As seen in the March 7 print edition
Zoe Kenealy, staff writer
Girl Scout Cookies went on sale in Los Angeles County beginning in February. At $4 a box, Girl Scout Cookies sell in 12 flavors.
The History
According to the Girl Scouts website, the start of these cookies goes back to 1917 in Muskogee, Okla., when the local Mistletoe Troop needed to raise money. In the kitchens of Muskogee’s Mistletoe Scouts, the first Girl Scout Cookies were made. Originally, the cookies were but simple sugar cookies wrapped in wax paper and sold to family and friends at 25 to 35 cents per dozen. However, come the 1950s, Girl Scout Cookies began selling in three different flavors: Peanut Butter Sandwich, Shortbread and Chocolate Mints (now known as Thin Mints.)
As the years progressed and Girl Scout Cookie manufacturers began to increase in number, the signature names of the cookies came to life, and an array of newer flavors began to appear.
With the three flavors of Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Trefoils selling famously, the Girl Scout organization looked to sharpen the appearance and notability behind the trademarked Girl Scout Cookie. It was in the early 2000s when Girl Scouts modified the appearance of the cookie boxes, packaging the cookies in the bright colors and bold designs of today’s flavors.
The Cookies in Beverly Hills
The cookies are seemingly sold on every corner; in front of grocery stores, in classrooms, at your doorstep — essentially anywhere a Girl Scout can sell her baked treats to consumers.
Senior Sasha Park is a Girl Scout and looks forward to cookie season as it gives her an opportunity to stack up on her favorite flavors and to brush up on her  entrepreneurial skills for the future.
“Whenever it’s time for us to sell our cookies, I actually get most excited because I can buy a million boxes of Thin Mints for myself. It’s the time of year I wait for as a Girl Scout,” Park said. “Also, and this comes with being a Girl Scout all the time, but I feel as if I’m better preparing myself for the future and increasing my people skills and becoming more ‘business savvy’ when I make cookie sales.”
It is not only the Girl Scouts who look forward to cookie season, but also the consumers of the trademarked treats. According to student sources, the allure behind the cookies comes with the wait for cookie season in Los Angeles to begin.
“Well, my favorite flavor is by far the Savannah Smiles. I immediately bought two boxes off one of my friends who is a Girl Scout and finished an entire box for lunch with two of my friends,” junior Myra Molloy said. “I think it’s the fact that they [the cookies] only sell once a year that makes them as tasty as they are.”
Senior Justin Kim expressed a similar enthusiasm toward the cookies.
“Girl scout cookies are what I live for,” he said. “Every year I earnestly wait for the season when I hunt down the girl scouts and stock up.”
The Facts
One hundred percent of the net revenue of these kosher cookies stays within the local council and troops. While the profit is used to fund Girl Scout activities such as trips to museums, community events, etc., the Girl Scouts may also choose to put the earned money toward a Take Action project, which benefits the troop’s community.
If a troop, at the end of the six-to-eight-week period of cookie sales, has leftover boxes, the Girl Scouts organization works with local charities so that the cookies are given to food-relief services.
The safety of the Girl Scouts throughout cookie season is ensured through a set of guidelines. Rules such as mandatory adult supervision in cookie sales must be followed, and all online sales must be made with an agreement to the “Internet Safety Pledge.”