By Jen Hirthe
Correspondent
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Tagalongs, Thin Mints, Do-si-dos, Trefoils, Samoas – for cookie-loving consumers across the country, the names are as well-known as their taste.
From a small bake sale to door-to-door to online ordering, the annual cookie sale has come a long way over the last century.
Girl Scout Cookie sales date back to 1917, just five years after Juliette Gordon Low started the organization in the U.S.
The Mistletoe Troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma, baked cookies and sold them in its high school cafeteria as a service project.
The concept caught on.
Over the next decade, troops throughout the country started to bake their own sugar cookies, package them in wax paper bags, seal them with a sticker and sell them door-to-door for 25 to 35 cents per dozen.
By 1951, Girl Scout cookies came in three varieties – sandwich, shortbread and chocolate mints.
Within five years, the options changed again, now offering four flavors – a vanilla filled cookie, a chocolate filled one, shortbread and a chocolate mint.
By 1966, the varieties nearly doubled – among the best sellers were chocolate mint, shortbread and peanut butter sandwich cookies.
In 1979, the brand-new, Saul Bass–created Girl Scout logo appeared on cookie boxes, which became even more creative and promoted the benefits of Girl Scouting.
Girl Scout Cookies for sale during the 1970s included Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos and Shortbread/Trefoils cookies, plus four additional choices.
By the early 1990s, two licensed bakers supplied local Girl Scout councils with cookies for girls to sell, and by 1998, this number had grown to three.
By then, eight cookie varieties were available, including low-fat and sugar-free selections.
Girl Scouts of USA (GSUSA) also introduced official age-appropriate awards for Girl Scout Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors, including the cookie activity pin, which was awarded for participating in the cookie sale.
In 2014, GSUSA launched the digital cookie platform, extending the reach of the scouts’ selling capabilities.
Missy Brozek, director of Brand and Communications of Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, said the online program also helps teach scouts about online marketing, app usage and ecommerce.
“While the cookies and the process for selling cookies has evolved over the years, the fundamental life skills are strong and unchanged,” Brozek said. “The Girl Scout Cookie Program encompasses five important skills – goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.”
She said her daughter is in her ninth year as a Girl Scout and loves to make plans on how to use her cookie funds to put towards a camp adventure, a community service project and a Girl Scout program or trip.
Valerie Hogue, Green Bay troop leader and mom of her own Girl Scout, said the most impactful change shes seen over the past seven years she’s been involved is the ability to take credit/debit cards.
“Whether it is an individual girl delivery her cookies to her customers or the troop selling cookies at a cookie booth, this allows us to reach a group of customers who previously could not purchase the cookies,” Hogue said. “We are also now using online marketing, such as social media, to advertise to broaden our customer base.”
Pandemic challenges
Girl Scout Cookie sales weren’t immune to the struggles the COVID-19 pandemic brought – eliminating the door-to-door sales scouts are known for.
Brozek said that left troops searching for other options.
She said this is where the digital platform made great strides.
“Last year, Girl Scouts increased their online sales by 163%,” Brozek said. “We expect it to continue to grow through this year, too. This season, Girl Scouts are again selling cookies in creative, socially-distant and contact-free ways to keep themselves and their customers safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
She said scouts will hold outdoor cookie booths that follow local, state and CDC guidelines.
What’s next?
In 2022, a new cookie is making its appearance on Girl Scout cookie order forms.
Adventurefuls are a brownie-inspired cookie topped with caramel-flavored crème and a hint of sea salt.
The Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes cookie program goes through April 3.
Those interested in getting their hands on some can visit girlscouts.org/en/cookies.html# for more information.