Cutting Edge

Tucked away in the corner of the Joplin History & Mineral Museum in Joplin, MO, you'll find the "National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum."  It's in between a large exhibit of creepy porcelain dolls and a room filled with creepy circus memorabilia.  It's not too big and more of an exhibit than it's own museum but it's definitely the type of thing to catch my eye.

Here, early 20th century antique snowman cookie cutters share shelf space with contemporary Spider-Man cookie cutters and they all live in harmony.  Product mascots are no stranger to the cookie cutter genre and several of my favorites were represented here.  So I thought I might list a few today on the blog...yeah, that should kill some time...

Before he was de-aged in Crisis of Infinite Earths (or whatever), Mr. Peanut was the suave gentleman who classed up the snack aisle just by being there.  The museum has him in a few poses, including a tip of the hat to whoever is about to eat him.  I imagine these might work best with peanut butter cookies?

Here we have an older M&M design from the days before each flavor had their own distinct personality.  Things were simpler back then.  All the little guys wanted to do was have a swim in the chocolate pool, stand under the candy coating shower and hop into your mouth.  This cookie cutter, of course, would best be used for those type of chocolate chip cookies that have M&Ms instead of chocolate chips.

Next is a smorgasbord of McDonaldland goodness.  There are a couple of Ronald faces, a few Fry Guys and I think the Hamburglar snuck in there.  Of course, some Halloween cookie cutters are also included in that Happy Meal Jack-O-Lantern bucket.  Any mention of cookies and McDonalds takes me back to the old, discontinued McDonaldland cookies from years back.  So I'd used these to make, maybe sugar cookies?  I think that's what they were.

Mr. & Mrs. Pillsbury Doughboy have also joined the party.  I believe their names are actually Poppin' Fresh and Poppie Fresh and they even have an extended family.  But it looks like only these two lovebirds made the (cookie) cut.  Since these guys are all about baking, I could see using them to make some kind of ambitious jam-stuffed cookie. Or some kind of fancy jam covered cookie that you'd see in a magazine but never in real life.  For some reason I think jam is fancy...

I don't necessarily think of delicious baked goods when I think of the Michelin Man but I guess I should start.  The shape of this cutter doesn't include the tire layers of his body so I have to wonder what a Michelin Man cookie would a actually look like.  If you were served one, would you have any clue who it was supposed to be?  A friendly blob waving hello?  As for what kind of cookies I would make with this, maybe something light an airy, you know, like a tire.  Can you use these on puff pastries?

There were plenty more cookie cutters to be found at the museum, of course.  I saw a rare Blondie and Dagwood set and a U.S. map with cutters representing all the states, even the little weird ones in New England that nobody can remember.  If you're ever in the area and want to pay homage to the beautifully mundane, you could do worse. 

Winner Winner

An earlier entry briefly mentioned the Chicken Dinner Candy Truck which promoted the oddly named Chicken Dinner Candy bars. Here is a vintage picture of it from "Special Interest Autos" magazine.

While trying to wrap my brain around this concept I stumbled onto a better picture of the truck from Charles Phoenix's website. 

Apparently the Chicken Dinner Candy Bar contained 0% chicken and was promoted more as a filling meal than as a snack. Since they don't seem to be around anymore we can assume their marketing failed on all fronts.

Further investigation revealed that the company created not one, but a fleet of Chicken Dinner Candy Trucks to spread the word. This picture from the "Kitschy Kitschy Coo" website confirms no less than nine of the trucks existed at one point.

While this proud poultry parade may have disappeared from the highways forever, my own personal travels brought about the discovery of a similar chicken themed vehicle. This picture was taken near Paducah, KY:

This modified El Caballero may or may not have promoted a chicken related product or service. I have no details about it and it will most likely remain shrouded in mystery forever. And that's probably okay.