If you're a cookie jar collector the best investment you can make is a book or guide to find out more about the jars you want to collect. Unfortunately there are thousands of new jars that won't be in the books, but if you are interested in vintage or antique pieces, a book is a good way to find out more.

For instance, Little Rid Riding Hood is a very popular subject for cookie jars and since it is so popular, it's also one of the most reproduced  jars being sold.

The "original" Little Red Riding Hood jar was patented by L. Bauer in 1943 with "blank" jars made by Hull, then decorated by Regal. There were also Regal "blanks".  Confusing? Yes!  Search the Internet, there are numerous articles on Little Red Riding Hood along with picture.

The vintage Hull/Regal Little Red Riding Hood jars are beautifully finished, heavy jars with a variety of decals. The decals make the difference in the value of the jars, check out a book or Internet articles to find out more about the relative values. The free Cookie Jar Digest email newsletter will also keep you abreast of new articles and resources available.

Watch out for Fakes! McCoy DID NOT make a Little Red Riding Hood Jar and no company made a black Little Red Riding Hood jar.  Any you see are fakes!

Companies that did produce Little Red Riding Hood jars include:

1. Hull
2. Department 56
3. Jonal
4. Pottery Guild
5. Weiss
6. NAPCO
7. California Originals
8. Brush
9. Metlox