How the Girl Scout Cookie Empire Was Built 

What is your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 😂)

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!

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.

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.”

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

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

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

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

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 !

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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!)!

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.

Please do The History of Dairy Queen

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

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.

Trefoils. Best taken with tea.

Now I’m craving my favorite, Trefoils.

I miss the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, Aloha Chips

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

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

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. 😅

Thin mints dipped in coffee ☕️ yum 😋

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.

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

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

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.

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

Kookaburras! I loved those as a kid.

Feeling grateful for having a little sister right now lol

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.

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. ☹️

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

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

Me love those cookies

good video

Have you done the history of soul food?

A+ video! Awesome video!

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!

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

Thanks 👍🏼🌹

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.

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

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

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

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.

I love tagalong cookies

Samoas are the struggle cookie when they sell out of the good flavors I said what I said 💅🏻✨

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

Weirder than I thought.

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!

They look yummy - wish we had those in Italy

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.

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

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

That great pioneer and explorer Sir Lincoln Boone.

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...

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

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.

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.

I'm sure most people who buy thin mints really want samoas but have convinced themselves thin mints are some less likely to give them diabetes.

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

Nice humor on calendar 😂

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

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

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!

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

Thin mints!

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

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.

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

Lemonades are the best.

Thin mints, samoas, tag a longs 😋🤤🤤

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

Mmmmmmmm frozen samoas

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.

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.

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.

The cookie business started right here in Oklahoma...

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

The girls making calendars 😂

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

Lemonades are the best

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

Dangit. I have been banking for years that the larger org was sucking up the cookie profits and boycotted. If what you say is true, I need to start approaching little girls in the Walmart parking lot again...for cookies.