When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had
to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly
“valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it,
keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms,
I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they
will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!) With this challenge I begin my
book of Heirlooms.
is for Biscuit Jar.
The purple flowers adorning this jar tells me it had to
belong to my grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring. Nobody loved purple more than she
did.
Biscuit jars - also called Biscuit Barrels - did not hold
the kind of biscuit you might be thinking of. They were actually the forerunner
of today’s ceramic cookie jar. They are not very big, so I must wonder what
size cookies people made in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
and how many such a jar would hold.
 |
| Such pretty detail with the raised beads |
Not enough, if you ask me! The jar looks more like a big
sugar bowl, more suitable for candy or trinkets.
 |
| Three Crown China Germany Markings are green or red |
When I saw the pottery mark, I thought for sure this
piece was quite old and more valuable than it really is. Three Crown China was a
mark introduced by Unger & Schilde of Roschuetz, Thuringia, Germany for
items specifically imported and distributed by Jon H. Roth of South Bend,
Indiana from 1909-1916.
South Bend - rather takes the bloom off the rose, don’t
you think?
Biscuit jars of any shape and mark are selling on eBay
for $25-$40, that and higher on Etsy.
Nobody will be getting rich off this little heirloom!
 |
| A proud spot in the corner cabinet of my living room |
Wendy
© 2018, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Lovely piece to have. But as you say it's rather small but I 'll bet it once held better things than our 'tin' full of rich tea biscuits (all others are banned for me).
ReplyDeleteI've never tried a rich tea biscuit. Are they not delightful? Didn't Prince William have a cake made from rich tea biscuits? If they're good enough for the future king, they should be good enough for Bob Scotney. LOL!!
DeleteThanks for visiting my blog and I agree, history does seem to be more interesting these days. Are interpreters doing a better job or is it because as adults we are appreciating it more? Love your theme and I grew up with a biscuit jar. Having a British mother and living off and on in England, we always had biscuits, not cookies.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right that I appreciate history more now than back then when I really just wanted to get in the hotel pool. But I do believe people who run museums and historic sites are doing more to engage people.
DeleteYour profile says you live in Virginia, and still you say Biscuit Jar, not Cookie Jar?
ReplyDeleteMy Mom kept a store bought Biscuit/Cookie Jar on the top shelf of the crafts supply closet:
One day when she wasn't looking, my brother and I climbed on a chair to reach for the box: it was filled with pins, thimbles, needles, thread, you name it. Very disappointing ;-)
HA - I guess I said BISCUIT JAR because my aunt called it that. If I had not heard the term, I still would not look at it and immediately think of cookies. Besides, I would have had to blog about it tomorrow. LOL
DeleteWhat a pretty heirloom! And still intact after all these years. You are lucky to have both the jar and the memories of this special relative. I really enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marian. I'm trying to follow the good advice in your book.
DeleteMy mom baked a lot of cookies but they were never around long enough to get into a biscuit jar.. hahaha! Love the purple flowers, perfect for Eastertide!
ReplyDeleteNice to be traveling A to Z again with you!
My Genealogy Challenges
I'm glad you're traveling A to Z again too. Thanks to you, we have our own category. Have you noticed 3 in our group bailed even before it started?!?!
DeleteYes... it's disappointing. I guess they had a change of heart. But I am enjoying the ones that are traveling with us this year.
DeleteBeautiful jar, whatever you put in it. From the picture it looks rather small so I'm not sure I would have realized it was for cookies or biscuits.
ReplyDeleteSeeing it next to the tea cups really puts it in perspective.
DeleteThis style of porcelain is so pretty, and must have had careful owners to have survived as a biscuit barrel.
ReplyDeleteGood point. You'd expect the handles to be chipped or even missing after all this time.
DeleteI'm thinking the flowers are violets, and a company in Indiana distributed a line of china and accessory pieces in this pattern. Had it been made in England, perhaps it would be for Tea Biscuits. ONE of my Mom's biscuits would not have fit in there, but could have been hurled at it and broken it in a jillion pieces...those biscuits were hard as rocks. Never worried about storing them in a biscuit jar...we loved them and saturated them with gravy. Good job for Heirloom Letter B, Wendy.
ReplyDeleteSue at CollectInTexas Gal
Oh my goodness, Sue - now what would your mother say about this description of her biscuits?
DeleteI thought it looked more like a sugar bowl too. Our cookies were and are way too big to fit many in.
ReplyDeleteMy cookies MIGHT fit, but I'd have to eat the bulk of them first.
DeleteNo matter what your little heirloom is called or what it holds it is pretty & a special family treasure!
ReplyDeleteI agree - it is a pretty little piece.
DeleteI hear them referred as biscuit jar mostly on the British shows I watch and have fallen in love with. Such a pretty little jar it is to hold treasures! I’m sure you can hide a special treasure inside! So far I haven’t read that Nancy Drew has any special treasures!
ReplyDeleteI’m sure Nancy Drew’s children would love to inherit her famous flashlight!
DeleteThis is so, so lovely! I especially love the violets on the front!
ReplyDeleteIt is a very sweet design, I agree.
Delete