My mother-in-law gave us this cute Raggedy Andy cookie jar this past summer. It’s the very same jar that my husband swiped cookies from when he was a child, and now our kids are following the tradition. When I look at this well-loved and well-used jar perched on our kitchen counter, I can see how people fall in love with collecting cookie jars.

Their bright colors and fun designs make cookie jars popular with collectors. Cookie jars have been made in all sorts of styles, from whimsical cartoon characters to pretty floral designs. Some of the biggest names in pottery have created cookie jar designs, including McCoy, whose jars are highly sought after by collectors today.

The beginning collector will discover that there are a lot of great jars out there, and if you’re not careful with your selections you’ll soon find yourself drowning in cookie jars. It’s a good idea to narrow your focus. For example, you could build your collection around a certain style of cookie jar, such as television characters, or a certain manufacturer. While it may be difficult to focus when first starting out, as you become more knowledgeable about cookie jar collecting you’ll begin to notice which types of jars attract you the most.

When buying cookie jars, try to find them in the best shape possible. If you hope to sell your collection at some time in the future, jars with fewer flaws are bound to sell faster and fetch better prices. Of course, if you come across a rare jar that you know is valuable even with a few small chips, go ahead and pick it up. If the jar is missing its lid, then pass it over – it’s not worth much.

Books such as Warman’s Cookie Jars: Identification And Price Guide can be helpful for identifying the manufacturer, age and value of a collectible cookie jar. These are especially helpful to the beginning collector, who might not know which cookie jars are rare and which can be easily found.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 at 8:02 am and is filed under collecting fyi, flea market finds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.