Comments on: The horror... the horror

The horror... the horror

Reverend Robbie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:27:21 -0800

Mother's Cookies is no more.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:34:30 -0800

Now what will I eat on my yacht? But really... they took our cookies away now? That's low.

By: Tehanu

Tehanu — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:34:50 -0800

So is Olsson's.

By: Neofelis

Neofelis — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:41:47 -0800

Sad! They made those delightfully waxy circus-animal cookies, right? Crapola, those were a much more important feature of my childhood landscape than I'd realized. Sad face.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:43:44 -0800

That's crappy. From the article: Sixty people are out of work at the Battle Creek office, and Battle Creek City Attorney Eileen Wicklund said Wednesday that she had advised workers to explore a lawsuit against the company. "Any loss of employment is a blow for any community," she said. Of course she is. Doesn't sound like there are any winners here, but nice to see some lawyers getting work.

By: Mblue

Mblue — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:44:54 -0800

Gee, work until Friday, get notified just as you leave. Is this one of the companies socialists admire? Seems capitalistic to me.

By: supermedusa

supermedusa — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:45:31 -0800

it's a sad day here in Oakland :(

By: Parasite Unseen

Parasite Unseen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:45:36 -0800

If this news means that I can't get my pink and white Circus Animal cookies in a timely fashion, this world will burn. Consider yourselves warned.

By: JT

JT — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:47:17 -0800

Yeah, I'll be stopping at the store on the way home to stock up on those lovely animal cookies. They're so uniquely wonderful.

By: aubilenon

aubilenon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:51:33 -0800

Nabisco's "Barnum" animal cracker's are better, but Mother's "Taffy" cookies .. I'll miss those, and I'll really miss Archway's Molasses cookies. I guess I'll have to drown my sorrows in fig newtons now.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:53:46 -0800

Gee, work until Friday, get notified just as you leave. People don't work well after they know they're fired.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:56:25 -0800

Oh man, the frosted animal cookies are gone? Forever? *weeps* The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were fond of saying, "Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope." Mother's horrible, waxy animal crackers trump both money and dope.

By: Mblue

Mblue — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:00:35 -0800

People don't work well after they know they're ~~fired~~ soaped.

By: Auden

Auden — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:05:31 -0800

The company may be gone, but those waxy circus animals will stay fresh... for ever.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:10:47 -0800

Indeed - pink and white animal cookies ~~are~~ were one of the sweets of mysterious origins that held their own against memories. Twinkies, those are cursed liars and never as good as you desperately want them to be.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:12:23 -0800

I told her not to get into those morsel derivative swaps but Mom always did things her own way...

By: SirOmega

SirOmega — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:15:22 -0800

I am going to miss those pink and white animal cookies. I think I'll stop and get some tonight on the way home.

By: disillusioned

disillusioned — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:16:00 -0800

My great grandmother kept Mother's oatmeal cookies on her refrigerator. They were always a source of comfort and had a very distinct taste to them. I later discovered the frosted version, and the pink and white circus animals as well. This is a dark day.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:17:21 -0800

I am now tempted to buy a bunch of Mothers cookies and compile a list of suitable substitutes, even tempting to do it myself, though some recipes look better than others. Those pinks need to be a shade or two under neon pink, or I'm swept into some uncanny valley of distrust and fear.

By: spiderwire

spiderwire — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:24:07 -0800

I just bought a peanut butter Mother's cookie yesterday. I hope they didn't shut down because of an incipient poisoning scare or something.

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:27:39 -0800

I just returned from a supermarket where I got the last bag of Circus Animals on the shelf, and the last package of Taffy sandwich cookies. The Flaky Flix (similar but superior to Keebler's Fudge Sticks, IMO) were gone. But they still had a lot of Oatmeal (plain and iced), English Tea, Iced Raisin, Peanut Butter Gaucho, Coconut Cocadas (which still sounded like a breed of insect to me) and big Cookie Parade bags. Weird names, yummy cookies.

By: cj_

cj_ — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:36:45 -0800

This made me feel the same way as when I heard Polaroid would stop making instant film. I don't actually eat those pink and white abominations anymore than I snap Polaroids, but yet another staple of my youth has slipped away. My grandmother always had a jar of pink and white circus cookies. :(

By: peep

peep — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:47:37 -0800

Damn wendell, I haven't been able to find Flaky Flix in forever, and just YESTERDAY googled them. Found a few sites that said they were not making them but they might come back soon. I loved those things.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:48:13 -0800

I just returned from a supermarket where I got the last bag of Circus Animals on the shelf, and the last package of Taffy sandwich cookies. Dag nabit! Now I'll be forced to turn to eBay for my new-found cookie craving!

