Question:
Sr. friend closing home of 60+ years, lots of nice older items. One is a RedWing cookie jar? in the shape of a rotund monk…perfect condtion. It’s about 10.5" tall, creamy yellow with light brown trim: cap, rosary, rope belt. It has a banner around the lower right side that says ‘THOU SHALT NOT STEAL’. The RedWing name and an emblem is on the bottom, centered. Can you help me get the best price for my friend? Estate sale or Ebay or local net sale or your newsletter? The item is in Santa Maria, CA, not far north of Santa Barbara. Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide. ‘yard sale’s planned for weekend after Labor Day, but don’t HAVE to sell cheap. OH! Do I need to join as a member to get my response? or sign in?

Answer: Friar Tuck is the name of your cookie jar. The Friar Tuck cookie jar was introduced by Red Wing in 1941, along with his friends Katrina the Dutch Girl and Pierre the Chef. Price lists from 1942, 1943 and 1944 show them as being available in blue, yellow, and tan colors. An undated brochure, probably from the mid to late 1940s adds green as an available color. These three cookie jars were great sellers for Red Wing. Many thousands of them were made and production continued into the mid 1950s.

While these cookie jars are quite common, jars in excellent condition are not easy to find in any color. After years of use (often by the small hands of children more interested in the contents than the jar), these jars are usually chipped or cracked and have grease stains.

If I was selling this cookie jar, I’d try the yard or estate sale method first. You can put whatever price you’d like on it and negotiate as you see fit. If it doesn’t sell for the price you want, you can always try eBay later. Be warned that eBay usually has several Friar, Katrina and Chef jars listed at any one time. Hard to find colors sell for high prices, but common colors don’t do as well and your tan jar is a common color. If indeed it is in "perfect" condition as you describe that may this jar stand out a bit from the competition. Include plenty of photos from several different angles. Jars in average condition in this color sell on eBay for under $50; in perfect condition you might get more than $50 but likely not over $100. Good luck!

Larry