNIA
I love the cookie jars and I love the silent one! Much better choice from a kid’s perspective. My dad’s mom always had a full cookie jar.
I LOVE this post! I have my mom’s old cookie jar too. I keep it hidden away to keep it safe and sound and you’ve just inspired me to pull it out and enjoy it! It can always be repaired!
I’ve always loved old cookie jars. And teapots too. A local museum by us even had an old teapot exhibit not long ago. But one of my favorite cookie jars is a relatively new one, that I got for my sister a couple of years ago because she takes cookies into work. It is in the shape of a policeman, and when you lift the lid it says STOP! STEP AWAY FROM THE COOKIE JAR!
Fascinating! We didn’t have a cookie jar – but we did have a biscuit tin, same thing I suppose. My mum had two – one for ordinary biscuits and one she kept at the back of the larder for chocolate biscuits, because if she didn’t my sister ate all the chocolate ones, so the rest of us had none.
I don’t have a biscuit tin – too tempting,although I bought a big plastic tub full of locally made biscuits and we’ve now nearly eaten them all.
My gram always had a full cookie jar too. I got very skilled at sneaking cookies; either that or Gram just didn’t let on.
Sorry your mom has dementia. My father had Alzheimer’s. It’s a very sad disease that robs us of our loved ones long before they’re physically gone.
Oh my – you have just given me an idea for a future Weekend Cooking post! My husband and I used to collect cookie jars! I am sure we have close to 300 in the attic somewhere, I got tired of dusting them.
I am anxious to read (and try) the recipe for Congo bars.
Good trip down memory lane. I have been searching the corners of my brain but I can’t remember what our cookie jar looked like. The thing I remember is that my mother had more cookies at Christmas time and she kept them in tins. Have a great day Margot.
We did have a cookie jar while growing up, but I can’t recall it much having cookies in it. I still don’t have one,rather we have a large ceramic apple/tomato, that we keep mint canadies in.
My mom used to make rice pudding on wednesdays, and with the left over egg whites she would make meringue cookies after we went to bed so they would be ready for our lunch the next day. I loved that.
we didn’t have a cookie jar either! I must have had a deprived childhood!
Ahh, yes cookies and the cookie jar! I loved visiting grandma & grandpa. I heard many stories involving the cookie jars & Grams having eyes in the back of her head (which really was just very well honed mothering/listening skills).
A very distinct memory I have that concerns cookies is of my Uncle Brian. His daily visits would begin with him joyfully announcing his arrival by ringing the door bell(multiple times) while opening the door. Then, there were lots of hugs, kisses and hellos all around. Finally, he would make a b-line to the cookie jar, where he would grab a handful (not 1 or 2 but SEVERAL) cookies. I remember being amazed by how many he was allowed/able to eat. Uncle Brian was a delightful, boisterous and very fun uncle, and very dearly missed! The only thing noisier than grandma’s first cookie jar was grandma P’s candy dish…
I don’t remember my mom or grandma ever having a cookie jar on the counter and now you’ve made me feel like I’ve missed something in life! My grandma would usually bake a pie for you when you were there if there wasn’t one already on counter, but not cookies.
I know that my grandma’s had cookie jars but I don’t remember what they look like. But it was a given that there were cookies inside.
Clearly I need to get a cookie jar with a ceramic lid. I store cookies in plastic containers and they disappear far too quickly!
This is my second comment because due to my slow moving memory I just remembered what our cookie Jar looked like. I was a big round doughboy with a head and shoulders that were the lid. On the apron in front it said Have a cookie but my mom didn’t accept that literally. It took a while but my memory snuck out around thew corners.
Oh boy, I am not sure what my mom’s cookie jar looked like–hmmmm….I will have to think about. I own a cow cookie jar that is ceramic and very noisy and for the Christmas holiday I have 2 snowmen cookie jars. My cookie jars are mostly for show–for two reasons: 1. I hardly ever bake, and 2. When I do bake, having 14 and 17 year old sons, cookies don’t last long enough to get into the jar!
*smiles*
I have 2 cookie jars. And the funny thing is when I put cookies in there they last too long I end up throwing them away because I forget they are there…lol
Candice I also remember when Uncle Brian would come by…it always meant we would get to go to the beach soon…or do something fun. lol
And Grandma P candy jar…woah yeah that thing was loud too…always got caught taking an extra chocolate kiss…or just checking for them lol
My 2 cookie jars are great both gifts…one is in the shape of a frog and the other is shaped like a wrapped gift box.
My mom – the Queen of Practicality -didn’t like things sitting on her counters, cluttering up her work space so our cookie jar was inside cupboard. She used a 3 lb. coffee can covered with contact paper as her cookie jar-the plastic lid sealed well and kept cookies fresh. I have a cookie jar on my counter that my son gave me for Christmas a couple years ago. It is Santa holding his pack – the cookies go inside the bag. It’s adorable and I leave it out year-round, but not as good a keeping cookies fresh as that old coffee can.
What a fun post, Margo! We don’t have a cookie jar now; when one of us makes cookies we just put the leftovers in Tupperware on the counter … they’re not left over for long!
Growing up, we had a ceramic cookie jar that looked like a bunch of fruit (kind of funny, now that I think about it). My Nana had painted it in one of those ceramics studios that gained popularity in the 70s.
Congo bars! The day I first met J was at a brunch my roommates and I held. I made my mother’s congo bars that day, and it was love at first bite
I was just talking about this with my mom last weekend after my grandmother’s funeral. She had – and it still sits in her kitchen now – a clear glass cookie jar with a glass lid. That way you could always see all the yumminess inside. My parents have one just like it. I became a pro at lifting that lid without a sound. It was replacing the lid that became problematic – but I’m still the best at it if there were an actual competition ;0)