By: mogget

mogget — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:00:33 -0800

My husband went to the store last night and came back with two bags full of Mother's cookies, but sadly no Iced Raisin. We both grew up on these cookies, and had recently introduced our daughter to the joys of Circus Animal cookies. They even had special Halloween packaging, with orange and white cookies instead of pink and white.

By: fiercekitten

fiercekitten — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:06:22 -0800

Nooooo! You beat me to it! Argh. No more 2lb bags of gingersnaps! I'm looking at Safeway's website and at least in my area, Archway seems to make 1/2 the cookies, with Keebler and Nabisco making the rest. What's going to happen?

By: homeless Visigoth

homeless Visigoth — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:15:06 -0800

By: troy

troy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:23:15 -0800

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:23:20 -0800

filthy light thief thanks for the links. Next time I'm down on the Central Coast I'll buy you a beer.

By: doift

doift — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:26:43 -0800

I think Mother's also used to make the most amazing Oreo knockoffs with Pop-Rocks in the cream. Pop-Rocks! They were so much more than the sum of their parts... I don't remember seeing any Mother's cookies since moving to NYC. Does anyone know if any stores carry them this far east?

By: notashroom

notashroom — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:29:05 -0800

So does this mean Archway is going down? I've never heard of Mother's, but I see Archway was involved with their operations. Their molasses cookies are among the best supermarket cookies I've ever had.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:46:28 -0800

doift >> pop-rocks in the cream? Weird and fantastic! Where did you see these magical creations? Google told me nothing! NOTHING! But it did show me a recipe for Pop Rocks No Bake Strawberry Lime Cheesecake, which now has me quite intrigued.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:47:48 -0800

   __      _.---. 

 (    )_.-"   .  `;

 )   .    .   .   |

(   .   .   .    /

  `--',  .     ,'

       )_|--')_|

R.I.P. Oh man, I hope I formatted this right...

By: BaxterG4

BaxterG4 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:51:56 -0800

I'm not sure if you did or not, but it looks like a Circus Animal cookie to me. Of course, since I heard the news, EVERYTHING has looked like a Circus Animal to me, so...

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:59:19 -0800

Another trans fat purveyor bites the dust. Good riddance. And yes, I've eaten a lot of Circus Animals in my day.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:09:29 -0800

So... no more Archway cookies? No iced oatmeal cookies? No chewy molasses cookies? No ginger snaps? OMG. OMFG. I buy Archway cookies ALMOST EVERY SINGLE TIME I GO GROCERY SHOPPING. I cannot think of a time in my life where there have not been Archway iced oatmeal cookies in the cookie jar. Or those lovely crisp ginger snaps, perfect for dunking in a cup of coffee. What will I eat at the end of the day with a cold glass of milk? This is a MAJOR FUCKING TRAGEDY.

By: Stunt

Stunt — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:13:36 -0800

What the living fuck am I supposed to get from hospital vending machines now? I suppose next someone's going to tell me that they will be discontinuing happiness.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:13:46 -0800

Admit it. You'd be saying something completely different if your name was mrhappy.

By: birdherder

birdherder — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:44:11 -0800

I kept thinking since I lived in a city that doesn't have a Main Street that I would be immune from the economic meltdown on Wall Street. FUCK. Mother's cookies were a staple of my youth. Although I've gone on to find other cookies, seeing them on the shelf in the grocery store would take me back to my carefree days of childhood.

By: doift

doift — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:47:08 -0800

filthylightthief- I only remember seeing the Pop Rocks cookies in the western U.S. for a brief period around late 2002-early 2003. They were a staple in my college apartment that year. I suspect they were discontinued because of poor sales due to people being cowards. Next time I make this recipe I'm throwing in some Pop Rocks. For Mother.

By: Kadin2048

Kadin2048 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:25:19 -0800

I've never heard of Mother's — are they purely a West Coast thing? I have heard of Archway, though, but I didn't quite understand from the article whether they were effectively the same company and are gone now, too.

By: dw

dw — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:53:45 -0800

I have a half-eaten bag of Mother's iced animal cookies in the fridge -- Fourth of July colors (red/white/blue). I'll start the bidding at $20.

By: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:55:59 -0800

As sad as I am to see the Circus Animals and the Iced Raisin cookies go (sad! SAD!), I can't help but think of their poor employees. What a shitty way to get dumped by your company. I don't think any amount of waxy, sugary goodness can make up for that.

