I was shocked to read about another recent victim of the economic crisis. Mother’s Cookies filed for bankruptcy last month, closing its doors and turning off the ovens. Why is this sad news? Mother’s manufactured those iconic cookies: Circus Animals.
All is not lost, however. The Naked Loon did some emergency grocery shopping and located two alternatives to Circus Animals: Keebler Frosted Animal Cookies and Franz Frosted Animals. The former weren’t any good, but the latter were almost as good as the real thing.
Though comments on cookies are an added bonus, I know that you really come to Get Rich Slowly for personal finance stories. Here are some of my favorites from around the web:
There seems to be nothing but bad financial news lately. Businesses are failing. Unemployment is up. The stock market is like a roller coaster. Things haven’t seemed this grim in 25 years. But Ethan Trex at Mental Floss has posted a reminder that sometimes it’s the darkness that produces the brightest lights. He’s listed 7 wildly successful people who survived bankruptcy, including Walt Disney, Henry Ford, and Abraham Lincoln. Inspiring stuff.
Readers often write to me looking for legitimate ways to find money in a hurry. Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has come up with a list of 13 ways to make a quick buck, which includes some usual suspects (donate plasma) and some creative ideas (put advertising on your car). Well-worth a look if you’re trying to generate some extra cash.
As Christmas season approaches, people are looking for ways to save money while still giving meaningful gifts to family and friends. We discussed 34 ideas for home-made gifts last week, but for those who plan to do traditional Christmas shopping, check out Kiplinger’s holiday buying guide, which includes:
- Tips for online holiday shopping
- Advice on how to help children adjust their expectations
- 10 holiday shopping tips
Finally, a quick note that Tip’d has moved from beta to public release. Tip’d is a community for sharing financial news, ideas, and tips. It’s sort of like Digg, but exclusively for financial topics. If you crave more personal finance news, go check it out!
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Of course, the consumption of Circus Animals (or the alternatives) may be somewhat counterproductive for those who are trying to Get Fit Slowly…
But they’re so good.
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Mmmmm…..cookies…..
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i was disappointed to see archway go. part of our christmas tradition is (was) to have their pecan wedding cakes after dinner. they made some good cookies.
something about the name “frosted animals” seems… wrong.
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J.D.,
My wife and I bought a huge supply of Circus Animal Cookies just this week. We have some family that enjoy them and may sell the rest.
- Peter
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animal crackers in the little card board box!!!
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memories, I would have these all the time I visited my godmother when I was little.
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How sad. I hadn’t heard. I haven’t eaten any in awhile but they were part of my childhood. I may have to see if I can find a bag, for old time’s sake. I think the same company made the Flaky Sticks and the chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla wafers. If so, there go three cookies I never eat now but I have fond memories of from my childhood.
I guess part of their problem is that people like me don’t keep eating them in adulthood, but maybe I’m alone in growing out of them.
Circus Animals–vaguely animal shaped cookies, sometimes stuck together in odd ways, with overly sweet frosting and little balls on them– Good times, good times!
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J.D., no!! I grew up on those cookies.
I’m getting old. Sigh.
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Here’s what’s even sadder… some geographic areas rely on Archway facilities to bake their Girl Scout cookies. If the competition can’t get the recipe right, there *shall* be hell to pay! Hmmph!
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I could live without the Circus Animal cookies. It is the Mother’s Peanut Butter Gaucho cookies that were to die for. Mmmmm!
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Thanks for this post. Made me laugh!
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Hmmm… I wonder what happens to the recipes (presumably the intellectual property of the company) once it goes bust. I would have thought someone would buy it and start manufacturing it, assuming there’s enough demand for it…
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Thanks for that link to Tip’d. I checked it out and it looks really interesting. I’ve never been a fan of websites like Digg because I’m not usually interested in the top ranked articles, but since this is focused on only financial stuff, it’s all interesting to me!
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Yes thanks for the link to Tip’d. I really look forward to using this site. Also my daughters are going to be crushed when I tell them about the animal crackers!
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I think my favorite Mother’s cookie was the taffy cookie. The animal cookies weren’t so hot. But they do bring back fond memories of my childhood.
