The Girl Scout Cookie sale is a great American tradition! As a Girl Scout Cookie entrepreneur, you join an elite group of millions of girls and women who, like you, have taken part in this fascinating and fun event. You can be proud to be part of such a successful endeavor that so many people know and love. You go girl! So how can the cookie sale help you create your future? Look closely and you'll see opportunities.

So how can the cookie sale help you create your future? Look closely and you'll see opportunities.

The word "cookie" actually comes from the Dutch word "koekje," pronounced "kook-ya," which means "little-cake" in that language. It's believed that the earliest cookies were baked in the 17th century in Persia, which was one of the first countries to cultivate sugar. In England, cookies are called "biscuits," Germans call cookies "keks," and in Italy, they're "biscotti."

When Girl Scouts began selling cookies in the 1920's, they were baked by the girls themselves. The first documented council-wide sale of commercially baked Girl Scout Cookies took place in Philadelphia in 1934. The first national Girl Scout Cookie Sale was held in 1936.

Today, Girl Scouts Cookies are baked in continuous-band, gas-fired ovens that are up to 250 feet long! Here is a shopping list of Girl Scout Cookie ingredients that ABC uses each season: 18 million pounds of flour 12 million pounds of sugar 1.3 million pounds of coconut 1.2 million pounds of peanuts 500,000 pounds of cocoa

ABC produces 3,200 Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies every minute. If the number of Girl Scout Cookie produced by ABC Bakers in a season were laid end-to-end, they would stretch for 12,000 miles - over halfway around the world!

Troops who have booth sales are almost twice as likely to accomplish their goals as troops who do not. There is no other Girl Scout Leadership activity in which as many as 90% of registered Girl Scouts take part.