Trending
It wouldn't be Christmas without cookies. Cookie dough has been cut into shapes for thousands of years and several methods have been used to create designs. Molding, pressing, cutting and a combination of these systems have resulted in festive cookies in all kinds of holiday shapes like bells, stars, and trees.
The most common method of shaping dough in the United States is the cookie cutter. Other cookie making tools that are popular in Europe include, cookie molds and cookie presses.
Cookie cutters, presses and molds are also a favorite collectible in the antiques world. Cutters can be found in wood, tin, aluminum or plastic and there are thousands of shapes and designs available, both old and new, so a collector is never bored.
The most valuable collectible cutters are the very early handmade versions that have flat backs on them. These antique cutters date to the 18th or 19th centuries and command high prices at auctions.
The more complicated the design, the higher the value. Early designs with backs might sell for $100 per cutter and Kovels' Antiques Price Guide reports examples of rare cookie cutters with backs selling for thousands of dollars each.
Old handcrafted cutters with excellent details are the ones that bring the best prices. But just about all cookie cutters are desirable to a real collector.
For example, the set of Robin Hood cutters shown in today's column were premiums made by Robin Hood Flour in the 1970s. Though these are just plastic, an entire set of eight is valued at about $30.
Plastic cutters like these are favorites of collectors because of the characters they depict, like Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Other plastic retro cutters are desired for the nostalgic value since they date to a previous era.
Simple and homey, cookie cutters dating to the 1940s or 1950s remind collectors of popular themes from every day, as in the case of a Dagwood Bumstead comic set of cutters, now searched for by collectors. This set of six originated in the 1940s and is hard to find.
Also shown today is a wonderful Chilton set of 12 cutters featuring the Twelve Days of Christmas. With life-like detail and elaborate shapes, the set cuts cookies to eat or use as ornaments.
Since this group of cutters is in its original 1978 box, these cookie cutters are worth more to collectors who enjoy the packaging for its colorful advertising and information about the manufacturer.
Chilton Housewares made cutters out of aluminum, stainless steel and plastic over the years and having a box and the cutters that go with it make the history of the cutters easy to establish, which helps with value.
Hallmark made popular versions of cookie cutters too and these are fun vintage collectible cutters to search for. I gave my Peanuts version cutters to my daughter since her little boys love Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang.
Another collectible cookie cutter is the traditional cookie board. These are carved wooden "dough boards," used for pressing intricate designs into sweet dough, the system that predated cookie cutters. As time passed, bakers looked for a more convenient way to create shapes and came up with individual cutters.
Phyllis S. Wetherill wrote several books on cookie cutters including, "Identifying Your Cookie Cutters" and "An Encyclopedia of Cookie Shaping." In 1972, she founded the Cookie Cutter Collector's Club and it's still going strong with regional chapters, conventions and a quarterly newsletter called "Crumbs." You can find out more about joining at cookiecuttercollectorsclub.com
For comments or suggestions on local treasures in Antique of the Week, Maureen Zambito can be reached via email at zambitomaureen@hotmail.com or by writing to her in care of the Sunday News-Register, 1500 Main St., Wheeling, WV 26003.