How the Girl Scout Cookie Empire Was Built

Weird History Food is giving into temptation by giving you the History Girl Scout Cookies. While you may see these delicious Girl Scout Cookies being sold around town or your co-worker is sending around the order sheet at the office, when did this usually between January and April tradition begin? And who started it? Well, crack open a box of Samoas or Do-Si-Dos, sit back and enjoy this Explainer video.
#girlscouts #cookies #weirdhistoryfood

[@weirdhistoryfood]

What is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

[@armoredangel01]

Shout Outs (Gosh, I wish they would bring those back)

[@pagalmasala]

Thin Mints!!

[@leslietonn3181]

​@@pagalmasalayeah, the Thin Mints are timeless!

[@dcastleb69]

Peanut Butter Patties! But... I'm cheap and I just buy the Walmart brand.

[@jewel65]

Samoa & thin mint😂

[@Oonagh72]

Girl Scouts should sell a cookbook with the recipes for the discontinued cookies. That would be fun.

[@jtgd]

“Money”-Mr. Krabs

[@jessiefyler3751]

I would buy the crap out of that cookbook.

[@LinkLinkStudios]

Make a book of the current cookies too. It wouldn’t harm their sale since people like to have premade cookies anyways, and only a few would stick to the recipes and make them themselves instead of buying the cookies

[@elizabethbriana]

If you can find a book from the Girl Scouts years ago they had recipes in those books.

[@dennislogan6781]

Peanut butter patties are soooooooooo good. I use to work with a Girl Scout mom and would buy about 6 boxes at a time.

[@michaelg1915]

My sister was a girl scout and everyone got excited when it was cookie season because we knew... Thin mints were coming. Im actually kinda surprised that Taylor Swift hasn't mentioned anything about being a girl scout. Knowing jer popularity, if she mentioned anything about it, scout recruitment would probably skyrocket

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

A couple of years ago, somebody gave me a 3lb canister of thin-mint covered almonds, and if you ever see them on the shelf, snatch 'em all! I ate that entire container within 5 days--they were awesome.

[@CordeliaWagner]

Don't push obesity on others.

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

No need. People seem to find it on their own.@@CordeliaWagner

[@TDoubleYu]

@@CordeliaWagnergirl hush

[@allyg8846]

Sam's Club has a thin mint snack blend now!

[@aiyannaharris7905]

I was a girl scout with my sister, and we loved selling those cookies. We got to buy some too, and I remember that tagalonhs were my favorite. If I see those girl scouts again, I'm going to buy some for the memories

[@kirdot2011]

Where do they even sell these cookies?!

[@marisad292]

I think I lasted less than a year as a Girl Scout, & sadly, I did not earn a cookie-selling entrepreneur badge during that time. However, I was always quite good at eating them. I agree that Samoas are the best, but Thin Mints are also quite tasty…& you can eat a lot of them in one sitting.

[@jons.6216]

I would love to believe that Savannah Smiles were somehow dedicated to Daisy Lowe! I have a personal rule when I buy the cookies and that is I'll only buy them from the enterprising girls who go out in public with their moms, dads or Scout leaders and sell them directly in public places and not from the kids who's moms take their sales sheets with them to work to sell! Haha!

[@CharliMorganMusic]

I just want Thin Mints. I care not how I get them, so long as I can get them by the crate.

[@monkeykidd420]

I usually buy them from what ever troop is outside the local Walmart but this year my 2 nieces are in scouts

[@lp-xl9ld]

When I lived in New York (prior to 1992) the local GS had a chocolate chip cookie which was really good. Once I moved to Philadelphia (or maybe it was just the passage of time), those vanished. I haven't bought GS cookies since.

[@dawng.8836]

Being a shy girl scout in the 70's , cookie selling time was a nightmare. My favorites were the trefoils, unfortunately the recipe changed.

[@giraffesinc.2193]

The trefoils were so delicious!

[@debbieanne860]

The original butter cookies were sold as Scot Teas. Much superior to the butter cookies of today. They were thinner and dusted with granulated sugar. So delicate and delicious!

[@arnellamahoney317]

My favorite cookies are the Samoas and Do-Si-Dos hands down. I even like their new Raspberry Rally cookies. My daughters I used to call Girl Scout Cookie Lemon Heads favorite cookies were Savannah Smiles, Lemon-Ups and Lemonades.

[@milleijones2828]

During my childhood (1960s), the only Girl Scout cookies were vanilla wafers. This was the Seattle area; I guess other parts of the country had a greater variety. Nowadays, my favorite cookies are the thin mints.

[@kimbrey65]

My favorites are the Thin Mints and the Tagalongs peanut butter patties. They're both so addictive!

