Tis the season for Girl Scout cookie sales, and all across the country, tiny uniformed pushers are camping out in front of markets and big-box stores to peddle their addictive treats. You may think you know everything about Thin Mints and Caramel deLites. Well, here are a few facts that may enlighten you: 
 
 1. The first Girl Scout cookies were sold in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1917, when troops baked cookies and sold them in high schools as a service project. These pioneers had no idea what they had just unleashed on the United States. 
 
 2. The ingredients for a Girl Scout cookie were very simple in 1922: Butter, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking powder. That's a far cry from today's exotic Mango Crèmes with Nutrifusion, which feature a food concentrate made with shitake mushrooms. (Anyone want to bet these won't make a return appearance in 2014?) 
 
 3. In 1933, you could get a box of 44 cookies for just 23 cents. 
 
 4. Life was rough in the early 1940s; not only was there a world war raging, but there were also no Girl Scout cookies to be found. Due to shortages of sugar, butter, and flour, the Scouts sold calendars instead. 
 
 5. Today, one-quarter of all Girl Scout cookie sales are Thin Mints. There's just something about the chocolate and mint combination that is unbeatable (that, and the fact that Thin Mints have the most cookies in a box). 
 
 6. Two licensed bakeries are in charge of Girl Scout cookies: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers. That number has decreased dramatically over the years; in the 1940s there were 29 bakers, and in the 1960s, 14. 
 
 7. Depending on your local Girl Scout council (and which baker they purchased from), your cookies are either creatively named or literal: Tagalongs are also known as Peanut Butter Patties; Do-si-dos are Peanut Butter Sandwiches; and Trefoils are Shortbreads. Ever so slightly bucking the trend are Samoas/Caramel deLites. 
 
 8. If hearing the words "Girl Scout cookies" causes you to salivate, rejoice; you can download a Cookie Finder app to your iPhone or Android to pinpoint exactly where the Scouts are selling. 

 A thief with a sweet tooth got away with about 5,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in storage. 
 
 A thief with a sweet tooth got away with about 5,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in storage. 
 
 The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office is investigating a cookie caper — the theft of about 450 cases of cookies from a warehouse belonging to Carey Moving & Storage of Spartanburg. The company has assisted with the storage and distribution of Girl Scout cookies in the area for 40 years said owner Brian Carey. 
 
 Carey said cookies began arriving at the warehouse on Feb. 15, and employees began doing an inventory on Tuesday and realized that cases of Thin Mints and Shortbreads were missing. The stolen cookies are valued at $18,900. 
 
 "We don't think it was a break in," Carey said. "The warehouse is very secure, with an alarm system and video (surveillance)." 
 
 Cookie sales won't be affected, as the missing sweets were extra inventory and the Girl Scouts won't be charged for them, Carey said. 
 
 "Someone who would do that to the Girl Scouts, it's very disheartening," Carey said. "I was very saddened. We've never had this issue before and our employees undergo background checks and drug tests. My great-grandfather started this company in 1907 and we don't want anything to tarnish our reputation or the Girl Scouts." 
 
 Susan Schneider, director of public relations and advocacy for Girl Scouts of SC — Mountains to Midlands, said the incident will not affect sales at cookie booths in coming weeks. 
 
 "We're still business as usual," Schneider said. "We have plenty of cookies." 
 
 Girl Scout Troop 1013 is planning "Cookie Palooza," a large public event Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Cowpens Town Hall. 5330 N. Main St. The family-friendly event will feature a cookie sales booth with a disc jockey and music, a cookie drive-thru and a goal of selling at least 100 boxes of cookies for soldiers overseas. 
 
 The Girl Scout Cookie Program generated $790 million in revenues last year. It is the largest girl-led business in the country. Cookies will be sold at local retail locations on weekends from now until March 18, according to a written statement from the organization. 
 
 Scout leaders say selling cookies has tremendous benefits for the scouts and their communities and teaches goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. 
 
 Schneider said she is curious about whether someone plans to sell the stolen cookies and pocket the money, or if he or she just really likes Thin Mints or Shortbreads and will eat them all. She said Girl Scouts will be out in their uniforms or other identification selling cookies with at least one adult. Boxes cost $3.50. Some proceeds from cookie sales go back to each community through beautification and other community service projects by the Girl Scouts. 
 
 "I am disappointed that people with a sweet tooth would go to such lengths," Schneider said. "Not only are they short-changing the Girl Scouts, they're short-changing their community as well. I hope we'll find out what they were thinking and what they planned to do with them." 
 
 No suspects were listed on the incident report. The case remains under investigation and deputies are hopeful of catching a thief with his or her hand in the Thin Mints soon, possibly through surveillance footage from the warehouse that has been turned over to the sheriff's office. 
 
 "There is no new information, but our investigator has good information and he is feeling good about the direction the investigation is taking," Lt. Tony Ivey said Wednesday. 
 
 Anyone with information about the missing cookies may call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC.
– Some dastardly criminals out there must really, really like Thin Mints. Thieves recently lifted $19,000 worth of Girl Scout cookies from a South Carolina warehouse, 6 News reports, and they apparently had very particular taste, taking only Thin Mints and Shortbreads. The warehouse owner explained to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal that the cookies began arriving on Feb. 15, and some 5,000 boxes were discovered missing on Tuesday. Maybe the theives were just trying to take the cookies most in demand; Thin Mints account for a quarter of all Girl Scout cookie sales, reports The Week, which collects seven more interesting facts about America's favorite cookies here.