Cookies, Camping, and the Coronation

With King Charles III set to be crowned tomorrow, May 6, 2023, journalists and content providers have turned to his mother’s coronation in 1953 for details and comparisons.

Hold onto your Beanie, dear readers, I’m going to link Westminster Abbey, Girl Scout cookies, and Rockwood National Camp. The story begins in Toronto.

Cookies (Well, Technically Biscuits)

W. Garfield Weston grew up above his father’s bakery in Toronto. He spent part of World War I in Great Britain, and after the war convinced his father to expand his business using British cookie manufacturing equipment. The new products were sold as Weston’s English Quality Biscuits. He inherited the business upon his father’s death in 1924 and began producing Girl Scout cookies in 1937.

He grew his single family bakery into a string of of food-service companies with sales of $1.3 billion in 1956. He established the Garfield Weston Foundation in 1958, pledging to donate 80 percent of his family’s wealth to charitable causes.

Westons English Quality Biscuits ad Toronto Daily Star Nov 15 1922
Westons English Quality Biscuits ad Toronto Daily Star Nov 15 1922
W. Garfield Weston
W. Garfield Weston (via Garfield Weston Foundation)

Coronation (1953)

Mr. Weston was also known for his efforts to widen the opportunities of young Canadians. He launched an exchange program between Canada and Great Britain in 1953 when he arranged an eight-week Goodwill Tour of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Paris for 50 Canadian girls. Mr. Weston provided each girl with a new wardrobe, luggage, and pocket money. The girls had lessons on etiquette, the proper way to curtsy, and table manners en route to London.

Weston Tour Girls
Weston Tour Girls

The 16- and 17-year old girls who participated agreed that the highlight of the tour was seeing the procession before and after Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. Maryellen Love, from Cobalt, Ontario, (population 1,500) remembers:

The coronation itself, Love described as nothing she would ever have expected or imagined in her life — witnessing the entire coronation on large screens that showed inside Westminster Abbey, where the new queen was being crowned.

Screen Shot 2023 05 05 at 1.34.15 PM
Maryellen Love with her coronation souvenirs

“It was so elaborate. There was a parade and a golden coach,” said Love. “It was a cold and damp day, but luckily we were protected form the elements sitting in the stands. And here I am, with a little camera and video camera, trying to take pictures and film the royal coach to bring back home for everyone to see… and you know, within seconds it was all over.”

Oakville Beaver (May 31, 2012)

The coronation trip was also an intensive bonding experience for the girls. Surviving members stayed in touch and gathered to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2003.

While in New York City in January 1954, Mr. Weston was invited to visit Girl Scout national headquarters. Impressed with the Girl Scout program, he donated $25,000 specifically for a new, winterized lodge at Rockwood National Girl Scout Camp in Potomac, Maryland.

Camping

As a national center, Rockwood often tested new ideas for products and programs, such as flexible building configurations.

Weston Lodge featured a folding partition that allowed two small groups to share the lodge, if desired. Rockwood staff were invited to make suggestions for the name of the new unit. Assistant Director Jackie Collins suggested two names, one for each half—Weston and Easton. She was outvoted.

Weston Postcard
Weston Postcard, Marler Estate

Weston Lodge was formally dedicated on May 1, 1954.

The ceremony began promptly at 2 pm and took place in front of the lodge, which sat on a hill at the northern edge of the camp. A chorus of 15 Intermediate-level girls sang “America the Beautiful,” “Swinging Along,” and “Girl Scouts Together.” The singers were smartly dressed in a new, alternate uniform. Instead of a light green dress, they were wore crisp, white short-sleeved blouses, dark green skirts, dark green wool berets, and a mixture of red and green scarves tied at their necks. Sashes in the same dark green fabric hung from their right shoulder to their left hip. Every girl had a freshly polished pair of black and white saddle shoes and white anklets. A quintet of three flutes and two clarinets accompanied the singers.

Two Senior Scouts hold a plaque that reads: Weston Lodge 1954. A mix of approximately twenty-five Girl Scouts stand behind them outside Weston Lodge.
Weston Dedication, May 1, 1954

After everyone recited the Girl Scout Promise, the traditional Blessing of the House ceremony began. Written in honor of Edith Macy and debuted at the dedication of Camp Edith Macy in 1926, the ceremony is performed by a chorus and has three speaking parts: The Light Bearer, The Fire Bearer, and the Feast Bearer.

