Mother’s® Cookies have been passed on from one mother to another for generations. From our humble beginnings on a street corner 95 years ago, to the return of our Original Circus Animal® cookies, today’s comeback could not have been possible without our loyal fans.

Here are some of our memorable milestones:
1914 N.M. (Noah) Wheatley runs a newspaper stand on the corner of San Francisco’s Market and Kearney Streets and decides to purchase the rights to a recipe of some home-baked cookies from one of his customers.

Circa 1915 – Wheatley trades in his corner stand and locates at a small one-person operation on 12th Avenue in Oakland, where he bakes about 2,000 cookies each day. His cookies sell for $1 per box and his vanilla cookies were an overnight hit.

Circa 1920 – With help from a young woman named Leopoldine, the bakery grows and a romance begins. Noah and Leopoldine marry and together run the company until their son, Floyd Wheatley, is old enough to take over.

1922 – The bakery needs more space and moves to 18th Street, forcing the Wheatleys to sell their home, and even their piano, to pay for the move.

1949 – Success is sweet and the bakery moves to 810 81st Avenue in Oakland and grows to employ over 750 people across several western states.

1952 – Mother’s® Cookies launches a unique promotion involving baseball player cards inserted in packages of cookies and continues to give them away as promotions at games until 1998. Some of the cards featured early players such as Chuck Connors (star of The Rifleman) and Willie Mays, and more recent major leaguers including Nolan Ryan, Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jose Canseco.

Circa 1980 – TV commercials feature real company employees singing and dancing while baking Mother’s® Cookies.

1983 – Mother’s® Cookies move to the big screen and star opposite Al Pacino in the movie Scarface

2002 – Mother’s® Cookies bakes more than 17 million cookies a day to keep up with demand

2006 – Tough times force the company to close its operation in Oakland and shift production to plants in Canada and Ohio

2008 – Mother’s® Cookies closes its doors

2009 – Mother’s® Cookies return and fans everywhere rejoice