Did You Ever Sell Girl Scout Cookies?

Thin Mints. Wrapping Paper. Quotas. Did You Ever Sell Girl Scout Cookies?

I agreed to sell ten boxes of wrapping paper to support my high school chorus.

I sold the first box at the tenth house in my neighborhood. I was too shy to enjoy selling, but, doing the math, I figured I only had to call on 100 houses to make my quota.

Lessons in Responsibility

My parents had mentioned frequently how annoyed they were when other parents showed up at work with various things to sell for fund-raisers.

They did not object to buying them. They objected to the parents selling them for their children.

They especially objected to the competitions that children won because their parents sold their items for them, believing that was a poor lesson in achievement.

I knew I would get no help from my parents, so called on 100 houses in an afternoon, and sold my 10 boxes.

Girl Scouts and Thin Mints

Camp Fire Girls were the nature club of choice when I was growing up in Iowa, so I never sold Girl Scout cookies.

But, when I moved to the Washington, DC area in 1971, I discovered Thin Mints.

Girl Scouts have been selling cookies as a fund-raiser since 1917. Initially, they were their own homemade cookies.

By 1936, the headquarters had started licensing commercial bakers to make the cookies.

In 2007, Girl Scouts sold 200 million boxes of cookies.

Many local Girl Scout Councils offer the option of sponsoring boxes to be sent to U.S. service men and women.

Where Does the Money Go?

Prices are standard at $3.50 a box. The local troop gets 10-15% of the proceeds. The local Girl Scout Council gets 50% or more and the cookie manufacturer the balance.

Thin Mints account for 25% of sales, with Samoas next at 19%.

We buy ten boxes of Thin Mints a year and freeze all but the first box. They usually last until March.

Next year, 2012, will be the Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary.

Did you ever sell anything for school?

Greeting cards? Wrapping paper?

Christmas wreaths? Boxes of oranges?

What did it teach you about selling?

Do your children sell things for school?

Your grandchildren?

What do you want them to learn?

To you and the lessons of childhood.

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