This heavy brass mortar and pestle belonged to my maternal grandmother. I called her “Bubby.” It is very, very old, probably dating back to 1900. It was used to crush nuts and do various things in the kitchen.
When this was given to me, I looked inside and was surprised to see this little thimble that doesn’t have a top on it. When I asked an aunt of mine why the thimble didn’t have a top on it, she said that my Bubby used it to make her thimble cookies. I remember eating her thimble cookies. To make them, Bubby rolled out the dough and pressed this thimble into the dough to make the tiny cookies.
So I have here both her mortar and pestle and the thimble for making thimble cookies. I keep it here on my bookshelf just the way it was when it was given to me.