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American Cookie Jar Association www.cookiejarclub.com
The American Cookie Jar Association has a fun and informational website. In addition to providing lots of articles and resources, there are some truly helpful services - like the Cookie Jar Matchmaker page. As collectors know, missing and broken lids are a distasteful facet of this hobby. The Matchmaker page has more than 60 types of cookie jars listed by manufacturer, and each is linked to a page with dozens of lids and bases that are needed or available for purchase. To-date, the Matchmaker has made 178 successful matches. I also like the "Ask Red" service. Red Huston is the club's resident historian and expert, and you can email him a cookie jar question. About 30 previous questions and answers are posted. Here is a sample:
Red says: All "Little Red Riding Hood" pieces, including jars, were hand decorated. There are NO TWO exactly alike. The factors used in determining price are the number of decals, type of decals, where the decals are located, open or closed basket, and condition of the gold trim. Are there any chips, dings or hairlines? Do the top and bottom have the same color? You will never get the price you want for sentimental value. I have seen Hull/Regal jars sell for as much as $1,500 at a live auction a few years back. That same jar sold at a live auction last April for a little over $500. Times have changed in the last few years. The website also lists dealers and members and their contact information. Even the rich and famous are infatuated by cookie jars. One famous cookie jar collector was Andy Warhol. You may remember his collection of more than 100 cookie jars were sold by Sotheby's for about $250,000. His collection included cookie jars in the shapes of clowns, a lamb, a puppy, a Dutchman, Disney characters and more. Cookie jars are all about fun, and this website has one particularly fun feature, ugly cookie jars. Members send in photos of their ugly cookie jars, trying to top one another. Take a look and enjoy a laugh. Shaker Architecture http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/shaker/shakerstyle.htm http://www.shakermuseum.com/galleries
We have all marveled at the simplistic beauty of Shaker craftsmanship - in chairs, baskets, furniture, etc. That same masterful style and attention to detail is also exhibited in the architecture of Shaker buildings. The National Park Service has a wonderful article about Shaker buildings at the website above, as well as excellent photos. You can find several articles on the Internet on this topic, and one author reports that there were no official Shaker architects, or if one could say their "style" was a reflection of their belief in God. Exteriors are clean, orderly, balanced and usually symmetrical. Because of their celibate beliefs, common buildings (communal homes, meeting halls, etc.) usually have two doors, one for women and one for men. And to keep contact between the sexes to a minimum, there were also dual staircases and halls. Barns and outbuildings are set back from the dormitory buildings, which are usually situated in line with one another. Stone, brick and wood are the common building materials - whatever is native to the area. At the height of the religion's popularity, nineteen Shaker communities were established in Kentucky, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, Ohio, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Indiana. The appeal of Shaker architecture is carried through in the interior of the buildings. Perhaps you've seen photos of the spiral staircases. One writer reports that the curved rail in one building was made seamlessly and "…without wood bending equipment." Shaker Workshops, a manufacturer of contemporary Shaker furniture, held a contest to specifically photograph Shaker building, the results are posted at www.shakerworkshops.com. Click on "Photo Contest" to see some excellent interior and exterior shots. An awe-inspiring shot of a spiral staircase is there, and a shot of the round barn made of stone. Shakers, or the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing which was the original name of their church, lasted for more than 220 years. Critics gave them the name of "Shaking Quakers" or "Shakers" because they shook during worship to rid themselves of evil. Their attempt at creating a Utopian society has dwindled and today there is only one community left. It is called Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, and it is located at 707 Shaker Road in New Gloucester, Maine. Complete info about it is at www.shaker.lib.me.us. The American Collectors of Infant Feeders www.acif.org Before visiting this website, I thought baby bottles were invented in the 1940s or '50s. Little did I know. It seems ceramic nursing containers have been found dating back to 1500 B.C. Over the years, they have been made in a variety of materials - clay, stone, metals, pewter and wood. Even nipples for bottles have been carved from wood. Charles M. Windship of Roxbury, Mass., is credited with patenting the first glass baby bottle in 1841. As the website details, "Windship's bottle was unusual in that it was to be superimposed on the mother's breast so that the nursing infant would be deceived into thinking that the milk was coming directly from the mother." New collectors will be pleasantly surprised by the variety in nursing bottles. "While some were of the types that could stand up straight on end, most of the turn-of-the-century types were designed to lie flat on their sides. A few in this latter group had openings on their side for the milk or pap and sometimes had permanently attached nipples." Bottles can be found in interesting shapes, colors and designs. Figural bottles include those shaped like a baby's head or "… a papoose strapped to the back of its Indian mother." Collectors also look for embossing of brand names and "…designs or pictures of crying babies, animals, fairy-tale characters, and toys." Bottle collectors, milk bottle collectors and glass collectors should take a look at nursing bottles and at this website. They may be surprised to learn that this is an interesting collectible.
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