FOOD NEWS
The Very First Girl Scout Cookies Were Actually Baked By Hand
By Elaina Friedman
Whether you prefer Thin Mints or Trefoils, anyone who makes a tradition of buying their favorite Girl Scout Cookies each year knows that they are worth their somewhat high price. One thing's for sure: Girl Scout Cookies would be way more expensive if they were made by hand — and once upon a time, they were.
From 1917 through the 1920s, Girl Scout troops made sugar cookies by hand and sold them door-to-door for $.25 to $.35 per dozen. An Oklahoman troop started the trend when they sold homemade cookies in the local high school cafeteria, and it got so popular that the recipe was published in a 1922 issue of "The American Girl" magazine.
In 1933, the Girl Scouts of Greater Philadelphia Council decided to sell in local gas and electric company windows rather than simply door-to-door. By 1934, demand was so high that the troop turned to commercially made cookies, and by 1936, the Girl Scouts as a national body decided to license its own cookies with commercial bakers.