Cookie Table, The: A Steel Valley Tradition

By Alice J. Crosetto

All you need is love and cookies. Everyone loves cookies, but the people of the Steel Valley take this love to another level. Nowhere else in America will you behold hundreds--or even thousands--of cookies piled high for events of all kinds. This is the regionally famous cookie table. But how did this tradition start? Why do residents of the Pittsburgh and Youngstown areas always create them not just for weddings but for birthdays, graduations, fundraisers, community events, and so much more? How did this once quaint local custom become a social media phenomenon? How are the cookies made, and how is a cookie table organized? Join author and cookie table enthusiast Alice Crosetto on a delectable journey through this beloved Steel Valley tradition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: May 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781439677766

Alice J. Crosetto

Alice Crosetto was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. She remembers helping her mother bake the family's favorite Christmas cookies with her sisters, Norma and Joan. Clothespins, pecan tarts and small kolachy (kiffles to some) were just a few they made during Christmas break. Admittedly not raised with the cookie table tradition, Alice embraced it passionately in her adult years. When she wasn't baking, Alice received a BA in Latin and Greek and graduate degrees in English, curriculum and instruction and library science from Kent State University. She retired after forty years as an educator and librarian.

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Introduction

Have a Cookie!

Cookies! Is there a more delectable topic to talk about than cookies? Sugary, chocolate, soft or crunchy, warm out of the oven or hidden in a jar—cookies always make us happy. Americans love their cookies, and it seems that cookies are everywhere. There is one place where cookies appear in Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio that surprises most people—at a wedding reception. An artful display of thousands of cookies arranged on trays amid decorations of flowers and lights is known as the wedding cookie table.

Before researching the origins of the wedding cookie table, I knew that there would be challenges with entering a world of oral tradition, generational beliefs and expectations and culinary pride. There is little to no historic documentation about the cookie table. Most information is anecdotal but credible and trustworthy. The cookie table is probably one of the best examples of the power of oral tradition. The one undeniable quality of the cookie table—and the one most repeated description—is that the cookie table is a labor of love.

Although the cookie table is a long-standing tradition in the Steel Valley, residents are often surprised to discover that the tradition is relatively unknown outside of the Steel Valley. In her Ode to the Valley’s Cookie Table published in the Tribune Chronicle (Warren, Ohio) on August 20, 2010, Tara Billock wrote about a wedding she had recently attended in Cleveland. She said, We quickly realized something vital was missing from the reception. Although the Northeast Ohio food was familiar, she stated, There was no cookie table to be found. For Billock, social gatherings, especially weddings, are often judged on the magnitude of the cookie table, which is ingrained in her societal fabric.

As soon as you start talking about the cookie table, undoubtedly the question most often asked is—who started the tradition? The residents of Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio equally claim ownership. Furthermore, within these geographical areas, various ethnicities and religious groups claim ownership of the tradition.

From the very beginning of exploring the history and popularity of the cookie table, I have respected both sides of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line. Whatever I could say about cookie tables in Western Pennsylvania, I could equally say about cookie tables in Northeast Ohio. When I talked to individuals throughout Western Pennsylvania, I heard stories that were more similar than dissimilar to the stories from those throughout Northeast Ohio. People move across the state line with ease for many reasons— employment, shopping, entertainment, family and friends. In order to uphold parity, I use the collective term Steel Valley. Steelmaking was the dominant industry in both areas, and Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio residents still proudly display their steel heritage. Northern residents of a third state, West Virginia, also share in some of the social customs of neighboring states.

Before further discussion about the Steel Valley cookie table, I need to mention one important fact. Not all Steel Valley residents have the wedding cookie table tradition in their families. I have talked to countless individuals on both sides of the state line, individuals of all religious affiliations, all ethnic origins and all socioeconomic levels. Many of them were not aware of this tradition until they experienced it, often for the first time, at a friend’s wedding. This was my experience. In the mid-1970s, when I was in my early twenties, I attended the wedding of my boyfriend’s cousin. Upon entering the reception, I noticed tables laden with trays of cookies lining the entire left side of the rather large country club room. Surprised and baffled, I asked him the meaning of all the cookies. He shrugged his shoulders and answered he didn’t know. I was not alone. My classmate Bob Trube writes a blog, Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown. On May 9, 2015, while discussing the Youngstown cookie table, Bob shared that neither he nor his wife, both native Youngstowners, remembered a wedding cookie table while growing up in the area. Over sixty comments since the original post support Bob’s reflection, Good community traditions are important in defining a community as a good place to live. This is one of our good ones.

Like most Steel Valley residents, I have adopted the tradition and participate whenever I can. Whether residents were raised with the wedding cookie table tradition or embraced it later in life, most will agree that the cookie table has become a phenomenon. If the Steel Valley is your hometown area, then I hope that this book will add to the pride you already have for the region. Enjoy reading about a social custom that has evolved into a regional symbol. For all the non–Steel Valley readers who are baffled by the cookie table tradition, this book will give you a glimpse of what you have been missing. The chapters provide an overview of this time-honored social tradition from the beginnings of the Steel Valley to how its residents transformed a wedding tradition into the celebrity symbol that it is today.