A choir and small woodwind ensemble of a mix of age levels performs a Blessing of the House ceremony outside Weston Lodge. An Adult Leader conducts the choir. There are Senior Scouts shown in white gowns holding a candle, bread and bowl.
Weston Dedication May 1, 1954

The young women with the speaking parts wore flowing white Grecian robes and wreaths of flowers on their heads. The Light Bearer carried a tall, lit white candle; the Fire Bearer brought a bowl of fire, and the Feast Bearer offered a shining bowl piled with grapes, apples, and bread. Each offered a verse of dedication, with the Light Bearer concluding, 

God bless this house from thatch to floor.

And they who enter at the door blessed let them be.

Two uniformed girls then stepped forward to present a large wooden plaque carved with the words “Weston Lodge, 1954.” Finally, everyone sang “Bless This House,” and adjourned for tea.  

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a rustic building
Weston Dedication, May 1, 1954

Weston Lodge was extremely popular for troops. Eighty-one troops—1,447 individuals—used the new building in its first year. Adult groups tried to avoid it, however, as residents slept on mattresses on the floor, not cots.

The name was eventually changed to “Weston Hill,” so guests would not be surprised by the steep climb to the unit. Girls hated the trudge up the hill during the sticky summer months, but it was perfect for sledding in the winter.

Mr. Weston donated another $25,000 in 1970 that was used to renovate the lodge.

Developers razed Weston Lodge after the camp was sold in 1978. However, the name and the connection continue, with one of Rockwood’s three bunkhouses bearing the name.

© 2023 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian

Girl Scouts Vote on Marijuana

(Updated on February 13, 2023)

From today’s Washington Post:

WP GS Pot Cartoon
WP GS Pot Cartoon

Today, voters in five states will determine whether or not to decriminalize marijuana use by adults age 21 and older. To date, 37 states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws. /

The legalization trend has had unintended effects on the Girl Scouts, especially Girl Scout cookies.

Girl Scouts and Marijuana?

Not words you often see in close proximity.

Hand-drawn marijuana leaf on green circle of fabric
A curious Troop’s Own badge from my collection

The Girl Scout cookie program is not a fundraiser, in official Girl Scout materials, but a way to foster entrepreneurialism in young women. Ahead of sales, troops set sales goals, apply for cookie booths (usually assigned by lottery), and create their own decorations, slogans, and signs.

As legal marijuana dispensaries opened across the country, a few Girl Scouts did their research and saw an untapped market.

In 2014, a San Francisco Girl Scout set up a cookie both outside a medical marijuana dispensary and did a booming business. Pre-Covid, a Chicago troop used a similar location. Last year, the pot and cookies combo came from Walled Lake, Michigan. Weekend cookie booths outside the Greenhouse of Walled Lake establishment sold more than 1,000 boxes.

When these news stories began to circulate, GSUSA stepped in. They had no problem with the booth locations. But selling products bearing the Girl Scout name was another matter.

We Don’t Like Those Girl Scout Cookies

For many years, “Girl Scout Cookie” has been a popular strain of marijuana. So long as the botanical remained banned, Girl Scout officials chose to ignore the trademark infringement. Any legal action to prevent use of the name would only give publicity to the offending product.

But with legalization, the issue had to be addressed. The increased access to marijuana “edibles” crossed a line. Baked goods are Girl Scout turf. GSUSA released the following statement in 2017: 

We were recently made aware of local dispensaries using the Girl Scouts trademarked name, or a variation of our trademarked name, to sell their products. In January, dispensaries in California were issued a cease and desist letter from Girl Scouts of the USA for trademark infringement and have removed the product in violation from their shelves. “Girl Scout Cookies” is a registered trademark dating back to 1936. Our famous cookies are known the world over for their delicious flavor and we do not want the public to be confused by unauthorized products in the marketplace.

Medical Marijuana Inc.

Representatives of the marijuana industry were not alarmed by the cease-and-desist letters. “We knew it was coming,” admitted the executive director of the Magnolia Oakland dispensary.

