Pepper Salter Edmiston began collecting cookie jars after having her seventh child, amassing over 250 eclectic pieces over the years. The collection included whimsical designs like Santa Claus and portly monks, which she cherished and sourced from various places. Tragically, a fire recently destroyed her home, taking with it many precious items, including most of the cookie jars and sentimental family heirlooms. In her temporary home, only two jars survived, grabbed by her youngest son during the blaze. Edmiston has chosen not to restart her collection, finding joy in the two remaining jars, which continue to evoke happiness.
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<div><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Pepper Salter<strong> </strong>Edmiston embraced a new hobby after the birth of her last child, her seventh. It began with a whimsical cookie jar shaped like a curvy woman in a retro bathing suit, gazing upward while enjoying a treat.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Next came an assortment of Santa Clauses, Humpty Dumptys, along with whimsical cats and dogs. There were chubby monks, playful monkeys, enchanting witches, and sweet angels.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->“I found myself purchasing cookie jars as they felt like little babies I could carry around,” she shared.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->She diligently searched for new ceramic finds, exploring thrift shops, specialty boutiques, and eBay. Ultimately, her collection expanded to over 250 pieces, enough to occupy the extra shelving she had installed in her oceanfront home when it was constructed in 1990.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Last month's fire, however, ravaged nearly everything in the house: cherished handwritten letters from Ms. Edmiston’s father, who once served as mayor of Beverly Hills; a tin menorah brought by her ancestors from Russia and Poland; and, tragically, nearly all the cookie jars.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Her family is heartbroken, especially over the loss of their connection to Ms. Edmiston’s eldest son, David, who passed away at 35 after enduring severe radiation effects from cancer treatment. “He took his last breath in that house,” she reflected.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->In her temporary residence in Santa Monica, two cookie jars still stand on a living room shelf. One features a boy in a pink train conductor’s uniform; the other showcases a Scottish child carrying an umbrella and clad in plaid pants.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Neither jar was a particular favorite of Ms. Edmiston, as they had been left outside on wrought-iron shelving. Nonetheless, this positioned them conveniently for her youngest son, Charlie, to save them amidst the fire's chaos.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->Ms. Edmiston has turned down offers from friends and family to replace the cookie jars she had given them over the years. She has no intentions to resume her collection, stating that the two remaining jars on her shelf sufficiently bring her joy.<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->“How could I not smile? That’s what cookie jars did — they brought happiness to everyone. What’s not to love?”<!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p><p class="g-text svelte-wbgwfj"><!-- HTML_TAG_START -->— <em>Soumya Karlamangla</em><!-- HTML_TAG_END --> </p> </div>