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Camp Fire Girls: Candy and Cookery

6/29/2020

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Camp Fire Girls Heath Bar candy Poster 1970s
Knock Knock! That was a familiar sound at our front door when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s. So many people came to the door---kids looking to play with other kids, the paperboy collecting money, teens selling raffle tickets for school fundraisers, door-to-door salesmen with vacuums, the Avon lady dropping by, moms and dads coming over to share local news, Girl Scouts selling cookies, and the Camp Fire Girls selling candy.
​As an adult today, my front door is much quieter, but the Camp Fire Girls are still going strong and still selling candy for their annual fundraisers. Since 1950, they have sold a variety of delicious candy---peanut clusters, assorted chocolates, butter mints, double nut dips, Almond Roca, mint royales, almond caramel clusters, chocolate mint truffles, P-Nuttles, Heath Toffee bars and miniatures, and most famously, their mint patties.
Camp Fire Girls Candy Sales Kits photograph 1950s
Camp Fire Girls vintage candy boxes merit badges and pins
Camp Fire Girls Box of Happiness candy vintage
Campfire Girls Party Wafers and Peanut Clusters boxes Saylor's candy
Camp Fire Girls Assorted Chocolates boxes
Camp Fire Girls vintage candy Wo-He-Lo Boxes
Camp Fire Girls Mint Patties and Almond Roca wrappers
Camp Fire Girls Pins  Patches Merit badges for candy

But Wait---The Girls Are Famous for More Than Candy
As curator of the Candy Wrapper Museum, naturally my focus has been on the Camp Fire Girls' candy for years, but I recently discovered that there's more to their story when it comes to sweet treats. I began to learn more about them when I purchased this cute cook book from the 1940s featuring a can-do Camp Fire bugle girl. Read on to find out what I learned about campout cooking and how this booklet led me to the discovery of the Camp Fire Girls' other sugary contribution to popular culture, Rice Krispies Marshmallow Treats.
Camp Fire Girls Cookery book 1940s 1950s
Camp Fire Girls Cookery book Hand Measurements
This charming booklet is a guide to campout cooking with recipes with quaint names and directions that are forgiving enough to hold up to being made with only "hand" and "finger" measurements.
After reading this I came to the conclusion that I have been stressing too much over precisely measuring out the ingredients in my own cooking. Next time I bake, I am going to just toss in a finger of fat!
Camp Fire Girls Cookery book Meal-in-one-pot recipes
Now, I realize that some of you are going to judge me for lacking knowledge about the social graces with what I'm going to confess, but I also learned the difference between dinner and supper by reading this guide. I thought they were one and the same, but now I have learned that dinner is the main meal of the day and can be enjoyed at any hour whereas supper is the lighter meal for the end of a long day.
Camp Fire Girls Cookery book A Week of Meals for Camp
You may have noticed reading this that Kellogg's cereal played a role in the Camp Fire Girls' daily nutrition. Makes sense since this booklet was published by the Home Economics Department of Kellogg's Kitchen in Battle Creek, Michigan. But this led me to wonder why? This question led me to find that the Camp Fire Girls were the catalyst that brought Rice Krispies Marshmallow Treats into the world.
​In 1939 a Camp Fire Girls group needed a recipe for an inexpensive treat that could be sold at a fundraiser. Mildred "Millie" Day, one of the group leaders who also happened to work in Kellogg's test kitchen, stepped up to the challenge and created one of the most popular recipes in American history. 
Since then, what Camp Fire Girl campout could be complete without Krispies Marshmallow Bars, as they were called at the time? The Camp Fire Girl Cookery guide provides the original recipe along with variations to be enjoyed depending on what the girls brought along in their knapsacks. 
Camp Fire Girls Cookery book Rice Krispies marshmallow treats original recipe
It's hard to imagine a world without Marshmallow Treats, but here's a video from a 1950s ad campaign enticing America's moms to give them a try. Who could resist the persuasive ways of Woody Woodpecker and 25 cents?
So, the next time you snack on one of these ubiquitous bars, thank the Camp Fire Girls. 

For more Camp Fire Girls candy history check out my article on the Los Angeles Beat.
For more candy wrapper history, visit The Candy Wrapper Museum.
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    Darlene Lacey

    Darlene Lacey began her collection of candy wrappers as a teenager in the 1970s with “Nice Mice.” The Candy Wrapper Museum has since grown into one of the most significant collections of its kind, providing a window into American cultural trends and fads, the history of design and advertising, and a powerful nostalgia trip for those in search of forgotten candy of the past.

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