The Great Depression brought down the economy for a time and brought about the idea of cookie jars. The first decorative jars that attracted the American public first appeared in the 1930s. These were the products of what seemed to be a natural reaction for the decline in the stock market. Instead of frequenting the bakery shops, people resolved to bake breads and cookies in their own houses. Once the cookies are done, they must be kept in a container to lengthen shelf life. To do this, the elements that may dry out moist cookies and soften dry ones must be eliminated. This was the primary reason why decorative cookie jars easily found favor in American households rather than the coffee tins and a variety of make-do materials. Cookie jars are made out of different mediums. Some of which are metal, plastic, wood and glass but the most acceptable among enthusiasts are the ceramic cookie jars. The largest portion of these ceramic jars is crafted using earthenware, normally the white category. Redware is also an earthenware that is mostly used by Japanese cookie manufacturers. There are also yellowwares but they seldomly sought after cookie jar making. A selected few are made out of porcelain but they are rather expensive than ordinary jars. Still others are made from stonewares, most of which are manufactured by Western Stoneware Company in Monmouth, Illinois. This medium is primarily used in making crockeries. Though there are debates on which earthenware must be used in cookie jar making, this issue has lesser importance than the forms of decorations applied to the jars. Ceramic cookie jars normally go through this typical process: - glaze
- paint
- paint and glaze combination
- transfer and glaze combination
- combination of all three materials. Among these five finishes, the glaze is the most durable. Simply put, glaze is minute particles of clear or colored glass that is suspended using a liquid agent. This is applied on cookie jars by means of brushing, dipping or airbrushing. However, the major problem with glaze is crazing. The manifestations of which are the tiny cracks on the body or a portion of the jar surface. Unlike glaze, pain or cold paint is never fired. It can be either applied directly on the glaze or on the bisque. Like ordinary painting, the paint on the jar often deteriorates. This may be due to extreme temperature, exposure to sunlight, humidity and contact with other objects. This process can never be stopped once the onset becomes visible. The standard rule of thumb in handling painted cookie jars is not to wash them with water. This will further aggregate the fading of the color. Transfer designs, so long as they were done in the proper manner, may be a much better option than that of the painted ones. This is true because transfer designs hold up much stronger than the paints. But they are far more susceptible to damage from foreign elements than the glazes. Transfer-decorated cookie jars that are undergoing premature deterioration is partly due to the transfer design, rather than the glaze. Mold companies seem to have recognized the importance of improving these processes. They have been developing broader selections of finishing methods for jar crafters. This is partly due to the need for improvement and partly because of the growing popularity of cookie jar collecting. |
