Photo courtesy www.girlscouts.org.
If you’re keeping a running tally of all the reasons why Oklahoma is awesome, here’s one to add to the list: The first ever Girl Scout cookie drive was organized in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
According to a blog post on the Smithsonian Magazine blog Food & Think, “The earliest known cookie drive was organized in December 1917 by Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Mistletoe Troop. Instead of being sold door-to-door, the baked goods were sold in a local high school cafeteria.”
What’s now a $760 million program began as individual troops baking and selling their own sugar cookies for 35 cents a dozen. Now eight varieties (including the most popular, Thin Mints, which was introduced in 1951) are baked in two facilities.
According to the Girl Scouts website, “The activity of selling cookies is directly related to our purpose of helping all girls realize their full potential and become strong, confident, and resourceful citizens.”
The Girl Scout cookie season begins Feb. 11, with booth sales running Feb. 24-March 25.
—Holly Wall, News Editor
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