The story goes like this: In the summer of 2023, as I was salvaging everything I possibly could from my late grandparents' house, pulling up flooring and pulling down windows in what was once the coziest kitchen in the world, I suddenly had a memory of a cookie jar that sat on top of the refrigerator my entire childhood. I remember it vividly because I spent so many years trying to figure out what it was. It was brown with a black knob on top and red letters across the front. I remember when I was about six or seven, I learned to read and finally read the word, "Cookies." Ok, now we're getting somewhere, I thought. Actually it was so long ago, I can't be sure that's what I thought, but it probably went something like that. I went to ask my grandma if that's what the jar said and she said yes. I then asked if there were any cookies in it and she said no. If I'm not mistaken, my brother and I came to my grandparents' house once when they weren't home and with a little team work, we scaled the side of the fridge and opened that jar just to be sure there were no cookies in it. There were not. Just bibs and bobs that didn't have their own place but couldn't be discarded. Alright, so its purpose was cookies, one mystery was solved, but what was the shape? I really couldn't tell. Standing there two summers ago, in the ruins of that happy kitchen, looking at where the fridge used to sit with the cookie jar on top, it suddenly dawned on me. Oh, my goodness, it was a coffee mill! I think I actually said it out loud. At the end of that long, hot day of work, I went home and searched for "coffee mill cookie jar," and the door to this world opened. The jar immediately popped up (believe it or not, coffee mill cookie jars aren't very common), so I purchased one that was very reasonably priced and in good condition. The lettered portions tend to flake off over time on these pieces, so finding one in good condition can be tricky. The jar shown below is now sitting atop my cabinets in my own cozy little kitchen.
At the time of doing this search, I was designing my kitchen. I asked about the history of this jar and my dad said the jar had always been on the fridge his whole life, so he reached out to his older sister for the backstory. She said it was a Christmas gift from the factory where my grandmother worked. One mystery solved! Since I was down the McCoy pottery/Cookie Jar rabbit hole, I found a number of interesting, whimsical pieces that I thought would look well in my kitchen, and had to seriously fight to keep myself from adding yet another collection to my small home. In the end, self control did win out, and I only purchased one other McCoy cookie jar, because I just could not resist this cute little kitten in a basket and as previously mentioned, the paint on the letters is gone.
Now that I've peaked your interest with my own cookie jar origin story, let's pause for a little history lesson in ceramics. In 1848 William Nelson McCoy built a small pottery company in Zanesville, Ohio where they turned out simple, function pieces. Well before the invention of plastics and eventually Tupperware, ceramic jugs and crocks were still in common household use. William's potter company was eventually sold to Midland Pottery and later absorbed by Roseville Pottery of which I have inherited several pieces such as this funky 1940s Art Deco style vase. *Perhaps I'll do a separate post on Roseville, since I just looked up the value of one of the vases and found that it is a collected series and is sought after at auctions. This type of pottery reminds me of the McCoy version which I inherited and have pictured below.
William's son, J.W. McCoy moved to Roseville, Ohio and opened several like minded pottery companies and profited greatly from turning out a quality product. However, in 1904, J.W. noticed tastes were changing, people were wanting both form and function in their home goods. While continuing to open other pottery companies, the McCoy Pottery Company was founded by J.W. McCoy and Nelson (grandson to William) in Roseville, Ohio in 1910. *more complete history will be linked below* The company began production of cookie jars in 1933 when Nelson saw that demand for not just pretty but fanciful pieces had only continued to grow, and continued until 1990 when struggling production finally gave up the ghost. It had changed hands at least twice by then and could never recapture its former heyday glory of the 1950s-1960s when it produced some of its most whimsical designs such as my coffee mill jar. Seems like that was the heyday for much of the whimsical ceramics I see on the collector's market today.
McCoy distinguished itself from brands like Roseville and others by being very affordable as well as stylish and interesting. This vase pictured above turned up while i was writing this post and looks very much like the Roseville style (pictured above that), but likely at a fraction of the cost. I feel certain that this is why my grandmother had so much of this brand of pottery in particular. My paternal grandparents were always very poor, but my grandmother worked hard and kept a lovely home. McCoy was made for families like mine.
When my grandmother passed away quite suddenly, her oldest daughter came into the home (my grandfather was still alive and well, by the way and livid at her behavior, but he didn't stop her either) and cleaned out anything of value. She took anything and everything. Furniture, photos, glass door knobs, ceramics and all. It was not because she was sentimentally attached to these things, no, she put everything into a yard sale to try to make a quick buck. The only things I managed to get were an Avon cameo brooch which I had asked for years before and been given permission to have, and a black and white photo of my grandma as a young woman in a very short dress, showing her midriff, striking a very sexy pose while her head was thrown back in laughter. All this to say that memories were all I had to go by because not only was my grandmother suddenly gone, but her home was just as suddenly gone too. I realized during my search that my grandmother had another cookie jar that was pushed further to the back and while it is therefore very fuzzy in my memory, I believe it was this fireplace jar.
In addition to cookie jars, McCoy continued to make other types of ceramics such as flower pots and vases. Of which my mother had two surviving pieces of my grandmother's collection, so I reached out. Sadly, the real McCoy, a green basket weave flower pot, had broken, but a yellow piece remained and my mom said I could have it. Turns out, there is not stamp on the bottom, so it is likely not a McCoy, which doesn't really matter to me as much as the fact that my grandmother owned and loved it. Then, during the cleanout of my great-aunt's home after her passing last summer I found a matching vase that is a McCoy, so these two pieces are now proudly displayed near each other in my sunny little loft.
I am a researcher at heart, and as much as I wish that my grandmother had lived long enough to tell me the story behind the things she purchased, I feel closer to her just digging in to the history of these beloved pieces from my childhood. If you're interested in collecting or learning more, I'm including some links below or you can search the thrift books for titles such as Sanford's Guide to McCoy Pottery or 1993's The Collector's Encyclopedia of Cookie Jars. Happy hunting!
Further reading and my sources:
https://weekendatthecottage.com/lifestyle/mccoy-pottery/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCoy_(pottery)
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