We come from the grow room, not business college. There’s a learning curve to business practices and we are becoming more sophisticated lately, but it’s something people should’ve known, there’s no excuse.

Debby Goldsberry, Executive Director, Magnolia Oakland Dispensary

This isn’t the first time the Girl Scouts took action regarding marijuana.

Girl Scouts Vote Not to Decriminalize Marijuana

When the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, enacted in 1971, lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, the Girl Scout program offered initiatives that would help girls to become informed voters. One initiative convened fifty years ago.

Red, white, and blue patch showing the female symbol, American flag, and a smoking pipe.
Petticoats, Pot, Politics Patch

In 1972 the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital sponsored “Petticoats, Pot, and Politics,” a Wider Opportunity (Destination) for Senior Girl Scouts. One hundred girls aged 14-17 from across the country joined 25 girls from Nation’s Capital for two weeks of political debate at Trinity College in Washington, DC.

The local delegates helped design the program, selecting current issues with particular relevance for teens.  They passed several bills, including one requiring sex education to be taught in school, but defeated a proposal to decriminalize marijuana, instead calling for possession to be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Uniformed Girl Scouts meet president's daughter.
Conference chair Beaulah “Boo” Law meets Julie Nixon Eisenhower (Leader Magazine, March 1973).
Teen age Girl Scout reading booklet on "The American Woman"
From Leader Magazine, March 1973

The experience ended with a reception at the White House attended by First Daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhower, who declared that she agreed with the girls’ position on marijuana.

Girl Scouts–at the forefront of change.

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1990s

Counting down to the 110th birth of the Girl Scouts of the USA on March 12, 2022.

Four Memorable Moments from Girl Scout history in the 1990s. How many do you remember?

Bronze Award Created

When the Gold and Silver Awards were introduced in 1980s, Junior Girl Scouts asked “What about us?”

Explanation of Girl Scout Bronze Award
Leader magazine, Summer 2001

Daisy Pin Redesigned

The original Daisy membership pin was redesigned in 1993 to incorporate a trefoil shape.

Round green pin with daisy flower
Original Daisy Pin
Gold pin with flower center
New Daisy Pin

Cookie Pins Introduced

If cookie patches and cookie badges weren’t sufficient recognition for the venerable product sale, Girl Scouts of all ages could earn a cookie pin. The program ran from 1998 through 2019, when the current Cookie Entrepreneur program launched. So far the Entrepreneur pins seem to be durable. The first cookie pins were plastic and may have come from a gum ball machine. GSUSA soon switched to metal cookie pins, these were also cheap. One good sneeze and they all broke apart.

Box of Girl Scout cookies with pins spilling out
Past cookie pins

New National Headquarters

GSUSA’s Manhattan headquarters relocated from 830 Third Avenue to 420 Fifth Avenue in 1992.

Blue and white patch with letters reading Girl Scout national headquarters in New York
Souvenir Patch
History by Decade 1990s
History by Decade 1990s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scout Cookie Queens and Princesses

As Girl Scout Cookie season winds down, who will be crowned this year’s Girl Scout Cookie Queen?

Today, top-selling Girl Scout cookie entrepreneurs can earn special patches, trips, laptop computers and more. Seventy years ago, there were fewer prize options, but top sellers became royalty.

via GIPHY

During the first 50 years of selling cookies, there were more bakers, fewer flavors, and almost no patches for the girls. What did these Girl Scouts earn instead–a crown!

The top seller in a town or council won the coveted “Cookie Queen” title. Other super-sellers might be honored as “Cookie Princess” or a member of the queen’s court.

Small-town newspapers covered the cookie coronations in detail and ran photos of the winners.

Cookie Princess Patches 1
Cookie Princess Patches
Sepia-toned photo of Girl Scout troop from 1940
Bismarck North Dakota, 1940, Historical Society of North Dakota
Girl in homemade cloak being crowned by another girl
The Indianapolis Star, Apr 30 1939
Newspaper photo of three girls dressed in homemade crowns and robes.
Norfolk [OK} Daily News, Oct 30 1950

How many boxes of cookies would a girl need to sell to be crowned? The simple answer is “the most.”

