Why Cookie Jars Are Such A Special Tradition In America

If you cook a lot — as a hobby or because you're the family chef — then you inadvertently spend a lot of time in the kitchen. If you've ever caught yourself wishing that this space where you end up spending most of your time was a little bit more colorful or unique then you might want to consider a cookie jar.

Yes, a cookie jar. You need one. Not because you bake a lot of cookies. Cookies have nothing (well, very little really) to do with cookie jars because these ceramic delights have aged out of their early utilitarian roles. Now, they're meant for channeling granny chic vibes, and maybe starting a conversation or two. They can still hold whatever you need, but people are starting to show more interest in these ceramic conversation starters to represent a certain aesthetic charm or personal interest.

Like all good American symbols, the cookie jar may have been created somewhere else, but it took on its own life in the U.S., While the cookie jar's golden age was back in your grandparent's day, they're now starting to see a bit of a comeback because they serve as a unique representation of different periods in America. As pop artist and avid cookie jar collector, Andy Warhol, famously put it, "they are time pieces."

The first cookie jars were invented by the British during the 18th century. These "biscuit jars" or "biscuit barrels" were far more utilitarian than the complex ceramic versions we might think of today. They were made of glass with metal lids, and would occasionally be decorated with floral patterns along the sides, but nothing too flashy.

Cookie jars would then grow in popularity in the United States during the 1930s as a cheap and practical way to decorate homes. The next few decades were the cookie jar's most popular. As ceramics became more complex, it allowed companies to produce jars shaped like animals, and figures from children's stories like Little Red Riding Hood. By the 1960s, ceramic makers would even cast cookie jars in the likeness of pop culture icons like Elvis and The Beatles.

Cookie jars then fell out of fashion but made a short-lived comeback in the 1990s as vintage pieces of home decor. Now, as the 1990s are coming back into style themselves, cookie jars are seeing their own resurgence with collectors' prices rising again. New cookie jar makers like Portland's Astro the Studio are also starting to appear on the market.

While it seems that cookie jars are mostly making a decorative return to popular culture, it does beg the question: will cookie jars actually keep your cookies fresh? Pastry chef Cheryl Day told Eater that most ceramic cookie jars will only boost the shelf life of cookies by a few days. They'll be protected from most external harm and will be out of sight, but those decorative vintage jars aren't going to do much to properly keep your cookies from spoiling.

There are also more utilitarian versions of the classic cookie jar out there that use modern technology to help preserve all of your favorite cookie recipes. You can rest easy knowing that those chocolate chip cookies you slaved over will be sealed in an airtight environment designed to keep them from growing stale in these modern jars. Of course, there's nothing wrong with keeping a cookie jar shaped like Garfield on the counter even if there's nothing inside as long as it feels right to you.