For more than 80 years, Girl Scouts have sold cookies to raise funds to support their scouting activities. Today, the sale of Girl Scout Cookies raises more than $800 million each year, making the Girl Scout Cookie Program the largest girl-led business in the country.
Girl Scout Cookies got their start in the kitchens of Girl Scouts and their mothers. Girl Scouts began to sell cookies as a way to finance their scouting activities as early as 1917, just five years after Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low started the first Girl Scout group in Savannah, Georgia.
In July 1922, Girl Scout national headquarters published an edition of The American Girl magazine for all Girl Scouts. The issue contained a recipe for a sugar cookie that could be baked and sold to raise funds for local councils. Thus, the simple sugar cookie was arguably the first true Girl Scout Cookie.
In 1934, Greater Philadelphia became the first Girl Scout council to sell commercially baked cookies. In 1935, the Girl Scout Federation of Greater New York used the words “Girl Scout Cookies” on their boxes of commercially baked cookies for the first time, and the rest is history
Local Jump Start
Although there are several ways to find Girl Scout cookies locally, this will be the first year you may obtain them online in North Texas. Follow the link and search for friends or family scout members to give them full credit. There will be Scout cookie events all over North Texas, but you will still be able to buy them in person from a scout, at select locations where scouts set up selling opportunities and now online.
Check out the 2021 cookie offerings and their prices here: Meet the 2021 Cookies
Check out the Girl Scouts local Facebook for more information.
Meet Local Scouts
Samantha Moseley, age 9, member of a Brownie troopSaxon Moseley, age 11, member of a Girl Scout troop“We are raising money to go on a campout and for leadership activities. Selling cookies has helped me learn about business, especially how to sell by looking someone in the eye and asking them how many boxes they would like to buy”
Samantha’s favorite cookies are the Dosidos and Tagalongs.
Saxon loves being a Girl Scout because she is learning new things and helping others.
“Our troop plans to use the money from selling cookies to help sponsor our Ronald McDonald community service project, as well as support activities where we grow in leadership and citizenship skills. Selling cookies has helped me learn how to run my own business, manage money and improve people skills while selling scrumptious snacks”
Although Thin Mints are the most popular, Saxon’s favorite cookies are the Savannah Smiles, Samoa and the new Girl Scout S’mores.
Girl Scout Cookie Facts
- Fifty-nine percent of women in the U.S. Senate and 60 percent of women in the House of Representatives are Girl Scouts alumnae
- Due to sugar, flour, and butter shortages caused by the war, in 1942, Girl Scouts sold calendars in lieu of cookies
- Before the business exploded, in the 1920s and 1930s, Girl Scouts around America baked their own sugar cookies and sold them to raise money for their activities
- During peak bake times, Girl Scout cookie producers bake over 4.5 million Thin Mints per day. That’s right, per day
- Thin Mints account for a quarter of all sales. Samoas/Caramel deLites make up 19% of sales, and Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs come in at 13%. The S’Mores are the top local favorite
- From January through March of each year, Girl Scout cookies are the number one cookie brand in the United States. The rest of the year Oreos are the top selling cookie
Girl Scouts of North Texas Cookie Program Stats:
- In 2017, our girls donated over 90,000 packages of cookies to military troops
- In the past 5 years….our girls have sold nearly 16 million packages of Girl Scout cookies
- In 2017, the average troop profit in Northeast Texas was almost $1,200
- In 2017, over 140,000 boxes of S’mores were sold throughout Northeast Texas
World Record Cookie Sales Scout
15-year old Katie Francis from Oklahoma City sold 22,000 cookies the year this video was made, then went on to top her world record with over 100,000 boxes in 2017.
Download the local app, go online or find a cookie sales hot spot by checking out their website.