"America's Cookie Mold Carver"
In the 70's, Gene and June Wilson discovered wooden mold collections in US and European museums. Gene was smitten with the reverse carving - and soon turned his artistic talents to designing and carving wooden cookie molds. He joined the Belleville Holzschnitzers (Woodcarvers) Club and began marketing his carvings.
June helps test cookie recipes for use with wooden molds and process mail orders.
Gene has worked to perfect his technique of power tool engraving with a hand-held router. This innovative, self-taught type of freehand carving has allowed a vast variety of molds to be offered at affordable prices.
Since no carving templates are used, each mold is an original carving
with it's own "personality."
Over 100 designs of hand carved cookie molds are offered by mail order: springerle presses (molds), cookie stamps, deeply carved wooden cookie molds for shaping holiday picture cookies of German springerle ("springers") with or without anise. All molds are solid hardwood and ever so slightly different due being individually carved.
Gene Wilson has, for 35 years, carved gingerbread molds, Scottish shortbread molds, and Dutch speculaas molds. Each purchase of cookie mold carvings includes cookie recipes for use with wooden molds. HOBI Picture Cookie Molds
is that rare source of personalized birth and wedding plaques, butter stamps, butter molds, and gingerbread hornbook molds. Gene also handcrafts ABC hornbook replicas and has written some simple horn book histories.
Chosen as one of the top 200 traditional American crafts to be included in the 2000 Early American Life Directory.
Our solid, hardwood cookie molds are carved with hand-held power and hand tools - without the use of any carving templates or duplicatiing machinery.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
Gene was born in Olney, Illinois where his parents ran Wilson Dairy Farm.
His great grandfather, S. C. "Sam" Wilson owned and operated "Our Daily
Bread" Flour Mill in Olney. Most of his family were farmers or teachers
in this part of southeastern Illinois . When Gene was one year old, his
father died and his mother sold the dairy farm and returned to teaching
to support her two young sons. The sons grew up in an environment of
teachers and grandparents. Woodworking as a hobby was a family tradition. Gene's artistic talent was inherited from his mother and shared by a number of his maternal relatives. His interest in art and science was inspired by his teachers and the abilities of an older cousin.
Near the end of WWII, his mother remarried a farmer and major adjustents were required as Gene attended a one room school for three years. Farm life required Gene to develop a better knowledge of tools and gave him some valuable "hands on" mechanical experience. His participation in sports, and his work in Scouts, 4-H, and church youth groups helped him to develop some leadership experience that would better prepare him for a teaching career.
His high school classes (which included one year of shop and two years of art) were definitely not college preparatory! Planning on a career in printing Gene worked part-time in the print shop of a daily newspaper during his junior and senior years. "Morning farm chores, to work at the newspaper by 7 a.m., to school by 11 and home for chores by 4:30 p.m. was typical during those two years," he explains. Thus it was that he became accustomed to a busy schedule.
Upon graduation, he accepted a teaching scholarship and enrolled at SIU-C. Considering a major in art, he soon chose biology instead - as it left open an option to consider pre-med. Nearing graduation, he accepted a job teaching junior and senior high science. He and June, an elementary teacher, were married that same year. After three years of teaching, he received another scholarship and earned his Master's Degree in biology from Arizona State University. In the following decade, the Wilson family of four (one son, one daughter) settled in Belleville and spent a number of summers away from home as Gene enrolled in various graduate courses. Gene was a full-time biology professor with Belleville Area College until his retirement in 1990. He continued to teach some courses, part-time, until 1995.
Gene is a member of the Belleville Holzschnitzers (Woodcarving) Club which sponsors the huge Midwestern Woodcarving Show at the Belle-Clair Exposition Hall the first weekend in November. The Wilsons have exhibited and sold their carvings at this show for 35 years.
Gene's cookie mold carvings were chosen as one of the HOLIDAY crafts in Early American Life's 2002 Holiday Craft Directory
Publicity in Print
Newspaper and magazine articles about us include the following:
Wood Carving Illustrated, "Edible Art" by Mark Weinstein, Holiday 2004, Pp. 44-47.
Taste of Home, "His Carved Molds Shape Unique Christmas Treats"
P. 58, October-November, 1998.
St. Louis Post Dispatch (Food Section), "Retired Professor Carves Out A New Career" by Cleora Hughes, June 26, 2000.
Naples Daily News (Food Section), "Cookies Fit For Molding (Tested Recipes) by Cleora Hughes, September 13, 2000.
Early American Homes Christmas Book, "Irresistible Specialty Items"
Pp. 49, 66; Christmas 2000.
The World & I, "Edible Art - German Springerle Cookies are a Christmas tradition for both the table and tree" by Sharon Hudgins, Pp. 130-137, December 2001
This page was last updated: December 5, 2009
About Us: HOBI Cookie Molds ~ Hand Carved by "America's Cookie Mold Carver" Gene Wilson
3/1/07: "Nobody can believe you use a
7 lb. router to do such delicate carving. Everyone is amazed."
Darlene H., NC
Basic Facts about HOBI Cookie Molds:
+ In business since 1972 by self-employed owner Gene Wilson of Belleville, IL
+ Small business, no employees. All carving, web design, marketing and shipping by the owner.
+ At present, no wholesale of molds - nor carving of designs submitted by customers.
+ Sales limited to www.cookiemold.com and to the Belleville Woodcarvers Show.
+ Molds of premium quality cherry and beech hardwoods, typically with a food-safe finish.
+ Kitchen-tested recipes & instructions included with your order.
