Mouth-watering cookie sales have begun
Girl Scout cookies are here. The theme for this year’s sale, which began Jan. 1, is “Get Going, Girlfriends!”
During the cookie sale, girls are encouraged to set goals and develop team-building skills. Girl scouting gives girls the tools and confidence they need to achieve their goals — now and in the future. Consider what girls gain from the cookie sale:
• Girls often receive their first practical education in finance, marketing and communications. The cookie sale teaches girls personal safety habits.
• Through participation in the cookie sale, girls gain a stronger sense of self-esteem as they learn to set realistic goals and work to achieve them.
• Girls also learn to handle money in a responsible manner. They earn money for their troop treasury and practice decision-making skills when planning how to spend it.
• Through the Gift of Caring, girls continue the Girl Scout tradition of helping others through community service.
In addition to providing a valuable program experience for girls, this annual tradition helps to raise funds that enable all girls to take part in Girl Scouting. Cookie sales built Cumberland valley’s 10 campsites and pays for camp maintenance and improvements.
The Girl Scout Cookie Sale provides an opportunity for girls to shine. Girls learn important business skills, practice the teachings of the Girl Scout Promise and Law, and have fun. Support the girls and young women in your area, and contribute to helping girls grow strong.
The Girl Scout cookie sale has kicked off with thousands of girls taking orders for the eight varieties of Girl Scout Cookies. Cookie orders will be taken through Jan. 16 and booth sales to the public will run Feb. 13 to March 7.
Need to know more Girl Scout cookie history?
The earliest beginnings were in the kitchens and ovens of our girl members, with mothers volunteering as technical advisers. The sale of cookies as a way to finance troop activities began as early as 1917, five years after Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouting in the United States.
In July 1922, Florence E. Neil, a scouting director, provided a cookie recipe that was given to the council’s 2,000 Girl Scouts. She estimated the approximate cost of ingredients for six to seven dozen cookies to be 26 to 36 cents. The troop cookies, she suggested, would be sold by troops for 25 or 30 cents per dozen.
Scouts in different parts of the country continued to bake their own simple sugar cookies into the 1930s. These cookies were packaged in wax paper bags, sealed with a sticker, and sold door to door.
Girl Scout cookies were sold annually until World War II, when sugar, flour and butter shortages led scouts to begin selling calendars to raise money for their activities. Cookie sales continued annually, with the national organization enlisting local bakers to produce the cookies sold by girls in councils. By 1948, a total of 29 bakers throughout the nation were licensed to bake Girl Scout cookies.
In 1951, Girl Scout cookies came in three varieties; Sandwich, Shortbread and Chocolate Mints (now known as Thin Mints).
During the 1960s, when baby boomers expanded Girl Scout membership, cookie sale volume increased significantly. In 1961, 14 licensed bakers were mixing batter for thousands upon thousands of Girl Scout cookies annually. Among the best sellers were Chocolate Mint, Shortbread and Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies.
In 1978, the number of bakeries was streamlined to four to ensure lower prices and uniform quality, packaging and distribution. Today, three bakers produce a maximum of eight varieties of cookies in bright bold boxes depicting scouts in action settings.
The national organization has introduced official age-appropriate awards for Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts for participating in cookie activities.
Remember, when you support the girls selling cookies, you are helping them broaden their understanding of the world. Every penny earned by Cumberland Valley Girl Scouts remains in the Council helping fund important programs and resources for girls.