Young girl wearing sweeping cape decorated with Girl Scout symbols
The Indianapolis Star Sat May 7 1938
Wausau Daily Herald Sat Mar 27 1954
Wausau Daily Herald Sat Mar 27 1954

Not all newspaper stories mention sales figures, and some totals are given in “dozens” instead of boxes. But it looks like 100 boxes would be enough for a crown in the 1930s and 1940s, rising to 500 in the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s, patches became the standard.

Cookie Crumbs, my online museum of Girl Scout cookie prizes, shows the proliferation of patches over time.

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scout Cookie Season Approaches

Girl Scout cookie season is approaching in the Nation’s Capital, and young entrepreneurs are preparing with cookie conventions.

Several hundred girls descended on Camp Potomac Woods on a rainy Saturday in October for a Girl Scout Cookie season warm-up.

Girls rotated through six stations where they learned about goal-setting, marketing, and sale etiquette.

The Nation’s Capital Archive and History Committee had its own station where girls and leaders could learn about past local sales, vintage prizes, and Girl Guide biscuit sales.

Booth with Girl Scout cookie memorabilia
Booth Wide

Display Case of colorful Girl Scout cookie patch pins
Display Case
Selfie Station with Girl Scout cookie cartons and patches

We set up a selfie-station where girls had their picture taken in front of a quilt made with vintage cookie patches or holding (empty) cartons from long-gone flavors.

Cookie Quilt Close Up

Troop moms especially enjoyed searching the quilt and pointing out which patches they had earned selling cookies.

Brown monkey swings on green vines

By far the most popular attraction was a prize from the 2002 Little Brownie Bakers sale. With a monkey mascot that year, Little Brownie offered their own version of the Barrel of Monkeys game. Girls stood in line to try out this low-tech toy.

Girl in brown vest playing with barrel of monkeys game
Cookie Monkeys

Cookie sales are staggered across the United States. The Washington DC area usually begins around January 1.

Need cookies? When in doubt, try the handy Cookie Finder at https://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies.html.

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Masks? Who Needs Masks?

Today you cannot turn on the news or surf the internet without seeing plea upon plea for face masks to protect health care workers during the Covid-19 crisis.

Groups across the country have sprung into action, sewing masks while quarantined at home. Girl Scouts are doing their part, collecting materials and sewing masks themselves. Troops across the United States are sending cases of cookies to hospitals and other health-care centers.

Girl Scouts have provided war-time service since the movement was founded in 1912. When the United States entered the World War I in 1917, girls distributed sandwiches to soldiers passing through town, raised homing pigeons destined for the front lines, and made bandages for the Red Cross.

Girl Scouts dig a victory garden behind the DAR Hall in Washington, DC, 1917

Local Girl Scouts also jumped in to help when another mask-related emergency occurred.

The March 1918 edition of The Rally (the first Girl Scout magazine) introduced a Girl Scout War Service Award to “stimulate thoughtful direct effort that would have a distinct value to those in the war.”

To earn the award, girls had to knit two pounds of wool, make 50 jars of jam, and sell at least 10 Liberty Bonds. 

The Rally also directed Girl Scouts to collect and dry fruit pits and nut shells:

A CAMPAIGN FOR PITS

Gather up the peach pits,

Olive pits as well.

Every prune and date seed

Every walnut shell.

The "Peach Pit Champions of Washington, DC, collected thousands of peach pits for the war effort.  From left: Lillian Dorr, Troop 60; Helen Collier, Troop 33; Eva Tarslush, Troop 60.  (The Rally, March 1919.)
The “Peach Pit Champions of Washington, DC,” collected thousands of peach pits for the war effort. From left: Lillian Dorr, Troop 60; Helen Collier, Troop 33; Eva Tarslush, Troop 60. (The Rally, March 1919.)

The magazine article explained that “200 peach pits or seven pounds of nut shells produced enough carbon for one filter for a solider’s gas mask” (GS Collector’s Guide, p. 87).  With the German military deploying highly toxic chlorine gas against the Allied troops, the Red Cross and other organizations launched peach pit collection drives across the country, according to The Atlantic magazine.

The Girl Scouts rose to the occasion, and three Washington, DC, Girl Scouts — all under age 13 — were declared “Peace Pit Champions.”

Hopefully we won’t have to resort to fruit as protective gear but if so, the Girl Scouts are ready.