[@markadams7046]

The Samoas, aka Carmel Delights, are my favorite. Thin Minsts come second.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

It's all about the Tagalongs for me! 🍪 #WeirdHistoryFood #FoodHistory #GirlScouts #Cookies #GirlScoutsCookies #PeanutButterPatties #Tagalongs

[@ayufever1978]

i buy at least 1 case of tagalongs every year. the cookies are good, and i share them with coworkers and such, but more importantly the sale goes to supporting and empowering girls. to see their faces light up when i buy such a high quantity is priceless. i also tell the girls- “you can do anything. dont let anyone tell you different.”

[@TheArmachillo]

My mom, seeing I enjoyed the boyscouts so much (I have brothers), signed me up for the girls scouts and they immediately gave me a suitcase FULL of cookies boxes to sell door to door. Needless to say, I went back to camping and covering myself in mud with the boys in no time! (After I ate LOTS of samosas she had to buy 😂)

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

I hated being in Girl Scouts. It was so sexist!!! We were only allowed to sew and bake and look pretty and sell cookies. 😂😂😂 I never buy them, I never support them, and I never will.

[@Sniperboy5551]

@SouthernBelleTreasures It’s literally called “Girl Scouts,” what did you expect?

[@kimberlyweaver1285]

I sold a crazy amount of cookies. My dad was a mechanic and my mom worked in a factory. No one bought less than 5 boxes each. lol

[@matrixandraia]

I always buy like three or four boxes of cookies when I see the Girl Scouts in the grocery store parking lot. Love me some Do-Si-Do and Tagalongs.

[@neoasura]

I used to love them, but they really started cheaping out on the quality over the years, and rising costs, and now there's brands that make better copied versions of the cookies. Example, Keebler Grasshoppers are much better quality than Thin Mints now.

[@williamberry4597]

I really, really like the Toast-Yay! cookies. Though I was unable to find any this year.

[@thebestcentaur]

I actually just ordered a box off Amazon! There's like one left, so you may wanna hurry

[@uuzd4s]

I worked for a large U.S. Commercial Airline & a friend (one of the mechanics), sold GSC's every season for his GS daughter until she grew out of it. A few of us always pooled up to buy several cases of GSC's and would just spread the Luv about the Hanger until they ran out a few weeks later. The friend/mechanic's daughter was usually the top seller for any given year. Good Times !

[@nephimcknight5832]

Still love me some Samoas but I swear they used to be much better about 10 years ago or so

[@Blingchachink]

Duh

[@Jason-qx9hn]

I mean, everyone's getting hella huge. Probably due to regulation and cutting corners. The classic outcome. Or it's just expectations. Like games I played when I were 10, aren't the same anymore.

[@starsINSPACE]

I think because of shrinkflation, the cookies keep getting smaller, and this changes the taste....they are crunchier and the layers have less distinction.

[@nicklinn5731]

I see PA in a lot of videos. There should be one video just for companies/snacks from PA. UTZ, Snyders, maybe even more local companies like Middleswarth, Gibbles, and Dieffenbachs. Obviously Hershey can be multiple videos in and of itself.

[@leekshikapinnamneni4835]

What was your least favorite? I think I tried this gluten-free toffee tastic cookie. I feel bad for anybody who has celiac because it’s sad. I also tried the vegan chocolate chip cookies or something like that when they came out. They’re much better vegan options than that. The Girl Scout cookies have definitely evolved, but they have a lot of work to do for people who are on special diets.

[@cherie..cherry]

Omgggg 😂 im not even celiac; but I loved the toffee tastic lol. It’s really dry though, but I love toffee.

[@Kimberly-dt4ko]

Back in the day I sold cookies and then was the mother of a girl selling cookies. In recent years, I have to go in search of a Girl Scout to get my cookie fix. They aren't as easy to find as they used to be. I have to have the peanut butter patties and thin mints. I really liked the lemon pastry creams when they were around. The apple oatmeal bars were a cardboard tasting disaster.

[@musicsmith14]

Interesting that they were originally called Girl Guides. In Canada the Girl Guides also sell cookies, some of which are similar and some aren’t.

[@GotTheBestLigma]

My sister used to have so many boxes of cookies and my mom got so mad because I used to eat the do si dos without telling her 😂 they were so good though and tbf i didn't realize how expensive they were

[@phife1878]

The CEO makes nearly $500,000/yr. That's where the money goes.

[@darren6951]

The CEO of United Way makes over 24 million a year. That's why no one has any food.

[@ArtamStudio]

Non-profit doesn't mean no pay.

[@gmoney4980]

I miss the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, Aloha Chips

[@Seventeen_Syllables]

Trefoils. Best taken with tea.

[@theoldman7739]

I like thin mints but I think kookaburra cookies should come back. They sound really good.

