Scouts

[Marc Chevalier]

a lot of my badges were ... stapled!

While you were wearing the uniform?

 

[Feraud]

I am glad to see this thread has been revived.
My son is a Tenderfoot Scout. He is currently working on requirements for 2nd. Class Rank.
Our troop camps every six weeks. They camp in cabins in the Winter and tents the rest of the year. They spent this past Winter sledding, skiing, and had plenty of snowball fights. I cannot stress what a wonderful experience it is for children (especially city kids) to have access to the great outdoors.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember the changeover from the old Cadette uniforms with the white blouse and green skirt to those awful 70s jumper things, and I was *heartbroken* because they were being phased in right around the time I went into Cadettes. I wore my cousin's old-school outfit until I outgrew it, and could never find a replacement.

I did get the first version of the Cadette vest, though, to replace my Junior sash -- and still have it!

I loved the Scouts -- still have all my handbooks, as well as my Brownie and Junior uniforms, and it amazes me that I was ever that small....

 

[Doc.Freddy]

Thats cool

Hi Matt
When I first joined the Boy Scouts way back in the 80's. My family did not have the money to buy my uniforms, so the troop gave me my first set. Im happy to say that the uniform I was given was from the early 1950's. I was even given the 50's BSA first aid kit, mess kit, and canteen. I felt like the coolest kid at camp. I wish i still had it.

 

[Trickeration]

Hiya Doc! Welcome to the Lounge! The boys said they want to learn to really march so the can do better in the parade next year. Was your uniform like my son's in the picture a few posts back?

 

[Matt Deckard]

Well, Right now I am working putting together a 1940's Assistant Scout Master uniform... problem is all the vintage scout uniform parts i have (except the hats) are 30's.

 

[KCE]

Well, Right now I am working putting together a 1940's Assistant Scout Master uniform... problem is all the vintage scout uniform parts i have (except the hats) are 30's.

This thread needs a bump. Did you ever get this put together?

 

[nobodyspecial]

This scouting museum is near my office and I finally made time to stop in. http://www.nssm.org/default.asp They have a lot of items to catalog and display, they just need more time to get the displays put together. The museum has not been in this location long, it is their first permanent location.

 

[Feraud]

Has anyone seen the new Boy Scout Centennial uniform?
I had a look at it last night at my son's scout meeting. Have to say I was not impressed. The additon of cargo pockets and zip off legs (from the knee down) give the pants a very 80s MC Hammer look.

 

[benstephens]

I have run a 1940s Scout troop for a living history event and have a lot of the uniform of a Scoutmaster circa 1940.

It is actually quite hard to put all the kit together, plus, I had to collect the scouts gear as well.

I also have the uniform regs from the manual if any one interested. Obviously in repsect of the UK Scouts of the time.

BTW I am a warranted Scout Leader

Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[benstephens]

 

[Feraud]

I also have the uniform regs from the manual if any one interested. Obviously in repsect of the UK Scouts of the time.

I would be interested to see it.
Thanks.

 

[benstephens]

Ok, here is the section on uniforms

In reality, uniform naturally depended on the affluence of the area where the scout troop was located. Often, uniform would be little more than the scarf.

Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[Atticus Finch]

Okay, here is one of my proud mom moments. My son in his 1950's Boy Scout uniform! He wants to get an older one going next. He really likes the earlier uniform with the campaign (smokey the bear type) hat. Thanks for letting me share.

Trickeration, I joined the Boy Scouts in 1966. As I recall, my uniform was exactly like the one shown in your post. It actually was a hand-me-down from my older cousin who had joined four or five years before me. Like the one your son is wearing, my uniform was all cotton and had button-down pockets with red piping. It was very comfortable and, no matter how much Mom starched it, it would quickly acquire a very rumpled look after only a few hours of camping.

Our scout master was a former USMC drill instructor from the "old" Corps. He was a fantastic scout master, but he was very strict about uniform appearance. I remember that he made us turn our shirt collar inward so that our neckerchief presented a cleaner line around our neck.

AF

 

[Lefty]

Put me down...

as another Eagle Scout Lounger.

This is the first I've seen of this thread and I'm amazed at the number of Eagles here.

 

[Mike K.]

Count me in too!
Earned my Eagle back in 1985.

 

[Trickeration]

I have run a 1940s Scout troop for a living history event and have a lot of the uniform of a Scoutmaster circa 1940.

It is actually quite hard to put all the kit together, plus, I had to collect the scouts gear as well.

I also have the uniform regs from the manual if any one interested. Obviously in repsect of the UK Scouts of the time.

BTW I am a warranted Scout Leader

Kindest Regards

Ben

I just saw that this thread got going again. Ben, your boys look great!

I know how hard it is to track down period uniform pieces. Here, there were lots of changes and variations in the 40's, largely due to fabric rationing. Boys often had to wear parts a relative's old army uniforms from WW1. Since I volunteer at a living history museum, we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow army uniforms for our boys. Below is a pic of my son's troop. The little guy in the middle is wearing my son's authentic uniform, my son is next to him with the light belt. Normally, they wore the pants with army shirts with vintage scout patches, but this event was really cold so the boys wore WW1 army jackets instead.

 

[T-Rex]

Another Eagle

Add another Eagle Scout to the Lounge, class of '84. I am also the 1988 American Legion National Eagle Scout of the Year.

I really am not that shocked to find so many Eagles here. This forum seems to draw people who "have it together," whatever that means. The old-fashioned bent we have lends itself well to scouting's set of core values.

I am now the scoutmaster of Troop 804 in Glenwood, Florida, and my oldest son just crossed over from Webelos.

 

[MPicciotto]

Count me as another Eagle. Year 2000. Went to the Jamboree once and Philmont twice. One of those times on an Order of The Arrow trail crew. For only like a hundred dollars we got to spend TWO WEEKS in Philmont. Okay so the first week was spent building a trail, moving boulders, hacking up scrub oak the typical. The second week was our hike.

I also spent one summer as a COPE/High Adventure counselor. We stayed in tents that I'm sure were a dead ringer copy of the Officers Small Wall tent. Right down to the smoke flap. But set on wooden pallet like platforms with electric outlets. My tent had Christmas lights and carpeting

Matt

 

[dhermann1]

Underachiever . . .

OK, so not all of us can be Eagle Scouts. In Cub Scouts I was Wolf with a gold and two silver arrow points. (That fact has not popped into my consciousness for probably 30 or 40 years.) As a Scout I remained at the Tenderfoot level for a LONG time, and finally felt myself to be at least a semi-respectable Scout when I made Second class. Needless to say no merit badges. [huh]
It's hard for a kid to do much in Scouts without good troop leadership and support from home, neither of which I had.
My first uniform was a hand-me-down that was about two sizes too large for me, and only the shirt. I improvised the trousers. That was not uncommon in our troop, shirt and kerchief only.
I eventually had the full 50's style uniform.
You could get an interesting thread going on the various neckerchiefs worn. There was a whole world of interesting Boy Scout neckerchiefs out there.
Somewhere around here there's a great shot of my grandfather (same as in my avatar) as a Scout leader, with the campaign hat and everything.