Shaping the Holidays One Cookie at a Time

Bakers, wives, and mothers have been passing out creatively-shaped treats ever since the early Egyptians first made small molded cakes sweetened with honey and spices. 

GodeNehler, MEK-Pfefferkucheform, Wikimedia.org

In the 1500s, creative German woodcutters perfected sweet-dough molds by adding metal edges or inserts to the forms, and from there, other Europeans developed tinned steel shapes with crossbars for support. Some molds embossed patterns and designs into the top of the dough, much like a cookie stamp.

However, *cookie cutters as we know them soon followed with flat backplates that conformed to the cutter’s shape. Often a hole was punched in the middle of the plate through which a woman could push resistant dough from the form.

 

Side A                                              Side B

In the 1700s, tinsmith peddlers thrilled American homemakers with tinned steel cutters, many with tin “strap” or wooden handles. By the late 1860s, companies looking for profitable business in the post-Civil War atmosphere began producing cookie cutters stamped with their name, such as the Dover Company and A. Kreamer Co. from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Aluminum sliced its way into the business in the early 1900s, and plastic pushed through following World War II.

Aluminum strap-handled cutters

Family cookie cutters are often passed from generation to generation, and I have several of my mother’s aluminum cutters from the early 1900s, as well as old handled biscuit cutters that were passed down to her. (Let me just say that it’s startling to discover the kitchen tools you grew up using are now considered antiques!)

American biscuit cutters

Regardless of the material or maker, cookie cutters have long pressed imaginative designs into people’s lives during special holidays such as Christmas or Easter. They’ve also been used to cut vegetables, cake, fruit, tea sandwiches, and fondant icing. Not to mention salt dough for small, playful hands.

Cookie cutter shapes are limited only by the designer’s imagination: birds, animals, people, geometric designs, and the ever-popular circle, star, and heart. If you’d like to try your hand at making a heart-shaped cookie cutter, click on this video link for a quick and easy tutorial: Make a cookie cutter.

For fun collectibles that don’t take up much space, try shopping antique stores and estate sales for old cookie cutters. They can also be used to decorate the Christmas tree by hanging them with colorful yarn or ribbon. It’s a fun way to display a piece of history in your home during the holidays.

And if you’re anywhere near Joplin, Missouri, stop by the National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum and check out their amazing collection. Or you could join the Cookie Cutters Collector's Club.

Speaking of cookie cutters, do you have a favorite cookie you’ll be making for the holidays? Let us know by mentioning it in the comments below.

*In British English, cookies are called biscuits – not to be confused with those wonderful sourdough, cast-iron skillet concoctions upon which the American West was established.

Lena Carver works as her physician brother’s medical assistant, housekeeper, and cook despite her disfigurement from a childhood accident. Each year, the Christmas holidays come with contradictions—cherished memories of a mysterious encounter and painful recollections of a great loss. She lives with the belief that she is beyond love’s reach, until a dark-eyed cowboy arrives broken, bruised, and bent on changing her mind.

Wil Bergman wakes in a stranger’s house with a busted leg, a bullet-creased scalp, and no horse. Trail-weary, robbed, and penniless, his dreams and plans for a future are suddenly unattainable. Forced to recuperate in the home of a country doctor, he finds himself at the mercy of a surgeon whose sister’s healing touch has power to stitch up his lonely heart and open his eyes to the impossible. 

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Bestselling author and winner of the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction, Davalynn Spencer keeps busy #lovingthecowboy and writing heart-tugging romance with a Western flair. And she’s fairly certain her previous career as a rodeo journalist and crime-beat reporter prepared her for life in Colorado wrangling Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley. Learn more about her books at https://www.davalynnspencer.com.

Glitter Postcards

Have you ever received a treasure package of ephemera, or what is commonly known as memorabilia? I was blessed to receive such a treasure package this week when a second cousin handed over a package of photographs and postcards from the early decades of the 20th century. What a delightful surprise, especially the postcards which are varied in composition, weight, and design. 

I've often seen old postcards, Christmas cards, etc with glitter, but these ones are different than any others in my experience. To set the stage, this first one is different in the subject because I've never seen one with dark clouds as a major feature. However, it's the gold painted setting sun, its reflection on the water, and the gold writing that caught my eye. The normal weight postcard was sent in January 1910 and bears a 1 cent Canadian stamp. The oval is embossed and it bears the name of the Oval Panel Series, printed in Germany. 

