The Oreo Turns 100

This Tuesday, the iconic Oreo cookie celebrates it's 100th birthday.  On March 6, 1912, the National Biscuit Company made its first sale of Oreo sandwich cookies, for 30 cents per pound, to a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey.  The current brand owner, Kraft Foods (parent company of Nabisco), enjoyed worldwide Oreo sales, in 100 countries, of more than $2 billion last year.  It is estimated that 491 billion Oreos have been sold since it was first introduced.  It was the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

The original Oreo came in one of two flavors:  lemon meringue and vanilla cream.  The meringue flavor was soon discontinued as the vanilla cream version was more popular.  In 1952, the sandwich cookie we recognize today as the classic Oreo, two crispy chocolate wafers with sweet vanilla icing filling, was introduced.  Apparently, the Oreo recipe is adjusted somewhat around the world to address regional preferences.  For instance, the Canadian version is slightly different than its U.S. baked counterpart.  In China, the most popular version is a green tea ice-cream flavor. In Latin America, there is a banana and dulce de leche-filled cookie.  Last year, Oreos were introduced in Germany, India and Poland.

Some believe that the cookie's name was taken from the French word for gold, "or" (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for mountain, "oreo." Still others believe the name is a combination of taking the "re" from "cream" and placing it between the two "o"s in "chocolate" - making "o-re-o." And still others believe that the cookie was named Oreo simply because it was short and easy to pronounce.

The Oreo is dubbed milk's favorite cookie.  The "twist, lick and dunk" method of eating it is favored by about half of cookie connoisseurs and is more popular among women Oreo eaters than men.  Personally, this Blind Bambi is not an Oreo "dunker", but I am now off to enjoy a tall glass of cold milk and a couple of Oreo cookies to celebrate one of my favorite centenarians.