Abby Connolly
April marks the end of Girl Scout cookie-selling season, and I’m sure some of you were diligent about picking up your annual boxes of Thin Mints or Tagalongs.
Perhaps you have a Girl Scout in the family you want to support by buying cookies or were once a Girl Scout yourself. But once you’re hooked on those tiny cookies, it’s hard to resist buying a box every year.
But do you know the history of Girl Scout cookies and how the tradition came to be?
If not, allow me, a retired Girl Scout, to explain.
The Girl Scouts were founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912. To read more about Juliette and her journey to creating the Girl Scouts, you can read our article about her here.
Five years after they were founded, Girl Scouts in America began selling their mothers’ homemade cookies to fund troop activities.
Specifically, a troop in Oklahoma was known for selling cookies in a high school cafeteria as a service project.
Then, in 1922, in American Girl magazine, the official magazine for Girl Scouts of America, Chicago director Florence E. Neil published an easy and affordable sugar cookie recipe that Girl Scouts could use for their cookie sales.
Back then, the Girl Scouts were encouraged to sell the cookies by the dozen for 30 to 25 cents a dozen.
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