Girl Scout Cookies
Girl Scouts of America is a non profit organization that assists girls of all ages to become the very best they can be. They are encouraged to participate in community assistance and to develop a positive self image. To help fund the various activities that Girl Scouts participate in, troops all around the globe sell cookies. The first type of Girl Scout cookies were only sugar cookies. Today there are several different kinds of cookies to select from.
Millions of boxes of Girl Scout cookies are sold each year, making it one of the biggest fundraisers in the world. The concept of selling Girl Scout cookies began in 1917 when parents of Girl Scouts baked them and sold them to raise money for activities. In 1922 one of the mothers promoted the idea of baking cookies for all Girl Scout troops as it had been so profitable for their own troop. This information was published in the Girl Scout magazine. It was quickly realized that they could sell each dozen of cookies for what it cost them to make 7 dozen. It would be quite a profitable endeavor.
By 1936 the annual event of Girl Scouts selling cookies was going so well that the Girl Scout Council began looking at the idea of having a licensed baker to make and package them to be sold by the Girl Scout troops. As the number of cookies sold each year rapidly increased, more bakers were needed to meet the demand. By 1948 a total of 29 bakers were involved in the process.
In 1951 new varieties of cookies were added which further fueled the demand for them. The types of cookies added were sandwich, shortbread, and the thin mints. Millions boxes of Girl Scout cookies continued to be sold each year. Some changes were made in 1960 to the packaging of Girl Scout cookies to allow them to stay fresh longer. Peanut butter sandwich cookies were also added at this time.
With advances in technology, the number of bakers involved in the Girl Scout cookie process was cut to four major ones. The packaging on the boxes was also uniform and it was chosen by the Girl Scouts of America organization. The boxes featured various scenes of girls enjoying activities.
In the 1990’s Girl Scout cookies took the nutritional needs of people into consideration and began offering a few sugar free and fat free cookie options. Today there are 8 types of Girl Scout cookies to choose from and they are still an annual fundraiser event that sells millions of boxes around the world.
