The Murky Origins Of The Chips Ahoy! Name

Since they first entered the baked goods scene in the 1930s, Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies have been beloved by cookie fans the world over. The unique chocolate chip cookie recipe was first invented by Sue Brides and Ruth Graves Wakefield, who began selling the homemade dessert at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. Soon, however, the treats began to be shipped overseas in World War II care packages, where American soldiers from Massachusetts shared the goodness with soldiers from other states as well as with Allied forces. Before long, the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies were a popular dessert internationally, as well as the number-one selling cookie in the United States, according to Biscuit People

Nabisco's Chips Ahoy cookies, which take their inspiration from the original Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie recipe, were the first packaged cookies that promised to deliver the same delicious flavor as a homemade cookie. It continues to be one of the most popular packaged cookies on the market, with sales of $619.4 million (per 2017 stats), making them the second best-selling brand of cookies in the country, according to The Spokesman-Review.

While we know that fans love the sweet, chocolaty cookie, no one really knows why Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies were rebranded under the name "Chips Ahoy." While it may be a more fun and eye-catching name, the true origins behind the new name have been lost to time. According to Biscuit People, the most common story is that the name is a play on words, taken from the common nautical expression "Ships Ahoy," although what sailing ships have to do with Nabisco's Chips Ahoy Cookies in the first place remains anyone's guess.

However, some people believe the name "Chips Ahoy" may actually be a reference to a Charles Dickens' story called "The Uncommercial Traveller," which features a character named Chip. In the story, a talking rat taunts Chip about his ship sinking, and includes the passage: "Chips ahoy! Old boy! We've pretty well eat them too, and we'll drown the crew, and will eat them too!" according to Mental Floss. The story was then adapted by none other than Walt Disney, who released an animated short of the same name starring Donald Duck in 1956. Regardless of where it came from, there is no denying that the name Chips Ahoy will now always be associated with everyone's favorite chocolate chip cookie.