A California Pottery:
Little information can be found about this pottery, which is a shame as they produced some lovely cookie jars.
- Starnes was started in business beginning around 1952 and appeared to be still in business as late as 1956.
- According to US Patents information, the official name of the company was Walter Starnes, Inc.
- Sierra Vista molds have been found with Starnes foil labels, leaving one to believe that Starnes purchased molds from Sierra Vista
Starnes Cookie Jars:
This is a list of jars known to have been produced by Walter Starnes.
- Rag Doll jar, done in two different versions
- Noah's Ark
- Pirate on Chest
- Queen Bee on Hive
- Bear on Blocks
- Dennis the Menace, aka Billy
- Dolly
- Tug Boat (Sierra Vista mold?)
- Old Fashioned Wall Telephone
- Dog in Doghouse
Bottom Line:
Although Starnes jars might not be at the highest end of cookie jar value list, several are quite sought after. The Billy and Dolly jars are ones that immediately come to mind. These can sell on the medium to high end on the pricing scale
In a collectors quest to have a nice well-rounded collection of pottery cookie jars, one or two from this small company would be a good addition.
