{"id":86533,"date":"2026-01-14T13:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/86533\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T13:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T13:32:09","slug":"inside-the-history-of-girl-scout-cookies-and-their-philadelphia-origins-this-is-the-birthplace-of-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/86533\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the history of Girl Scout cookies and their Philadelphia origins: “This is the birthplace of cookies”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Girl Scout cookie season<\/a> is here. The long-standing tradition is almost a century old and has its origins in Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Every year, in the beginning of the season, I make a goal,” Lylah Morris, a senior member with the Girl Scouts, said. “Usually, I try and sell like a thousand more than I did last year.”<\/p>\n

It takes not only dedication from these young women but also help from their families and troop leaders to sell thousands of boxes.<\/p>\n

“It’s a team process,” Girl Scout Maci Brown said. “My brothers sometimes come out and help.”<\/p>\n

Troop Leader Dawn Harper-Pinkett added, “We’re all volunteers, so this is just an extra full-time job for us, especially during cookie season, but we love it. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”<\/p>\n

The tradition started 94 years ago when Girl Scouts baked and sold cookies in the windows of the Philadelphia Gas and Electric Company. A historical marker stands today where it all happened near Arch and North Broad streets.<\/p>\n

\"Girl<\/p>\n

Girl Scout Cookies historical marker in Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

“We need to let more people understand that this is the birthplace of cookies,” Troop Leader Carol Harper said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 1936, the Girl Scout cookie fundraiser went nationwide.<\/p>\n

“The sky’s the limit for these girls, watching them set goals and achieve them and set even higher goals for the following years,” Trooper Leader Melissa Theron said.<\/p>\n

“Now we’re at nine varieties with the second-highest-selling cookie, the Thin Mint,” Harper-Pinkett said.<\/p>\n

With nine varieties, a gluten-free option and a new cookie in 2026 called “Exploremores,” Girl Scout cookie sales have come a long way.<\/p>\n

\"Girls<\/p>\n

Girls Scouts<\/p>\n

CBS Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Still, the fundraiser stands for the same thing.<\/p>\n

“This fundraiser really helps them sort of what we say unbox the future. So, it gives them an opportunity to learn a lot of wonderful skills, business skills,” said Kim Fraites-Dow, CEO for Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. “It gives them an opportunity to set a goal and earn money for themselves and for their troop, and also to philanthropically give back to Girl Scouting.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Girl Scout cookie season is here. The long-standing tradition is almost a century old and has its origins…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[40904,28,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-86533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-girl-scout-cookies","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}