This green postcard was printed in Canada and mailed in March 1910. It is heavy cardboard and although it doesn't appear to have been two pieces glued back-to-back, the two holes at the top left seem to indicate otherwise. The glitter on this postcard appears on the sentiment, "ARE YOU TOO BUSY TO WRITE?" which has been written across in a diagonal fashion. This is an enigma to me because the glittery words have covered the flowers, and yet there is a large empty space that could have been used. 

The glitter writing on this pink postcard makes good use of the open area which was probably left for such a purpose, however to my eye, the script is sloppy. It appears to be a commercial postcard since the glitter outlines the flowers in a professional manner, and although this postcard shows it is Printed in Germany, the "Greetings From Durham" is probably talking about Durham, Ontario since it was mailed December 1907 with a Canadian 1 cent stamp.

Lastly, we have another one from Durham with even sloppier script. I believe this one says, "A Note from Durham", but that's a guess. This card is also printed in Germany and has the exact same back as the pink postcard above. However, the only glitter on this one is on the writing itself. This postcard was also mailed December 1907 with a 1 cent Canadian stamp. It's much the worse for wear however, as it has a yellow patch of paper covering the design on the top left under the stem. 

I wonder if the last two postcards were ordered in sets with blank areas and the receiving stores added the script to create a souvenir of their locale. It makes me wonder if the person who wrote Durham County's sentiment was in a rush or merely didn't have good writing skills. 

These postcards are unique and show a few of the vast array of postcards that were available in the early 1900s.

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, and The Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

A Charming Christmas Tradition: the Moravian Putz--and Giveaway!

Christmas Putz (Wikipedia)

One of the most charming Christmas traditions came to us from the Moravians: the Christmas Putz. The word putz comes from the German verb putzen, which means to clean or decorate. The Moravians expanded a long German tradition of building small villages around nativity scenes into the more elaborate version they called a Putz, which became very popular in American Moravian homes and churches during the 19th century.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the tradition was for festive groups to go out into the country weeks ahead of Christmas to collect moss, ferns, bark, branches, stones, and any other materials they could use for building and enhancing their Putz. Stones and fresh moss became caves, little branches turned into miniature trees, and roads of sawdust, sand, or fine dirt led to the nativity with its carved wooden figures of Joseph, Mary, and the Christ child, shepherds, animals, and other traditional nativity figures.

Christmas Village

The Putz was originally placed under the Christmas tree, but by the late 19th century families often placed them on the mantel over the fireplace or in another prominent place. Other Bible stories such as Noah’s Ark, which was especially popular, were gradually added as Putzes became more and more elaborate. Some families divided the space around the nativity into separate areas with different themes, and eventually toy trains wove through these miniature worlds as well. Some people spent more time and energy decorating their Putz than they devoted to their Christmas tree. Families even began to visit each others’ homes to view the different Putzes, just as many of us drive through nearby neighborhoods to look at Christmas light displays.

Setting up tiny, glittery houses during the Christmas holidays soon became more widely popular, with cardboard candy boxes a popular building material. A number of manufacturers entered the market, and around 1928, when it became possible for the average family to afford electric lights, they started adding holes at the back of the houses to accommodate light bulbs, which added another dimension to the displays. At that point, the variety of Putz houses exploded, with mainly Japanese designers producing houses sparkling with glitter and dusted with faux snow, with cellophane windows that glowed when lighted. Most were extremely cheap, selling for only five or ten cents. Japan held a near monopoly until the start of WWII, when American companies took over the market, working around wartime rationing of materials like cellophane and ink. Sears-Roebuck and other companies offered simple versions of Putz houses, usually in sets of eight.

Example of a Putz House

Putz houses saw a dime store revival after World War II when Japan again started exporting them. But by 1960 their popularity had waned as television and other interests took up the time and space consumers had devoted to creating them and new types of holiday decorations became more fashionable. In the 1970s, however, a number of makers introduced ceramic Christmas villages, which became popular in Europe as well as in America. Like many other Christmas traditions, the idea of creating a holiday village spread to other holidays, with a few companies making Halloween and Easter villages.

