Ask Mike: The first Girl Scout cookies
Hey Guys,
When I was a kid and I saw the ice cream man on my street, I ran toward it like a bat out of hell. Now that I’m older, my opportunities to chase the ice cream vender around the block are all too rare. Fortunately, I do have access to the next best thing: Girl Scout cookies.
I recently took delivery of a few boxes from a coworker whose daughter enlisted in the Scouts. It all got me wondering — when did this cookie tradition begin? In the old days, did Girl Scouts make the cookies themselves? And who makes ‘em now?
According to the organization’s official website, the Girl Scouts began in 1912. However it wasn’t until 1917 that one particular troop began to sell cookies as a way to pay for their activities. The Mistletoe Troop out of Muskogee, Oklahoma sold home-baked cookies in the local high school cafeteria in December of 1917. They didn’t know it then, but they were starting something very special.
As the Girl Scouts expanded, so too did the sales of cookies. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, young girls, with the help of their mothers, baked sugar cookies to sell. In 1936, according to the Scouts, the national organization “began the process to license the first commercial baker to produce cookies that would be sold by girls in Girl Scout councils.” Interestingly, sales of the cookies stopped during World War II, due to a national shortage of flour, butter, and sugar.
These days, Girl Scout Cookies are sold all over the country, especially the ever-popular Thin Mints. They account for roughly 25% of all Girl Scout Cookie sales. In second place — the caramel and coconut-flavored Samoas with a formidible 19%. Two big bakeries churn out the cookies for the Girl Scouts: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers.
Got a favorite flavor? What about requests for future varieties? I’ve always wondered why they don’t sell chocolate chip cookies. Seems like a rather odd omission…
Thanks for reading,
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no one dares to talk about cookie-related violence
I never tried girl scout cookies, around here, mostly chocolate bars are the thing
Thank you! I have a Girl Scout Brownie who just sold 300 cookies this year! It is a great character building activity – getting a 2nd grader go up and introduce herself to our neighbors and learn money handling at cookie booths. And the rewards she gets – not only does her troop get a portion of each sale, but the girls in Utah get activity credits to attend any camp or activity during the year. So thank you for supporting your Girl Scouts!
They were selling Mini-Chocolate Chip cookies last year in our service unit. They were sugar-free, but I don’t think they sold well. This year, we were selling cookies with cranberries in them and they sold better. My favorites are any cookies with lemon cream in them. Does anybody remember the Raspberry Pinatas in 2005? I loved them, but they didn’t sell. . . : {
The Samoa cookies are AWESOME!
I could finish a box in 15 minutes! ha ha!
thanks for posting a blog about Girl Scout Cookies.
It has been said that there are little girl scouts baked into the cookies! Just kidding! I sold these cookies for a long time! Honestly, why would they want to make chocolate chip cookies, they can be found anywhere and are easy to make. I like the GS cookies that can’t be found in the supermarket.
My favorite are the Thin Mints. I also like the fact that Edy’s or Dreyer’s make GS ice cream! Yum!
My favorite from a long time ago (early 90′s) were the caramel and nut ones from the Little Brownie Cookie
i love the samoas and the thin mints. i think they should let us buy cookies online though all year round. girl scout cookies all the time? sounds good to me
I am an Old Girl Scout from way back when and I remember selling those Girl Scout Cookies and Nuts to earn money for trips and full ride camperships. Many a Summer I went to camp, ie day camp or week long camp.
I’m am still a Girl Scout at heart and live by the motto, On my honor, I will try to serve God and my Country and to obey the Girl Scout Laws.
In honor of Juliette Low 1860-1927 American founder of Girl Scouts.
I’m almost positive that the Girl Scouts have sold Chocolate Chip in the past- at least when I was a kid. I remember it particularly because I got into cookie-related trouble for sneaking about half a box’s worth one night as a kid.
the first and original cookie was the Trefoil, thought I should say… thanks for the information!!
I’ll never buy these evil cookies again. I haven’t bought them in years, but this year I thought I’d be a team player at work, so I purchased 2 boxes of the Thin Mints. I ate them in, oh, a week? Two weeks? I then bought another box, and downed them in 2 days. I was hooked, so I rode around the popular Girl Scout cookie-selling hangout spots in my neighborhood … and they were all gone! These rotten little girls got me hooked on Thin Mints, and then they pulled the rug right out from under me! Pushers.
carmel delights are awesome
I won a bike, 567$$, and Justin B. tickets in GS
Very interesting! Thanks for posting that!
I personally prefer the “Tagalongs” and I just got some today. I don’t mind helping them out by buying cookies it just make sense they get helped and I get feed a chocolaty peanut buttery goodness
Yummm
We did sell Chocolate chip for a few years only they were sugar free and did not sell well. They were good but people would not try them.
Tagalongs (peanut butter patties) are the best…
Chocolate and peanut butter combined is heavenly.
I was once a Girl Scout, I was an activite for about 5 years, and each year I participated in the Sales. I started as a Junior and left as a Juliette Cedit. Juliettes are indepentant Scouts. I entered the Girl Scouts for the opportunities that it could provide for me. Anyways, out where I used to live the Caramel Delights and the Peanut Better Patties were the most popular. We would sale hundreds of boxes of those to flavors alone. I even bought some myself, they were that irresistable. Now since I have dropped out of the GS, we haven’t gotten a chance to buy alot of them, but when the season comes around we crave them alot.
i remember selling girl scout cookies when i was 7, sometimes they were oreo-like cookies and now they are those minty ones, i think we sold chocolate bars too, this was a very random yet intresting blog i came across and im happy i learned something today thanks
.
My sister sold 700 boxes this year!!!!!!
DDD
idk whats would be weirder tho a lil boy running after a ice cream truck or a full grown man running at a group of little girls lol please dont take offense im only 16 and i might think its funny now i might regret that joke later no hard feelings lol
Hey
I liked reading your blog. Since we don’t have any cookie-selling in my country, it was really interesting to read your story about the roots of cookie-selling!
Thanks, Mariëlle
sad………..kids today do not enjoy scouting and guiding as much as we did in our youth!
My kids LOVE the thin mints frozen….they are the best!
Actually, we did sell some chocolate chip cookies last year, but they weren’t very popular. They were sugarless cookies, so that may explain why we sold so little of those. idk.