Many troops had to cancel cookie booths due to social distancing. You can purchase cookies online and have them delivered to first responders, food banks, or yourself!

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scout Cookies, 1957

It’s Girl Scout Cookie time in the Nation’s Capital, as well as around the country.

Troops will still deliver in person, like these girls from Fairfax County Virginia in 1957, or they can arrange to mail them to you.

Fairfax Virginia Girl Scouts hit the road to deliver cookies in 1957 (GSCNC archives)

Can’t wait that long? Enter your Zip code on the Girl Scouts of the USA website to locate a booth near you!

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scout EXPO 2019

The 2019 GSCNC Expo is History!

Green bordered patch reading Expo 2019, Girl Scouts Nation's Capital

The Saturday, November 16, 2019 event was truly one for the record books.

9,000 girls explored the Dulles Expo Center in three-hour blocks. There was singing, archery, tent-pitching relays, robotics, book signings, and, of course, history.

The Archives and History Committee ran a booth with history-themed games. Linda Paulson taught girls how to play “Name that Cookie,” answer council history questions, and match new badges with their vintage counterparts. Girls received a “vintage” patch prize from our surplus. Most were excited to realize that the patch was older than the girl!

History-themed games

The booth also had a collection of Girl Scout dolls and displays about founder Juliette Gordon Low. Our own Susan “Daisy” Ducey posed for photos with girls all day.

Girl Scouts met their “founder,” Juliette Gordon Low (photo by Lisa Jackson)

But the Council History team didn’t settle for just one little old booth. No, not us! We also provided international uniforms on mannequins for another booth.

We proudly watched Archives Program Aide Vivian moderate a presentation.

Archives Program Aide Vivian (left) hosted one discussion session (GSCNC)

We welcomed our own special guest, Margaret Seiler, who told stories about her Great Aunt Daisy. Her presentation helped younger Girl Scouts understand that Juliette Gordon Low was a real person, not just a character in a book.

Last, but hardly least, we organized three vintage uniform fashion shows, one show per session. Ginger Holinka fitted girl (and a few adult) models on the spot, while Julie Lineberry emceed the show. Members of the audience gave special applause for “their” childhood uniforms and came away understanding how uniforms changed in response to fashion trends, war-time shortages, new fabrics, and the need for girls to move, move, move.  

The Committee owes a deep debt to Lisa Jackson and Dena McGuiggan Baez, leaders who found replacement uniform models when others dropped out at the last minute. They saved the show!!

The last Council Expo was held in 2006. Many people have asked why it took so long to organize another. After Saturday’s experience, I know I will need at least 13 years to recover. But maybe I’ll pencil another one in on my calendar, just to save the date.

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Out with the Old and in with the New, part 1

Exhibits, that is. That probably isn’t the best headline for a history blog!

The Archives and History Committee recently changed the exhibit at the Nation’s Capital Council headquarters.

After two months on exhibit, we dismantled “Badges and Biscuits.” This theme covered Girl Guide badges and product sales. It also coincided with our cookie sale and World Thinking Day (February 22).

Girl Guide Badges

The badges date to the late 1950s and early 1960s. They had originally been presented to the former Rockwood national Girl Scout camp by visiting Girl Guides. When that facility closed in 1978, GSUSA left them behind, and they made their way into our council’s collection.

I discovered them wrapped in paper and shoved in a box a few years ago, and I have been looking for an opportunity to share them.

Unfortunately, the foreign badges had been affixed to lengths of burlap with some sort of space-age polymer. I used heat, alcohol, acetone, a jackhammer, and sticks of dynamite to remove them. (OK, not the last two, but I was seriously contemplating it.)

After nearly a week, I had them all removed. I remounted them on 12″x12″ scrapbook paper so that they could fit into frames for display now and stored into scrapbook-sized envelopes after.

I was delighted with the results:

Girl Guide Biscuits

We filled one display case with the Girl Guide badges, the other was devoted to Girl Guide cookie sales. We also had some Girl Guide cookie patches to tie the theme together.

I learned a lot from Girl Guide websites and historians. I stuck largely to English-language sources, so the examples are drawn from a small number of countries.

