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Monday, October 13, 2008

RIP Mother's Cookies

Oakland based Mother's Cookies went under last week after their corporate owners shut the doors. While the demise of the makers of beloved pink and white animal cookies doesn't sound like a normal topic for a baseball card blog, it really is. Mother's Cookies inserted baseball cards in their packages of cookies in 1952 and 1953 and gave them away as promotions at games from 1983 to 1998. The cards had a distinctive, clean design and were one of the better known and more popular oddball sets around. I've been looking for my lone Mother's Cookies card of Nolan Ryan all weekend, but I can't find the thing. Just like cookie fans can no longer find their iced oatmeal or taffy cookies on the shelf. Since I'm so disorganized, here's a scan from my February '89 Copy of Baseball Cards Magazine to give you an idea what they looked like.


The company released two sets of Pacific Coast League cards back in 1952 and 1953. The cards are bright, distinctive and pretty tough to find. A lot of former or future major league plaers can be found un the PCL uniforms and the most valuable card is of the Rifleman, Chuck Connors. Card production was revived in the '80s as a giveaway at baseball games on the west coast. a pack of 20 cards was given away at a game along with a coupon for another 8 cards to build a 28 card team set. However, you didn't necessarily get the exact 8 cards you needed for that set so finally building that set meant some searching and trading. Team sets of the A's, Giants, Mariners, Padres, Dodgers, Rangers and Astros were produced from 1984-1998. Mother's also gave away special star cards in packages of cookies, including Nolan Ryan, Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jose Canseco. The cards have round corners, no borders at all until 1997 and photography by Barry Colla. The cards were high quality, looked good and created a bit of a stir back in the '80s by collectors looking for scarce regional items.

Apparently the imminent credit crunch prompted the owners to pack it in and file for bankruptcy. A sad end to a company who produced some classic oddball cards.

10 comments:

Sid McHenry said...

That 1952 Mother's Cookies Chuck Connors card is my "white whale" (though I loathe that term). I saw one once about 20 years ago, and nothing since.

If anybody has one and wants to sell/trade, Dayf here knows how to get ahold of me!

AlbuqwirkE said...

I only obtained two sets of Mother's Cookies in person (at Rangers and Diamondbacks games), but I really enjoyed having to trade with my neighbors at the ballpark to complete the deal.

A great promo idea that will be missed.

Billy Suter said...

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

--David said...

AUGH! I had no idea! I loved those animal cookies and they blew Keeblers imitations out of the water... This is a sad, sad day...

Anonymous said...

My father was Richard Warfield Faber, Sr., also known as Dick Faber, centerfield for the PCL San Diego Padres from 1952-1955. I have several copies of my father's 1952 Mother Cookie's Baseball Card. I am willing to purchase more if anyone has one or more for sale.
Richard Warfield Faber, Jr.
Solana Beach, San Diego Co., CA

Anonymous said...

I HAVE A FEW OF THIS CARDS ARE THEY WORTH ANYTHING?

Tom said...

It's sad to see this come to an end. I always enjoyed these cookies...and the cards, too, of course!

Anonymous said...

I have aquired 3 sets of 1998 Mother's cookies A's baseball cards 1-20 +22, 25, 26, & 27. I also have a 4th set that is missing 11, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, & 28. If anyone is interested in buying these cards send me an email @ stargazer1944@comast.net

Anonymous said...

I have a Nolan Ryan Mother's Cookies Card in a wrapper...perfect condition.

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