[@sdb9884]

Some of the troops here started cookie drive-thrus in some empty parking lots. Honestly, a great idea when some people don’t bother changing out of pajamas to go pick up food so they don’t want to leave their car. Talking from experience. 😅

[@giraffesinc.2193]

BONUS SUNDAY!!! Weird History Food and the best narrator ever for the channel!!! Thank you! Also, I was girl Scout and remember selling cookies ... my parents were super competitive and bought almost all of mine (but hey, we had COOKIES!)!

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Please do The History of Dairy Queen

[@derek-64]

I work at Dairy Queen so i would be interested in seeing this. Also, Dairy Queen had a thin mint flavored blizzard a little while back.

[@CharliMorganMusic]

Tell me you're from the Midwest without telling me you're from the Midwest.

[@cynsi7604]

Peanut Butter!! 🥳 Was never a Thin Mint lover. Even when I was a Girl Scout in the mid 70s. I think we sold them for $1.25 or $1.50, and WALKED EVERYWHERE to sell them. One thing’s for sure… DANG! those freakin’ cookies have gotten SMALLER! By A LOT!!!! The last time I bought them (around late 90s or 2000s) I swore I’d never spend that amount of money on such a TINY cookie 🍪. Man, how the times have changed & not for the better in the cookie business. 🥺😢 I still miss the Peanut Butter ones from when I was a kid (flavor, taste & size). Nothing taste as good as it did when you were growing up. ☹️

[@r-cdmx]

Now I’m craving my favorite, Trefoils.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! Awesome video!

[@thatonepastan0odle312]

As a Girl Scout, we only ever sold thin mints, and the chocolate/vanilla boxes. None of the other ones

[@CharliMorganMusic]

Those are the best ones.

[@pam8962]

Thin mints dipped in coffee ☕️ yum 😋

[@AshAsh32]

I swear I only used to see the name “caramel delites” then one year “samoas” showed up😂🤦🏾‍♀️. I knew I wasn’t crazy.

[@chrismayer3919]

I got a LOT of faves, but the top tier would be Somoas! (With shortbread a close second)

[@jackmason5278]

Thin Mints! I used to buy a full year's supply during the Girl Scouts cookie drive. Now I can get the equivalent year round form some store.

[@rhonnichan]

I use to be a girl scout as a kid, was so much fun! My favorite cookies are my Savannah Smiles, trefoils, and Lemonades

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks 👍🏼🌹

[@BSReese93]

Tagalongs are my favoite. And Thin Mints a close second, fun fact put them in the fridge, they tease great that way.

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@Alien-oi7zm]

Feeling grateful for having a little sister right now lol

[@gigiw9840]

Keebler also maks thin mint dupes..called grasshoppers or something....oh and I missed chocolate chunk from the 80s

[@JillWhitcomb1966]

Back when my sister sold Girl Scout cookies in the early 1970's, they were 50 cents per box.

[@MrRezRising]

Hey, Byron Powell. Haven't heard that name in awhile. I was never a scout, but the scout's motto, "Be prepared" was rumoured to have been an homage to Byron's initials, BP. Crap you didn't need to know, living rent free in m'melon since 1992.

[@cygnia]

Kookaburras! I loved those as a kid.

[@abbyginge03]

The absolute JUMPSCARE of Steph Pappas in the intro!!!! Crazy to see her popping up everywhere now!

[@jamesmoss3424]

Girl scout cookies 🍪 are always great to eat.😀👍

[@rossallan3585]

The Scout Movement (at least in the UK, where it’s nicely secular) is such a power of good. My parents were heavily involved (Dad received a Silver Wolf a couple of years back, the Movement’s highest award) and so was I by extension. The camps and activities I took place in as a kid opened up things to me too few kids get.

[@Phobero]

They look yummy - wish we had those in Italy

[@Oonagh72]

Have you done the history of soul food?

[@weirdhistoryfood]

not yet, but that sounds like a great topic!

[@dakotac180]

I was a girl scout for 4 years, most cookies I sold one year was 400, I was proud lol. Thin mints and Tagalongs are still my favorite.

[@HayTatsuko]

Now I wanna know what a Weird History Badge would look like! Also, my favorite will always be Thin Mints -- but Samoas are also good!

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Me love those cookies

[@herzogsbuick]

"pig-tailed thin mint peddler" huhuhuhuh i laughed out loud

[@glennso47]

That great pioneer and explorer Sir Lincoln Boone.

[@markcampbell369]

We don’t have Girl Scouts here……but I suddenly want to hop on a plane and buy Thin Mints!

[@MegaCatGirl13]

These cookies are unfortunately a US-only thing as far as I know. I was a girl scout in the Netherlands and I remember being shocked and very jealous that American girls sold cookies. One of my troop leaders brought back a box of girl scout cookies from his trip to the US, but I dont remember which ones...

