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Say bye to Mother’s Circus Cookies
October 13th, 2008, 11:00 am · 43 Comments · posted by Nancy Luna, Staff Writer
(See 10/14 update: Can Mother’s Cookies make a comeback?)
I mourned the loss of Mother’s Circus Animal Cookies all weekend.
I bought two bags at Fresh & Easy on Saturday and shared them with my family after learning that the cookie company’s owner filed for bankruptcy protection last week.
The company’s financial failure forced it to suddenly shutter its baking and distribution operations on Friday, according to various news reports.
Plant workers were told the “cookies would no longer be made” as of today, Oct. 13. The cookie maker’s owner, Catterton Partners, cited rising food and fuel prices as the main reasons for filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The company also makes Archway cookies.
Everyone has great childhood memories tied to these wonderfully crunchy white and pink-frosted cookies. I bought some for my daughter’s birthday party earlier this year, and every kid — and adult — gobbled them up.
No more Circus cookies
For me, the demise of Circus Cookies is tragic. This is like Oreo Cookies going down.
I suppose the bags I bought over the weekend will be among the last. I’ve been told stores such as CVS have already been put on notice that they won’t be getting anymore supplies starting this week.
So, go out and buy a few bags before they disappear from store shelves.
I know I plan to stockpile a few more.
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My husband grew up eating these cookies, and he shares them now with our daughter. I always thought that was a nice bond for the two of them. The Stater Bros. near me is already sold out, but I got 8 bags at Ralphs. Good luck finding enough to stockpile. Hopefully they still had a few shipments ready to send out before ceasing operations today. What a sad day.
Sad story another corporation bites the dust.
I used to love those cookies when i was a kid. I bought a bag of them a couple months ago since i hadn’t had them in such a long time. They’re so sweet, i could only eat one! I can’t believe I used to eat these things. they were good for what they were…but now they are much too sweet for my tastes.
if i’m not mistaken i think another cookie company makes a similar cookie now. i went to a Stater Bros not that long ago and was like what the heck? when i saw a knock off of the Circus Animal cookies. the knock offs arent made by some brand you’d find at the dollar tree either, i think it was made by either Nabisco or Keebler?
in other words, all is not lost.
Those were my favorite since childhood.
This is a sad day.
This is a sad day for such great cookies
I remember having to pick though the whole bag growing up to find the white and pink cookies mixed in with the regular ones.
The world gets darker everyday.
I was so upset to read this. I, too, bought a bunch of circus cookies this weekend — Halloween-themed.
WHY?!?!?!???!?!?!??!
How ironic-I just bought a bag of them with Halloween theme yesterday, without knowing about this. The only ones I saw were the Halloween theme & a spice flavor, I stopped for a moment to wonder why I didn’t see the original ones. I’ll be going back for more, there only $2 at Food 4 less in fullerton.
I would guess another company will buy their assets out of bankruptcy and begin making them. They are a value product. But who knows if they’ll still be any good.
It’s not just Circus Animals - the whole bakery has been shuttered. Their business model has been flawed for years - they spent millions of dollars per year with Ralphs, Vons, etc. for that prime space at the end of the aisles.
Couple that with massive commodity increases in flour and sugar, and that is a recipe for bankruptcy.
I will miss those pink & white cookies too. Glad my wife just happened to buy a bag last week on accident!
omg!!!! i’m so sad…
Are you telling me that there is not one company out there that would buy the rights to make these cookies?
THE ECONOMY GOING BUST IS SUCKING THE FUN OUT OF EVERYTHING!!!!!!
God! I can still remember their radio ads in the 60’s touting the “pink & purple passionate package” Goodbye old friend!
All I can think of is my good friend Troy in high school. I’m sure he is very sad about this. What a sad commentary on today’s economic struggles.
:::gulp::: I’m heartbroken
so sad! the mothers animal cookies were my all time fav!
Oh no! I looove these cookies and as a kid, I always preferred the white ones for some reason. I now have to make a mad dash to the store to, hopefully, find a few bags!