Chapter 1, The Steel Valley: Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio, provides a brief history of this geographic area. This background offers a glimpse into the factors that led to the steel industry and of the immigrants who settled in the area. The steel industry dominated the area for decades, until the late twentieth century. Even after the steel industry declined, Steel Valley residents continued to honor their steel heritage with museums, business names and sports. And immigrant ancestors were equally honored with the continuation of social traditions.

Chapter 2, The Iconic Cookie, explores the earliest known cookies and their humble beginnings in America. Discover how the cookie’s popularity turned into an economic boom for home bakers and major companies alike. As the cookie found itself interwoven throughout social customs, especially in childhood activities, the cookie became established in American culture. With the growth and increasing presence of the cookie in daily and special occasions, most are happy to celebrate special occasions with their favorite treats.

Chapter 3, Origins of the Cookie Table, chronicles the appearance of the term cookie table in older publications both within the Steel Valley and across the nation. I have also listed commonly held beliefs about its origins and offered some new possibilities. We acknowledge that our ancestors, predominantly from Europe, brought their social customs along with their bags of clothes and treasured items. We see some possible relatives of the cookie table that were established by the immigrants who settled in communities outside the Steel Valley.

The next two chapters, Baking for the Cookie Table and Social Media, provide an overview of what goes into creating a cookie table. Although not a cookbook or an instructional guide for a do-it-yourself cookie table, these two chapters do include details that have been shared by successful cookie table organizers. Sections include the bakers, how many cookies are needed and when to bake. Firsthand accounts from family, friends and members of Facebook cookie table groups eagerly sharing their suggestions for the perfect cookie table are included.

While many question the value of using social media, the Social Media chapter reveals the indispensable role that social media plays in the lives of the members of Facebook cookie table groups. Members share every aspect of the cookie table and support one another. The Facebook cookie table groups function as conduits of the collective culinary wisdom of the region. By looking at this social media activity, we see how members are preserving and expanding the cookie table tradition, both within the Steel Valley and outside. Facebook cookie table groups engage in many worthwhile endeavors. By reading the posts and comments, members discover that trends found in baking and culinary activities easily parallel trends found in creating cookie tables. Additional social media platforms are also mentioned as they provide indispensable information and support.

Both the Beyond the Wedding Reception and the Beyond the Steel Valley chapters explore the various venues that showcase the cookie table. Beyond the Wedding Reception reveals how the wedding cookie table is being used in all social gatherings. In addition to providing desserts, the cookie table has been used in fundraising and community endeavors as well as educational and humanitarian projects. In Beyond the Steel Valley, we look at firsthand accounts of the cookie table traveling out of the Steel Valley. In addition, by appearing in national publications, the cookie table is making itself known across the nation.

The final chapter, The Celebrity Cookie Table Becomes a Symbol of the Steel Valley, provides an overview of the popularity of the cookie table. Cookbooks, travel and tourism marketing and merchandise now feature the cookie table. Local residents eagerly purchase items that showcase this popular tradition. The elegantly adorned table filled with thousands of cookies has indeed become a symbol of the Steel Valley.

The afterword, Plenty to Think About, features a family experience that, like a cookie table, contains a lot of items to enjoy while reading it. Many of you may have had similar experiences. And just like the obligatory take-home container, there is much information to think about after you close the book.

It is a challenge to discover the origin of the wedding cookie table. But understanding how the cookie table tradition held on with such tenacity in both geographical areas is not a challenge. A politically drawn line does not separate the character of the residents living on both sides. Steel Valley residents are as strong and resilient as the iron and steel products that their ancestors forged. Steel Valley residents have taken a time-honored wedding tradition and expanded its meaning and usage for the benefit of the region. When you read how the cookie table has emerged as our edible celebrity, you might be inspired to bake a few more cookies when someone asks you.

The cookie table has become an integral part of a wedding reception. The love of many bakers and the experience of the catering staff created this showpiece. Courtesy of Leslie Davis/Cusano Photography.

1

The Steel Valley

Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio

Baby boomers, born between the years 1946 and 1964, are very fortunate. The baby boomers of Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio can remember steel mills with smokestacks that seemed to billow morning, noon and night. If you lived near the steel mills, then the ever-present soot seemed as normal as the clouds in the sky. The steel industry was our heritage, and most had family members who had worked or had plans to work in the steel mills. The parents of baby boomers are considered the Greatest Generation, if born between 1901 and 1927, and the Silent Generation, if born between 1928 and 1945. And a good majority of those were immigrants or the children of immigrants. If we were fortunate enough to have our grandparents, then we heard a myriad of stories about the old country, how they came to settle in this area and how they survived the Great Depression. Once they settled here, this became home. The booming steel production industry of Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio provided a livelihood for many and affected everyone. This is the Steel Valley.

By the 1750s, a fort had been constructed on the land at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. This fort, originally called Fort Duquesne, would eventually become Pittsburgh, named for William Pitt the Elder, First Earl of Chatham, and prime minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Lieutenant Colonel George Washington battled the French and their allies among the Indigenous nations for control of the area, a strategic settlement on the western frontier. Pittsburgh was established on November 27, 1758. From then on, during the remainder of the eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century, Pittsburgh’s geographical features, specifically the important functionality of three rivers being used for transportation as well as the abundance of raw materials, produced an ideal location for industrial growth and development. The potential for industry lured capitalists, such as Andrew Carnegie, and workers from other parts of the country. The area’s industry easily attracted a significant number of immigrants from Europe.

Steel mills were built along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, estimated by some