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

They're still called Girl Guides in the UK, and we don't have the biscuit sales. It's interesting to see how they're so different but so similar too. Btw, it's pronounced "bay-den", not "bad-den". Just a heads-up rather than a nitpick!

[@bellthandian]

Used to love these, but while it goes to a good cause I don't support the use of palm oil and what it's doing to natural habitats which kinda defeat the point. If they would change to a more sustainable oil I'd probably buy a few boxes again. Seems like in the last few years the packs just get smaller and more pricy.

[@WastedTalent-]

We didn't do the door-to-door or parking lot thing. We just gave the catalogues to our mothers and they sold them at work.

[@CharliMorganMusic]

That's not nearly as fun. I like the experience of leaping out of a moving vehicle, sprinting down the street towards the girl scout and her mom waving a Benjamin and loudly asking about their Thin Mint supply. "HEY! YOU GOT THIN MINTS!? I'LL TAKE THE WHOLE BOX!"

[@btetschner]

2:53 The #1 hit for my Sweet Sixteen birthday was "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. "It was ranked first in Rolling Stone's reader's poll for the Best Collaboration of All Time." (wikipedia) Mariah Carey is the best collaborator I have ever seen.

[@CwL-1984]

I haven't seen a girl scout cookie sale in years.

[@jocasja]

I’m eating some thin mints while watching this. Very enjoyable

[@rubicelavargas8793]

Please do a video on the Boy Scouts version of this!! My boyfriend told me all about his experience with the popcorn after we watched this. Thanks!

[@andrabrandon7375]

My faves: Thin Mints & Trefoils. Only ones I buy!!!!

[@howyoudurrinhunneh]

Lemonades are the best

[@jackiegillyard758]

Thin mints, samoas, tag a longs 😋🤤🤤

[@flashmusicarchive9584]

working in the retail sector, our local store accepts girl scout's for making mad cash but our local boy scout troop is popular for selling popcorn in various flavors.

[@DangerDave-e7u]

Weirder than I thought.

[@NostalgicNell]

Doesn’t matter what knock off I try, those thin mints are the best.

[@bryboyce3583]

As a former Cadet Girl Scout, I agree there should be a cookbook

[@evelynmogpo]

Nice humor on calendar 😂

[@Puppetgirl93]

I love tagalong cookies

[@brandonferreira854]

I saw the first Egg Nog of the season today. It made me wonder, how do we have this weird drink? I am a person that loves Egg Nog, but I openly admit it is just a weird seasonal drink.

[@stanleyhape8427]

I was crazy about egg nog as a kid until I overdid it one year, and I haven't been able to drink it since.😕

[@asha_vere]

I thought the cereal was a hallucination or fever dream I had 😂😂

[@ericcarabetta1161]

The Girl Scouts must be the most successful cookie company in the world, and all thanks to free child labor! See? The children yearn for the mines.

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

I hated being in Girl Scouts. It was so sexist!!! We were only allowed to sew and bake and look pretty and sell cookies. 😂😂😂 I never buy them, I never support them, and I never will.😊

[@thetnip504]

@wirdhistoryfood Question...can yall do a WHF video on Boy Scouts Popcorn sale

[@justayoutuber1906]

"My best pickup line ever: How much are those cookies?" - Matt Gaetz

[@evolancer211]

Glad to see Little Brownie as the supplier for California, well at least northern California. Didn't even know about there being two different brands and names, crazy good fact lol

[@hoodmistressreloaded]

We have Little Brownie as a supplier down here in Southern California too, at least here in Los Angeles. I know Orange County gets ABC, according to a local Girl Scout

[@tangerine5903]

Aside from Thin Mints and Somoas, I loved Savannah Smiles. A shame they discontinued them, although with how expensive these cookies have been getting, I probably wouldn't buy them anymore.

[@planecrazy2]

Lemonades are the best.

[@IMadeThis123]

I ordered 4 boxes 6 years ago. Still waiting on my delivery. Damn.

[@SauceBlob]

The girls making calendars 😂

[@tolfan4438]

Right at the get go i have to say i still miss the chocolate chip cookies

[@DavidS22003]

Legend says the boy scouts and girl scouts are both owned by the same company, in fact ive seen boy scout troops many times over the years that also had girls as well

[@fortysomethingbadgirls2173]

The cookie business started right here in Oklahoma...

[@patricianorton3908]

Thin mints!

[@peggywoods4327]

Mmmmmmmm frozen samoas

[@floralinadeglencoe408]

Fun fact: in France girls (and boys) scouts sell calendars, but not cookies. I have no idea if WWII days inspired this…

[@kiniburk]

I never manage to buy enough Thin Mints to last more than 2 to 3 months.

[@jljordan1]

They’re called Caramel delights, peanut butter patties, shortbreads, and peanut butter sandwiches here.

[@agfiend]

Samoas Do si dos Trefoils Thin Mints/Tagalongs