Wausau’s Famed ‘Cookie Lady’ Comes to Town

When I first launched the Cookies by Bess Facebook page back in October 2017, my cousin Craig Hoffman posted a picture of Grandma Bess and her Appleton, WI grandchildren (Bess had three other grandchildren in 1963 living in Chicago, IL and later in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s was blessed with four more!)  This picture is from an article published in the Appleton Post Crescent on Thursday, October 24, 1963. The article was titled Wausau’s Famed ‘Cookie Lady’ Comes to Town.

It’s one of my favorite pictures and articles (even though I wasn’t born at the time)! It’s just so fun to see my brothers and cousins when they were so small and young. The article quotes Grandma Bess, talks about the Cookies by Bess cookie book (the original from 1960), and provides several of Bess’s favorite recipes. It also shows several pictures of my Grandmother’s cookies which, of course, she baked and decorated herself.

Before I go on, I must mention and thank my father, Rich Hoffman. If it wasn’t for his combination of being a “history buff” and his obsessive/compulsive ways of saving just about everything history related, I wouldn’t be able to share all the Cookies by Bess memories. Thank you, Dad, for saving all these articles, pictures, and video tapes, audio tapes, slides, scrapbooks, and everything else. It has been so wonderful to read, learn, and reminisce about Grandma, Grandpa, and our family! XXOO

So, thanks to my Dad, I have had the great pleasure of reading every single article ever published about Grandma Bess and Cookies by Bess…and there are quite a few! I have a complete archive of newspaper articles from the early 1960’s when Bess was just getting started and from the 1980’s when my parents rebranded and republished the Cookies by Bess cookie book…now I just need another room in my house to keep everything together and organized! ?

Let’s take a closer look at this particular article and some of the wonderful accolades it gives to Bess and her baking. I have to give credit to the article’s author, Lillian Mackey, the Post Crescent’s Food Editor at the time of publication back in October 1963.

The article starts off by introducing Bess as “Mrs. A. M. Hoffman”…believe it or not, that’s actually Mrs. Abraham Methuselah Hoffman!  What an EPIC name!

“Mrs. A. M. Hoffman of Wausau…Better known as Bess to her thousands of cookie fans…never goes anywhere without at least one batch of homemade cookies as an ever welcome gift…”

This article was written because Bess had come to Appleton, WI that particular weekend to help my Dad, and his twin brother, Ron, with the grand opening of their new drug store – Hoffman’s Family Drug Store. The article mentions the grand opening briefly, and how Bess baked 10,000 cookies in 40 different varieties for the special occasion. This is no small feat…that’s over 3,333 dozen cookies…Holy Moly!

The article then goes on to talk about Bess and her “trademark” cookies…

“Cookies have become the trademark of the sparkling, outgoing woman who literally baked her way to authorship and fame by way of her natural friendliness and her cookie jar. She started baking cookies when her children were small, firmly believing that all youngsters should have access to an ever full cookie jar as part of their childhood. Cookies in the Hoffman household were never desserts, but treats by the handful to be deliciously savored at odd moments of the day such as after meals, after school, just before bedtime and always on holidays. This led to an open-door policy so that many a former Wausau youngster remembered Mrs. Hoffman’s cookie treats…”

It’s just so interesting for me to read and learn about my Grandmother from articles like this. As I mentioned in my Grandma and Me blog, I was barely born and so I was way too young to remember Bess when she was baking all these cookies. As I continue to work my way through baking all the recipes in Cookies by Bess, I so wish I could ask Grandma Bess questions about the recipes and steal some of her tips and tricks!

One of the things I like best when reading these old articles is when they talk about how much Bess liked other people…

“Mrs. Hoffman likes people and one of her greatest pleasures is presenting special friends with cookies in a container that is a thoughtful, personal gift in itself. To prove this point, she baked about 20,000 cookies last year for holiday gifts with each package receiving her considered attention.”

As I’ve mentioned many times already in previous blog posts, cookies have always been a part of my family’s traditions. It has also been my tradition to give home baked cookies as gifts over the years…now I’ve never made 20,000 cookies in one year…I might have made 20,000 cookies in my life time, but that’s probably stretching it!…but I have made cookies every year for as long as I can remember…and I have always given them as gifts to my friends, co-workers, and family.

This article also mentions that it was Bess’s friends that convinced her to write Cookies by Bess…

“It was her friends who talked Mrs. Hoffman into publishing her collection of cookie recipes. ‘Then we won’t have to bother you for recipes all the time’, they told her, ‘We can buy the book and keep them handy.’”

For me, the best part of this article is the mention that once the Cookies by Bess cookie books were published, they sold out so fast, more needed to be printed almost immediately.

“The first printing came off the presses in December 1960. In 11 days the supply was gone, and the book had to go into its second printing to fill all the orders…Cookies by Bess has now wide acceptance by women’s groups and department stores throughout the country.”

Cookies by Bess was so in demand, it required another six printings for a total of 40,000 copies! All I can say to that is WOW WOW WOW! Go Grandma Bess! ?

Finally, and in all articles about Cookies by Bess, Grandma shares her favorite recipes, so everyone can try them out. What a wonderful gift to all the readers…and a great way to sell more books! In this article Bess shared:

• Rich Flavor Christmas Cookies
• Mother’s Spicy Molasses Cookies
• Oatmeal Logs
• Cinnamon Logs
• Apricot Bars
• Christmas Almond Wreaths
• Spritz Cookies, and
• Fudge Bars

I will eventually get to baking and blogging about all of these recipes as I continue to bake and bake and bake. For now, you can check out the Rich Flavor Christmas Cookies and Cinnamon Logs which were posted back in November and December 2017.

All the newspaper articles my Dad saved have given me such a great opportunity to learn more about my Grandma and her passion for baking cookies. I’ve had a passion for baking throughout my life, but I am so much more inspired now knowing that I am keeping Bess’s legacy going. She loved people and loved sharing her cookies and recipes. I can honestly say that I DO TOO!

Please stay tuned for more Cookies by Bess recipes and memories about Grandma Bess! I just can’t wait to share all the cookies and memories with you!

XXOO!

Janet