The Original Oreo

Hydrox is a cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie that debuted in the United States in 1908 and was manufactured by Sunshine Biscuits for over ninety years. Hydrox was largely discontinued in 1999, three years after Sunshine was acquired by Keebler, which was later acquired by Kellogg. In September 2015, the product was reintroduced by Leaf Brands.

The Oreo brand was created in 1912. It offered more creme filling, a sweeter imitation of Hydrox, and eventually surpassed Hydrox in popularity. It resulted in the Hydrox cookies being perceived by many as an Oreo off-brand. The Hydrox name sounds eerily like it is chemically manufactured compared to the cute-sounding Oreo name.

Word Origins

 

*DAISY

One can hope coming generations will show imagination and poetry in the coining of names as in the past in the likes of such words as telephone, automobile, airplane, radio, or television. But consider the common field plant, the daisy. Even a thousand years ago it was observed that the white rays of its flower opened with the rising sun, exposing its golden disk through the day, and folded again in the evening. They called it daeges eage, “day’s eye,” (especially in Australia). Quoting the great philosopher, Drew Barrymore, who once quipped, “Daisies are like sunshine to the ground.”

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)