At some point in our history somebody realized that circles were just too common a shape for all cookies. Cookie cutters were the solution, but how did they come about? Here are just a few bits of info on the history these tools for your enjoyment.

The modern day cookie cutter was not invented by one individual, but rather has evolved over time. In fact, you can go back as early as 2000 B.C. and find Egyptian ceramic or wooden baking molds that were used to bake up biscuits or cakes. Even back then they yearned for a bit more creativity, though pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles were still a ways off!

Move forward to the 1500's and we see the popularity of the gingerbread man start to increase. Documented history tells us about the first gingerbread biscuits appearing in the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It appears she had these cookies made as miniature, edible replicas of some of her more extinguished guests. Off with their heads! (and legs and arms... and gumdrop buttons.) As these gingerbread cookies started to become popular orders from bakeries in the 1600's, shops started using tin cutters to speed the process of cutting them out.

As Europeans migrated to America, so did some of their trends and customs, including the gingerbread man cookies and the cutters used to create them. It wasn't long before American metal workers started manufacturing the cutters (in several forms and sizes) and making them available to the general public. By the 1800's tin cookie cutters were being sold from peddlers and shops.

By the middle of the 19th century industrial machinery had developed in both Europe and the United States to the point that all sorts of products were moved from being made by hand to created in factories. By the turn of the century many businesses were creating and distributing cookie cutters in this fashion, advertising them, offering them in catalogs, and even importing them from abroad.

While tin had been the main material for creating cookie cutters, they started being made from other materials as they became more available. During the mid 1900's we saw aluminum and plastic being used.

Cookie cutters continued to grow in popularity as more designs were being made. During the 1970's and into the 1980's more people became domestic and worked on their own crafts at home, including decorated cookies. During this time we also witnessed an increase in spendable income, allowing people to spend more on such interests. As with several other products, there was a trend during the last quarter of the century to make manufacturing less expensive, and more cookie cutters were being created in places like Malaysia, China, and other countries. However, cookie cutter production somehow survived being moved completely out of country and there are still a good number of cutters being produced in the United States.

Today you can find cookie cutters in just about any shape or size. Copper is now a popular material for cookie cutters, but plastic and tin are still the most commonly found. If you can't find a particular shape, there are cookie cutter manufacturers that will create a custom shape for you. You can also buy your own kit to design and create your own cutter as well.

While cookie cutters are being bought for the obvious purpose of cutting out sugar cookies, there is also a lot of people that search for, bid on, and buy cookies simply to collect them. There is even an official Cookie Cutter Collectors Club (CCCC) that meets regularly and has a big following. There are at least a couple of Cookie Cutter Museums, and enthusiasts even enjoy a "National Cookie Cutter Week" (started by the CCCC) during the first week of December. Of course this marks the beginning of the biggest time of the year for decorating cookies: the Christmas season. Even if you don't care for the holiday, who can resist biting into a yellow frosted star cookie?