UK and Ireland

Nope, not in the UK

British Girl Guides do not sell cookies. The Girl Guiding historians I contacted seemed quite proud of this fact.

In contrast, Irish Girl Guides only began selling packets of chocolate chip biscuits in fall 2017. Officials introduced the new program to help “change the imbalance of the number of women in decision-making position across the various sectors of society such as businesses, companies, and boardrooms around Ireland.”

Canada

Canadian Girl Guides have two categories of cookies (sandwich and mint). One is sold in the fall; the other in the spring.

They also have an impressive cookie badge curriculum that includes lessons on the history of their cookie sales and samples of vintage posters, cookie boxes, and other memorabilia.

Canadian Girl Guides

Australia and New Zealand

Australian Girl Guides have sold cookies for decades, but they are limited to one weekend across the entire country. Think of one mega booth sale.

Australian Girl Guide Cookies

Girl Guides in New Zealand kicked off their first biscuit sale in 1957, which grew to selling 28 million boxes per year. But March 2019 marked the last national Girl Guide biscuit sale in New Zealand. The organization plans to seek new fundraising programs for the future as biscuit sales provided one-third of its budget.

Vintage New Zealand Girl Guide poster

Keep following the Girl Scout History Project to see our latest installation!

©2019 Ann Robertson

Narwhals, Leopards, and Cookies, Oh My!

The 2019 season is nearing its end, with a heated contest for the Narwhals and Clouded Leopards.

Am I talking about NCAA basketball? The Super Bowl, World Series, or some national team mascot showdown?

No, it’s time to wrap up Girl Scout cookie season for 2019.

Each cookie baker has an annual theme with a mascot that shows up in promotional materials, cookie patches, and other incentives that girls earn for selling various amounts of cookies.

This year it was the ABC Narwhals against Little Brownie Bakers’ Clouded Leopard.

ABC Narwhal
Little Brownie Baker’s Clouded Leopard

Each baker has a motivational theme associated with its yearly sale (Inspire, Imagine, Innovate! and Go for Bold!), but you need a mascot to use for a cute plush incentive. (Although I do wonder about that horn on the narwhal, seems more hazardous than cuddly.)

The mascots even have names!

Nellie Narwhal has an identity crisis. Some councils call her “Sparkles”

Tradition of Prizes

Cookie incentives are almost as old as cookie sales themselves, but most councils originally applied cookie profits to summer camp fees. Some councils offered patches or charms to sellers. I still remember the goal I set for my first cookie sale–enough to attend day camp free. The pride of “earning it yourself” is behind all incentive programs.

Cookie prizes from the 1960s (author’s collection)

When Girl Scouts of the USA consolidated the cookie program into a handful of national bakers in the 1970s, the companies introduced annual themes and mascots. Burry-LU’s animal series is perhaps the best known, not just for its bright colors and easily recognizable design, but for a few “what were they thinking?” selections.

My poster “wall of shame,” according to my family

Prize Proliferation

The number of patches has grown exponentially since the 1990s, as councils, bakers, and some third-party vendors have jumped on the bandwagon with offerings related to the annual theme.

Visually similar patches with absolutely nothing to do with cookies, such as early registration, have been added to create a yearly set of patches.

Compare, for example, 1972 with 2015-16.

Cookie patches from 1972 (Cookie Crumbs)
Cookie patches from 2015-2016 (Cookie Crumbs)
and they keep coming!! (Cookie Crumbs)

And there are patches for adults, too!

Girls’ Choice

The patches and other prizes are fun and appealing to many Girl Scouts. Many consumers may not realize that the girls have a say in the marketing program as well.

In most councils, older Girl Scouts (middle school and high school age) can opt out of the incentive program in return for a higher profit per box. This is especially appealing for girls and troops saving up over several years for a big trip. After all, a girl can use only so many sparkly pens. (Opt-out girls usually still receive some patches.)

Girls also have a say in selecting the mascot for the next cookie season. Some councils allow all girls to vote, others may use a more limited random sample, but the principle of girl-led carries through.

Little Brownie Bakers ballot for 2018-2019. Are Macaws and Frogs really “furry”?
Cookie mascot options for 2019-2020 from ABC Bakers

For more on cookie patches and prizes over the years, see Cookie Crumbs, my web archive.

©2019 Ann Robertson