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:29:37 -0800

Nothing brightened my childhood more than eating ice cream with a refrigerated iced oatmeal. Raise your hand if you bit the animals head off first, so as to haste their demise and save them the pain of eventually digestion.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:46:09 -0800

Sixty people are out of work at the Battle Creek office, and Battle Creek City Attorney Eileen Wicklund said Wednesday that she had advised workers to explore a lawsuit against the company. i advise them to get a job out of town and move out as soon as possible and forget about the lawsuit and the battle creek city government's weird sense of entitlement as civic boosterism a local news article about it true, there is a question of legality here - but my advice stands i'm not telling them to do anything i didn't do myself when i was a kid in the 60s, i actually got to go through a tour of that plant - bunch of overweight starch uniformed matrony women with hairnets and masks packing cookies with plastic gloved hands while everything stank like cookie - it was alright at first, but i imagine that an 8 hour shift of that smell would be a bit much for a few years in the 70s and the 80s it was closed down and i don't know when it reopened battle creek's city government often neglects to develop and keep business unless of course that business is kellogg's - they've dropped the ball several times and this response is unfortunately too typical - it's a plantation town with a plantation town mentality and they don't do a very good job of keeping contact with their employers or negotiating with them - and then they finger point when it goes bad there's a reason why calhoun county is the only county in the area that has failed to grow population in the last 30 years - and after all the economic screw ups and complaining, they still vote republican

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:50:25 -0800

This depression sucks.

By: joaquim

joaquim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:37:51 -0800

OK, how many of you used to eat only the blue-iced cookies so you would have bright green poo? Plus snarf down pine nuts so it would be pine-scented as well and you could leave it in a public toilet to freak the next guy out? Anyone else? Anyone? Hello? Never mind -- I didn't do that, either.

By: X4ster

X4ster — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:59:16 -0800

Does no one else remember Mother's Apple Filled Oatmeal cookies? They were the best. They were staple of mine in the days that I really carried a black metal dome topped lunch box to work. Hard manual labor and sitting on the ground on top of a ridge; finishing lunch with a cup of coffee from a thermos and some Mother's apple filled oatmeal cookies. Ah, those were the days.

By: contraption

contraption — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:12:50 -0800

Raise your hand if you bit the animals head off first, so as to haste their demise and save them the pain of eventually digestion. Well, I do always bite the heads off first, but I've never tried to rationalize it like that.

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:49:18 -0800

I would think that cookie companies would do well in a depression...unemployed workers sitting on their couches at home, munching on bag after bag...especially since Mother's cookies were so wonderfully cheap compared to the other brands. I mean, it really isn't clear to me how a cooke company would become unprofitable. The demand is relatively inelastic in terms of income, especially cheap cookies. I'm guessing that people might no longer be buying the fancy prepared items at the supermarket, but before they head out for sure they're buying a bag of cheap cookies to comfort themselves.

By: Tehanu

Tehanu — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:56:59 -0800

I mean, it really isn't clear to me how a cooke company would become unprofitable. The demand is relatively inelastic in terms of income, especially cheap cookies. Soaring flour prices, for one.

By: yoyoceramic

yoyoceramic — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:17:12 -0800

The harbinger of this was the noticeably rapid decline in the amount of icing they were putting on their cookies.

By: thewittyname

thewittyname — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:44:39 -0800

The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is what companies do when they want to re-organize and re-start their business. (As opposed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which results in liquidation). Even if the current company does not come back, it is quite possible that another bakery company could purchase the rights to the various cookie names and recipes and continue their production.

By: Casuistry

Casuistry — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:54:48 -0800

As if my mother wasn't having a bad enough week, now I have to tell her this! Sigh.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:49:56 -0800

...doom doom doom-doom doom doom doom doom-doom-doom DOOM COOKIE doom doom doom doom-dooooom doom...

By: disillusioned

disillusioned — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:00:12 -0800

I just got back from Safeway with $26 worth of Mothers... 2 iced oatmeals, 2 circus animals, 1 regular oatmeal and a lemonade iced pack. There was a sign saying "as of October 7th, we will no longer be selling Mother's Cookies." Sigh.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:18:16 -0800

I always hoped they'd merge with a particular jam purveyor, and make some tasty MotherSmuckers.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:18:59 -0800

If It's-It goes down the tubes I'lll shed a tear though.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:27:29 -0800

LA MeFites, there is still a large stack of all sorts of Mother's Cookies at the Vallarta near Burbank Airport.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:40:53 -0800

Just dropping back in to say that Archway cookies seem to still be in production. I am munching on an iced oatmeal cookie even as I type. They are fresh. They are delicious. They are spoiling my dinner. *brushes crumbs off keyboard*