One reason for the popularity of Putzes may be that they allowed both children and adults to play as they decorated. For some families they hold such sentimental value that they’ve been passed down through the generations. Today vintage pieces are very collectable. Some collectors, concerned that all the cardboard Christmas houses were going to disappear, began to research and catalog them. Ted Althof, who began collecting Putz houses in the 1970s, put together an amazing, detailed history on his “Papa Ted’s Place” website some years ago, which has also become a clearing-house of sorts where people can share information. Since his death, the site has been archived here.

Central Moravian's Putz

Since 1937, Central Movavian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has displayed an elaborate Christmas Putz. It includes many German antiques and is open to the public. Early in November, a group of volunteers travels to the Pocono Mountains to gather the live moss that forms the base of the Putz. Construction begins later in the month, as church members work together to set buildings and figures in place and arrange tiny lights to illuminate each miniature scene of rolling hills, deserts with real sand, trees, streams, farms, and homes. narration and music accompany the display. You’ll find more information on their website. Iif you’re in the area during the Christmas season, treat yourself to a visit!

To celebrate the Christmas season, I’m offering a print or ebook copy of my modern-day retelling of the Christmas story, One Holy Night, to the winner of today’s drawing! To enter, please leave a comment on this post that includes your email addy in the form of name at emailservice dot com to foil the webcrawlers. And please share your favorite Christmas tradition. The drawing ends at midnight, and I'll announce the winner early tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back here for the results!

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J. M. Hochstetler is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history. She is also an author, editor, and publisher. Northkill, Book 1 of the Northkill Amish Series coauthored with Bob Hostetler, won ForeWord Magazine’s 2014 INDYFAB Book of the Year Bronze Award for historical fiction. Book 2, The Return, releases in Spring 2017. Her American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive historical fiction series on the American Revolution. One Holy Night, a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story, was the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year. You’ll find her here.

Akro Agate Children's and Doll Dishes

Merry Christmas from Carla Stewart! 

The year is 1938. Imagine for a moment that you are six years old and dreaming about what might be under your tree on Christmas morning. A doll perhaps? Or a warm pair of stockings? Perhaps even a tea set so you and the girl down the street can have tea parties. 

Many fortunate girls probably found just that as that was the year that the Akro Agate company came out with their American Maid tea set. They're not china, nor metal, but a sturdy opaque glass that you might think looks familiar - like marbles perhaps. 

Child's Tea Set (large size) in original box

You would be right. In 1911, the Akro Agate Company was established to make marbles, and they thrived primarily because marbles weren't being imported to America from Germany during WWI. They did so well, in fact, that after the war, they continued to corner the market on marbles since their production costs were low and they didn't have to charge import taxes. By the 1930s, the company began dabbling with other lines of glassware: ashtrays, bells, baskets, flower pots, jardiniered, lamps, powder jars . . . and then children's dishes. 

The children's line came in two sizes: small (doll-sized) and large (child-sized). A set included a plate, saucer, cup, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, and pitcher with lid. They didn't take off at first as practical mothers preferred metal play dishes, but when the Akro Agate company began to make multi-color sets (like the one above), their popularity increased and continued throughout the forties. The dishes come not only in different colors, but also different patterns (octagonal, raised daisy, concentric ring, stacked disc, interior panel as well as others). Some of the colors are quite rare (pumpkin, purple, lavender) and all of them are difficult to find today as collectors (like me) have snatched them up.

My sister was the first to introduce me to these charming dishes, and I began buying them for her when I saw them (including a coveted lavender cup), and after a while, I decided I would start my own collection. I love them, and am fortunate to have received the boxed set above (original box which increases the value) from my mother's antique business after she passed away. Don't worry: My sister got the other boxed set! 

I've placed some of the "small" pieces on a ladies handkerchief so you can get a feel for the size. A saucer is about 2 1/4 inches across. 

A collection of "small" Akro Agate doll dishes

 
They're fun to collect, don't take up too much space, and are nice conversation starters. 

Oh, yeah, if you were a boy in 1938, you, too, would've been happy with an Akro Agate gift under the tree on Christmas morning - A new marble set! Here are some that my dad gave me. 
 

 

Akro Agate went out of business in the early fifties after forty years of bringing smiles to American kids. 

What was the best gift you ever found under your tree on Christmas morning? Do you still have it? 

Do you collect any unusual items?