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I’m surprised not to see medical and dental transcription on that list of quick ways to make some honest money. If you type quickly, spell well, have good hearing, and aren’t scared of big words, look into transcription work. It pays around $25/hr and it’s very easy to do from home. I’m a medical journalist and I farm out all my transcription to friends who need cash; they’re always amazed at how easy it is and how well it pays.
To figure out whether transcription is for you, pull up a recording of a talk radio show about medicine or science and start transcribing. Pause and rewind as necessary. If you have Quicktime on your computer, open the file in Quicktime and use its tools to slow the audio down. The amount of time it takes you to transcribe the recording should be about twice the length of the recording, e.g. you should be able to transcribe a 10-minute interview segment in 20 minutes. If you can manage that, you’re in business! Those who don’t have medical journalist friends can always advertise on Craigslist or the boards of groups like the American Medical Writers Association, or directly to big local hospitals.
If you’re a whiz with Powerpoint, you can also get gigs putting together slide decks for busy or tech-phobic doctors who need to give presentations. Those are harder to find, but they pay better.
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I actually found out about this over the weekend, which was interesting since I’d never even heard of Mother’s Cookies. I happened to be visiting friends, and a friend-of-a-friend mentioned that her mom had heard that the company was going out of business and bought up everything she could find, because she knew how much her daughter enjoys their iced oatmeal cookies.
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I can’t believe no one scooped them up. Animal Cookies are one of my favorite past-times. This economic crisis has finally found a way to my doorstep. Something’s gotta be done. Where’s Mother’s Cookies’ Bailout?!
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For cookies, I miss Giggles. Nabisco used to make these back in the day (http://www.inthe80s.com/food/gigglescookies0.shtml) Oh boy were they good!
Anyway, for your link on Santa on a budget, when I was little mom used to tell us that Santa doesn’t give us everything we want and he has a set spending limit. Granted, I knew Santa wasn’t real so I never asked for a big present.
I just heard a good sermon the other day actually about disappointments in life and how we have to learn to live with them and accept them. Perhaps this will help the kids of today to become stronger, much like the Depression begot the Greatest Generation.
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@Rose Fox: Really? AFAIK Medical transcription is being shipped as fast as possible to India, my mother is in that field and the work is terrible. She’s left with the doctors who talk like they’re 3 sheets to the wind, sneeze, cough into the phone, etc. Are there really better sources out there?
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I have never heard of “Mother’s Cookies”–do they have them in the South?
I vote for Animal Crackers in the little railway car cardboard box. My childhood in the palm of your hand.
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Stauffer’s makes animal crackers- iced ones too(but I don’t like the iced ones)
http://www.stauffers.net/products/animalcrackers/original
They are available here on the east coast-I don’t know where else.
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I haven’t stopped moping since they announced they were pulling those cookies from shelves.
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Dang, I’m going to have to see if they’ve got any left on the shelf at H.E.B. next time I go shopping.
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Oh, that’s so SAD.
My friend has one of them, a pink frosted elephant w/sprinkles, tattooed above his bellybutton.
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I heard a radio ad today that “Grocery Outlet” bought all the remaining stock so they have them.
Note: I am not encouraging people to buy stuff they don’t need. Just trying to help
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I live in a small town on outer island of Hawaii. I know that sounds good but I would like everyone to note it’s not easy to live out here- a gallon of milk on sale is $5.50. As the economy plummets I am seeing more and more smal business close down and big business cut back. I have been laid off my hotel job 6 months ago and found a job that pays less than half as much with less benefits than I am accustomed. Thankfully I used good sense to cut my spending and have an emergency fund to assist but some of my efforts are only a temporary stopgap such as deferring my student loans. At the end of the month my expenses are still slightly higher than my earnings.
So my question is should use the rest of my emergency fund to move to a major city such as Honolulu to search for a better job or should I sit tight at the job that I’m in (with nary a vacation day or holiday pay) and hope things with get better as the emergency fund dwindles down? Any good stories on people succeeding in either venue would be nice but I do need a hard dose of reality.
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I was in shock too, I did my own post on it earlier in the week. I hadn’t heard anything on the news. I was born in california, raised in virginia. Mother’s Circus Animal cookies were about the only thing I remembered from my early life in California. They’re awful for you, but, have a strange attraction. So long pink frosted goodness, we’ll miss you.
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Oh my. I guess I better stock up. Those are my favorite cookies.
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