2.07.2012

David's Martha By Mail Cookie Cutter Sets

When I started this blog, it was one of my hopes that it would bring together a group of like-minded people with a shared interest in all things Martha. I had no idea I would be corresponding today with dozens of people from around the world, many of whom write to me with questions - and in some cases answers! - regarding Martha's ventures and wares. 

When it comes to answers regarding Martha by Mail, my go-to source is David Pantoja of Philadelphia. A longtime Martha Stewart collector and reader of this blog, David quickly became a friend of mine. I was really touched to learn that his blog, Good Things By David, was inspired by Martha Moments. (He even wrote a very nice post about Martha Moments that I was very touched by.)

Good Things By David is a beautiful showcase of his talent; David is a wonderful cook and baker and is very interested in homekeeping. In fact, he is part of a growing number of male homemakers and has given himself the title of CEO at Home. I love it! David and his partner live in a beautiful historic home in rural Philadelphia that David tends to with love and care each day. I urge you to visit his blog to discover not only his vast collection of Martha by Mail collectibles, but also his wonderful culinary creations and homekeeping tips.

David made good use of Martha's mail-order catalog when it was still functioning in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His collection is quite extensive and impressive. He has all of the cookie-cutter sets, many of the mixing bowls and cake stands, the much-coveted Turkey Hill spice rack and spice canisters and various plates and platters with the Martha by Mail imprint. 

I asked David if he would send me photos of some of his cookie-cutter collection for my archives here, since they are the most highly-prized and most sought-after collectibles from the Martha by Mail catalog. He happily obliged. Below are some examples of his sets. 

This photo includes the Alphabet Cookie Cutters, which were very popular, Halloween Marshmallow Cutters, Beautiful Bug Cookie Cutters, Victorian Ornament Cookie Cutters, Evergreen Cookie Cutters and Canape Leaf Cutters.
Many of the early sets of cookie cutters were embossed with the Martha By Mail logo.
The cookies themselves look beautiful once they are baked and decorated.
All of the Martha By Mail cookie cutters were made of copper. These ones, shown above, are oversized and were sold in pairs and had holiday themes: Prancing Reindeer & Snowflake; Candy Cane & Snowman, Hatching Bunny & Hen, Gingerbread House & Christmas Tree, Mouse King & Nutcracker, Star & Moon. 
The Star & Moon was the first cookie-cutter set to be sold through Martha By Mail.
The Hatching Bunny & Hen set is David's favourite from the oversized holiday pairs.
The oversized cutters in this photo, and the one below, include: Papillon and Sunflower, Great Owl and Belfry Bat, Mighty Acorn and Sugar Squirrel, Seahorse and Nautilus, Chubby Pumpkin and Tom Turkey. This is David's favourite set. They are extremely valuable and almost never become available for resale.
These cookie cutters are extremely large.
The acorn and the squirrel cookies look beautiful when they're fully decorated, as shown in the Martha By Mail instruction booklet that accompanied the set.
There were three sets in the Noah's Arc series of cookie cutters, which is by far the most popular and well-known series from the Martha By Mail collection. Each set contained nine copper cookie cutters. Shown above is David's complete menagerie.
When the sets arrived in the mail they came in a house-shaped box filled with paper straw.
The third set of Noah's Arc Cookie Cutters came with a plastic arc template to create the ship itself.
The templates that came inside each box reveal the cutter shapes in silhouette. The complete Noah's Arc, with animals from all three sets, would include: hawk, giraffe, alligator, bear, donkey, sheep, kangaroo, elephant, lion, snake, ostrich, tiger, hippo, rhino, seal, penguin, moose, camel, owl, lama, turtle, skunk, platapus, monkey, peacock, buffalo and gazelle. 

13 comments:

julie - eab designs said...

What a great collection. I have many of the sets as well. I truly miss the Martha by Mail catalog, and the Martha show how it once was. Brings back good memories.

Good Things by David said...

Andrew, I love how you showcased my beloved cookie cutters!! Your kind words are touching, heart felt and beautiful. I'm really touched.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Your Friend,
David

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

You're welcome, David! We'll have to bake cookies together some day! :-)

Pru @ Perfecting Pru said...

David's blog is one of my favourites. I love seeing all of the different cutters and the mixing bowls which he showcased were incredible but it's David's step by step instructions which I love the most. See Andrew, through your blog lots of us have made very dear friends! Xx

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

Thank you, Pru, for saying so. There is a little 'community' here and it's really nice to see. It feels great to know I played a part in that.

Kenn said...

It always warms my heart to see others that have collected "Marthabillia" from the Martha by Mail days.. I too have collected and kept all the cookie cutter collections over the years. A Christmas and Easter holiday (especially) can't go by without making oversized sugar cookies, decorated with royal icing. It just seems like the classic Martha thing to do!

This inspires me to pull out the box after box of "museum" pieces and write a post.

Somehow, I missed any prior reference to David's blog.. but I've taken a quick look and fell in love with it - INSTANTLY! I look forward to checking in regularly!

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

Kenn, please do blog about your treasures! We wanna see! :-)

Runspud said...

oh my Gosh....i am quite envious!

David said...

What a beautiful collection! I really like the embossed logo with the bee. The packaging looks really intricate as well.

Parnell's Pantry said...

I am sooo sad, because I have just ripped my house apart looking for my Bunny & hen cookie cutters,and cannot find them anywhere :( .I would love to buy another set.....

jestacey@sbcglobal.net said...

I would like to purchase the star and moon cookie cutter set. How do you go about purchaseing them. Please let me know my email address is jestacey@sbcglobal.net. Thank you, Eva

Nance said...

Love your collection and the article. Could you list all of the large copper cookie cutters that were offered by Martha By Mail? I'm trying to identify all of the sets. Recently saw a gift package, which I had never heard about before. Thanks.

Janice Brown said...

I have been searching everywhere to find a complete set of Martha’s copper cookie cutter sets.
Any help or suggestions would also be welcome.
Janice