Martha by Mail Cookie Cutters

By virtue of the brand's unavailability on the marketplace today, anything one collects from the defunct Martha by Mail catalog service, which Omnimedia shut down in 2004, is rare. Even the catalogs themselves often fetch between $15 and $25 an issue. Of particular interest to many collectors of Catalog For Living merchandise are the cookie cutter sets.

Made of copper of a sturdy weight, the cookie cutters were designed in unbelievably unique shapes and sizes. One of the most beautiful examples in my recollection was the large Noah's Ark set, which had giraffe, elephant, monkey and lion shapes (and so many more!) all packaged in a large, boat-shaped cardboard box. Also available were bug and teddy-bear sets, and several 'giant' cookie cutter varieties for the extra-large cookie lover. There were hearts and snowflake sets. There were leaves and acorns. And there were dogs, too!

The dog cookie cutters featured the cut-outs of 14 of the most popular breeds, divided into two sets. The original retail price for each set was below $100 but they are selling today on eBay for over $200, because of their rarity and collectibility. Below are examples of the two sets. So much fun and so unique!

I'd have a hard time biting into Lassie.These decorated cookies look almost too good to eat!An adorable (and tasty?) bulldog.Each of the sets came with a special 'magazine' with recipes as well as baking and decorating instructions. Above are the snowflake and heart-shaped cookie cutter sets from Martha by Mail. Some of the old templates are now available from the Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's, including the snowflake designs.