Perhaps they are cookies brought to a wake whom none of the mourners has had the heart to touch, for fear of appearing hungry or willing to taste sweetness at a time like this.
For all we know, they might still be there, gathering dust since 1967 like orphans just waiting, waiting for someone — anyone — to reach out a hand and take them home.
Pillsbury’s Bake Off Cookie Book, Pillsbury Publications, 1967