Ubiquitous & overlooked

June 13, 2011 12:10 PM

The Unsung Heroes of Biscuit [cookie] Embossing: On Oreo, Hydrox, and other imprinted cookies. (Also Freemasons.)
posted by shakespeherian (15 comments total)

Oh man, my grandfather worked for Sunshine Biscuits*, maker of Hydrox! To be honest, I always liked Vienna Fingers better.

*purchased by Keebler in 1996.
posted by pinky at 12:23 PM on June 13, 2011

No wonder the Oreo has become the most powerful cookie in the world, with more than 491 million sold to date.

That just doesn't sounds like enough. I mean, I know a guy who I am pretty sure has eaten a million all by himself.

Cool post, thanks.
posted by Rumple at 12:32 PM on June 13, 2011

Hydroxes (Hydra?) are gone? I had no idea.
posted by Curious Artificer at 12:32 PM on June 13, 2011

Late lamented Hydrox cookies indeed. They were a bit crisper, and more chocolate-y. Perhaps best described as Oreos for grown-ups.
posted by Cranberry at 12:39 PM on June 13, 2011

Oh God do I want a cookie right now.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:03 PM on June 13, 2011

That just doesn't sounds like enough.

I'm guessing that's packages, not cookies.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:15 PM on June 13, 2011

Hydroxes (Hydra?)

Hydroces.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:27 PM on June 13, 2011

From the "lamented" link:

Kellogg acknowledges Hydrox still exists in "crushed cookie form" as a mix-in for yogurt and ice cream -- which explains some of the recent sightings -- and in "ground cookie meal" for pie crusts.

This seems bizarre: do they still make them only to immediately crush them? Or do they simply have an enormous stockpile of unsold cookies that they're gradually crushing their way through>
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:23 PM on June 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Very interesting post. And I realized that as the current Oreo design was introduced in 1924, five generations of my family have eaten the same type of cookie. So now it can be a signifier in an 'is it delusional or is it time travel' kind of way...
posted by likeso at 2:56 PM on June 13, 2011

Sorry likeso--it says 1952:
The contemporary Oreo stamp was introduced in 1952, and it has remained unchanged, and, in the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger, “the stuff of legend,” ever since


I just want to run my tongue over every single design.
posted by vitabellosi at 3:35 PM on June 13, 2011

Well, shit. My timeline has been distorted. Now I have to figure out which dimension I'm in. Rats.
posted by likeso at 3:51 PM on June 13, 2011

Biscuit embossing, I just love this post so much. And I love the horse it rode in on, too - that Edible Geography blog is fantastic. Thanks, shakespeherian.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:23 PM on June 13, 2011

Yeah I should mention that Edible Geography is maybe the best thing ever.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:18 PM on June 13, 2011

Wot? No Malted Milk?
posted by genghis at 8:58 PM on June 13, 2011

That Morning Coffee biscuit is great.
posted by DU at 7:10 AM on June 14, 2011