Oreos were a status symbol when I was a kid. My mom was an avowed Hydrox fan, so we usually got those when we did splurge on any sort of chocolate cookies. (Fun fact: Hydrox came before Oreos and at one point were considered the fancier cookie.) I was not a Hydrox fan, although I honestly don’t know if that’s because they weren’t as sweet, or if they had fallen out of fashion and all the other kids had Oreos, or if I simply had to play the contrarian to my mom. We were also borderline poor, so while I did always get cookies in my lunchbox, they were usually store-brand chocolate-chip or gingersnaps.

My husband likes to say that when he was a kid his ambition was to have Pepsi in the refrigerator at all times. My version of that probably involved Oreos, although as I got older, my taste for cookies diminished. I got snobby and made my own.

But Oreos still have a certain appeal. They are essential on road trips and hotel stays. Since I eat them in the car, I have spent a fair amount of time looking at the cookie pattern. There are a lot of conspiracy theories about it: The two-bar cross is from the Knights Templar; the dots make a Freemason star. I’m pretty sure these have been pretty well debunked. I remember reading an interview with the Oreo designer’s son a couple years ago (I couldn’t find it, or I’d link) that said basically the guy just made it a highly decorated cookie because the dough could hold the shape.

I’ve also seen things over the years about how the recipe has changed, the flavor has changed, things aren’t as good as the old days, blah blah. That could be true. I have no idea. I still like them. But I also drink milk, which I hear is also a minority taste these days. Your mileage may vary.