It’s almost that time of the year again.
No, not Spring Break. This is much more important: Girl Scout cookies are finally back, and not a moment too soon. Your freezers have given up their last sleeve of Thin Mints. Your dreams are full of dancing Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos. You’ve even started to approach every 8-year-old girl, hoping she was selling cookies. Well, to hold you off until those delicious Samoas arrive, check out these seven facts to brush up on your Girl Scout cookie trivia.
1. Sugar Cookies were the original Girl Scout cookies
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While it’s hard to imagine Girl Scout cookies without Thin Mints, the original cookies were actually simple homemade sugar cookies. In 1917, the Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma decided to sell cookies in their high school to raise money. Girls were given a recipe to follow with the help of their mothers.
2. The first Girl Scout cookie sale
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The first official Girl Scout cookie sale was held in Philadelphia in 1933. And get this: a box sold for a measly $0.23. Those were the days…
3. Forced cookie sales
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While Girl Scout cookies are delicious, they’re serious too. There are rules that must be followed, like how Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Trefoils must be produced by the two licensed bakers. The other cookies are left up to the baking companies to decide.
4. What happened during WWII?
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Even Girl Scout cookies were affected by the war. Because key ingredients, such as flour butter, and sugar, were rationed, the Girl Scouts resorted to selling calendars instead.
5. All hail the “Cookie Queen”
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Elizabeth Brinton holds the records for the most boxes of cookies sold: a whopping 100,000. And she’s wasn’t selling to your average Joe Shmoe on the neighborhood block. The so-called “Cookie Queen” boasted a famous clientele including Ronald Reagan and Sandra Day O’Connor.
6. And the bestseller is…
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Thin Mints are the most popular Girl Scout cookie, amounting to 25% of all boxes sold each year. Come on, no one’s surprised by that. Next in popularity come Samoas, followed by Tagalongs.
7. The Girl Scout cookie graveyard
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Not every cookie is an instant bestseller. Over the years, there have been dozens of cookie flavors that just didn’t make the cut. Some examples include Aloha Chips, Dulce de Leche, and Lemon Coolers.