| Cookie cutters have been around for hundreds of | | | | do the job well because the dough tended to stick |
| years, and today they're seeing a renewed popularity | | | | more to plastic and sometimes the plastic was flimsy |
| as more and more cooks are turning to traditional | | | | and would break during use. |
| cookie recipes. Although baking fans have always | | | | Today's cookie cutters may be made from aluminum, |
| relied on cookie cutters to create interesting and | | | | tin, copper or plastic. Which kind you prefer is largely |
| attractive sugar cookies, gingerbread men and other | | | | a matter of what works best for you. Since most |
| tasty treats, cookie cutters haven't always been as | | | | cookie cutters are now factory made, you can get |
| popular as they are now. | | | | just as much detail with a tin or aluminum cookie |
| The earliest cookie cutters were actually wooden | | | | cutter as you can with plastic. Try a few different |
| molds made in Europe with some even dating back | | | | sizes, styles and materials of cookie cutter to see |
| to the Middle Ages. These early molds were brought | | | | which type you like for your own cookie making. |
| to the United States by German settlers in the 1600's | | | | Cookie cutters are so popular today that there are |
| and 1700's and quickly became popular with colonial | | | | cookie cutter collectors clubs across the country. |
| homemakers. | | | | Collectors are always on the look out for rare and |
| Tinsmiths probably made the first true cookie cutters | | | | vintage cookie cutters. If you want to start looking |
| in the late 1700's. Tinsmiths would keep the scraps of | | | | for vintage cutters, keep a few things in mind. If a |
| leftover tin from larger projects and craft them into | | | | cookie cutter has a solid back, rather than being an |
| pretty shapes for cookie cutters. Simple hearts, | | | | outline that's hollow, it is probably from before World |
| crosses and stars were popular gifts that tinsmiths | | | | War II. This makes it more valuable to collectors. |
| would give to their customers. Eventually they | | | | Other prized vintage finds are cookie cutters that |
| became so popular that tinsmiths began making sets | | | | were made to commemorate special events, |
| and selling them to new cooks and housewives | | | | promotional "gifts with purchase," and limited edition |
| across the frontier. | | | | holiday cookie cutters such as the Peanuts line by |
| Tin remained the most popular metal for cookie | | | | Hallmark from the 1970's. |
| cutters throughout the 1800's largely because it was | | | | In fact, today's cookie cutter collectors have formed |
| easy to work with and inexpensive. You could create | | | | a national Cookie Cutter Collectors Club that has a |
| a wide variety of shapes and hold them together | | | | newsletter dubbed "Cookie Crumbs" and sponsors |
| with a bit of solder, making them inexpensive to | | | | annual conventions that are attended by hundreds of |
| make. In the 1920's, however, tin gave way to | | | | avid collectors to compare their collections, share |
| aluminum. These new cookie cutters kept their shiny | | | | stories of great finds and swap or buy new cookie |
| good looks better than tin and were lighter weight. | | | | cutters for their collections. |
| After World War II, plastic took over as the favored | | | | It's obvious that cookie cutters aren't just for making |
| material for cookie cutters. Increasingly complex and | | | | cookies anymore. If you've always enjoyed the |
| detailed cookie cutters could be created using | | | | many fun and interesting shapes you can find in |
| machines, and the plastic was easy to mold into any | | | | cookie cutters then perhaps it's time to start your |
| shape imaginable. Unfortunately some bakers | | | | own collection today. |
| discovered that the plastic cookie cutters just didn't | | | | |