Where is a government bailout when you need it most?!!?
I grew up eating the Circus Animal cookies, but they were a bit too sweet for me, as I couldn’t eat more than a couple at a time. I remember the chocolate chip cookies, too, only because they were smaller and bite-size. But I haven’t eaten any of them in close to 20 years.
The Archway brand cookies were pretty bad, though. I won’t miss those.
I am SO upset! Can we save them somehow? For a couple bucks apiece, we have something we could control!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! That makes me sad. I wonder if they’re selling the recipe?!
i’m torn…i will surely miss the cookies…my arteries will not
I grew up eating Circus Animal cookies! Thinking I was grown up, because I pretended the box was a purse!
Never liked Mother’s Circus Cookies, gross.
Sorry to hear they went out of business.
Is NOTHING sacred???!!!
They better be brought back - same recipe, under license.
Really? The circus animal cookies? That’s really sad. I grew up on them too.
I wrote my own homage to the cookies on my blog: http://holographicmeatloaf.com/2008/10/13/goodbye-mothers-cookies/
Truly a sad day for those of us that loved and grew up with those things. I sure hope I can find some soon…
I can handle the high fuel prices and the busted economy, but this is just too much for one grown man to take. I’m going to go hide in the corner now with my bag of Animal Coo… oh $#!+.
Oh, no!! First to read about Dietrich’ s and now this!! My mom used to buy those circus cookies for my bro and I. As an adult, whenever I ate them, it brought back a ‘warm, fuzzy feeling’ inside.. Those seem like a United States tradition…. What’s next???? No more See’s candy??? No more CocaCola?????? My mom didn’t let us have sweets alot. Now, as an adult, I have diabetes, so could maybe have one or two.. Darn!!!!!!!
Iced Oatmeal were my favorites. This sucks. I hope this is brought up in the debate.Whichever candidate can fix this will surely be elected!
Hey…priorities, right?
It’s one thing with the economy attacking our pocket books, but now it’s messing with the comfort food. I never got to eat these as a kid but I made up for it in college. This is a sad day.
Yes, it is sad. My husband worked for this company for 12 years and received a certified letter saturday not to show up for work on monday. Not good news when you are a family of 5, and no warning at all!
So ALL of Mother’s cookies are to be discontinued or just Circus cookies. Can someone confirm this? I love the Circus cookies too but I have fond memories of Mother’s Taffy cookies. I’d always eat them out of my grandma’s cookie jar. I don’t know which I’ll miss more. We’ll miss you Mother’s!
Jessika: Please read my update story by clicking on the link below…
But, yes, all cookie operations have ceased.
http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2008/10/14/more-on-the-demise-of-mothers-cookies/4128/
I just remember how much we enjoyed Flaky Flix in college in the Midwest MANY years ago. They were like a cookie version of Kit Kats. The guy who mentioned his arteries is right, however. Mother’s cookies were always loade with calories and trans fats in the old days. Still, everything in moderation. Perhaps Nabisco or Keebler will buy certain recipes.
omg NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
i love these freaking cookies! DON’T GO mother’s! don’t go towards the white light!
I am a distributor for mothers cookies I have 840 bags of circus animal cookies. Also a ton of other varieties! If you really want to buy some email me! aaronconnelly@yahoo.com
We can talk prices later but I need to sell!
My sister just emailed me the tragic news. Saying goodbye to Mother’s Cookies is kind of like a death in the family. They have been around forever, so many memories…..nothing like a bag of Cookie Parade to pick out your favorites & leave the bland white squares for the rest of the family. And nothing like the Taffy’s…….boo hoo…..
I now have a mission tomorrow…
sorry to hear that you’re closing we are going to miss the pink and purple packages on the grocery shelves. Know that you will be in my prayers, and that the Lord continue to bless what ever you put your hands to.
God Bless you and every family that worked with you. Ruby
good ol bush-o-nomics…. what a waste