The Scots Scout

 

The Scottish Scout in his natural environment very much looking smart whilst on an organized outing.

I do quite like the kilted look of scottish scouts as much as I am very much a short trousered traditionalist at heart.

What happened to tailored shorts in Scouts?

To  some of us of a certain "bone age" one mystery in modern day scouting not least in Cubs was just why from late 1967 did short trousers become an "issue" when in Scouting For Boys B.P. expressly endorsed them even to the point of giving reasons why he felt they were more practical.

From the late 1960's to the end very much of the 80's there was strong level of wearing them in lengths that mirrored school  and yet as we got into the 90's this become uncommon to the point there doesn't appear to be standard design.

Often you'll see sport or casual shorts worn if at all .

In Scouts they were eliminated totally by design.

And yet it is not uncommon to see staff out on field activities wearing them even if it seems to be a line NOT to talk about shorts as if they are some old embarassing legacy when in public settings.

For some of us, this kind of sums up how we see things based upon our own recollections and it isn't that some other groups wear them without issue such as hikers.

Send for your laddies uniform!

 The vastness of some countries such as Canada meant that ordering via a mail order catalogue was a necessity not just for everyday items from institutions such as Eatons but Scouts Canada too for your uniform requirements.

Today many branches of the Scouts do have internet based stores as much as networks of physical shops that stock uniform and related things such as outdoor wear for hiking and so on.

Neckerchiefs

It is a good while since I looked at Wolf Cub uniform as it applies to the Wolf Cub in Spriit like me and this is a new Neckerchief I got in Scout Green from a official supplier  which while new doesn't look out of place.

You cannot talk about neckerchiefs without talking about Woggles and there is concern that the move to plastic woggles for modern day cubs with an eye of 'elf and safety' isn't environmentally friendly so I got a Brown leather one from a person who makes them for scouts in Pelsall, Walsall, here in Staffordshire that is plain like the plastic ones but much better for the environment.

Proper Kit

Your kit bag makes a big difference in your hike from its cubic capacity, choice of material and the quality and finish of the straps.

I like to see canvas bags because while they may not appear to be as 'shiny' initially as synthetic materials do, they do hold up well overtime.

It is also interesting to note the wollen socks which are much better for hiking in, trust me, and the leather footwear.  This Scout would get a A:1 from me.

A salute to Scouting

Proudly taking your salute while at the same time being reminded of your Promise, you look and feel the smartest boy around as over the years you have learnt a lot and have moved on within the scouting family.

This picture also shows just how a smart uniform befits the Scout which is one area I feel the Scouting Association has drifted away from in recent years.

Off to camp

In Scotland it is by no means unknown for scouts not to just wear shorts (or heaven forbid, Longs) but also Kilts as a number of schools do any many weddings feature as well.

Here we have a scout unit gathered ready to travel to Camp for their picture from the 1970's that might of been taken for press or publicity reasons as photography was become more colour in that era but print remained black and white outside of the mastheads of newspapers.

Properly turned out

Apart from the one who appears to have forgotten his cap and different shoes, this to me is what cub uniform means: Having a uniform appearance to the same high standard for each and every cub.

It was the kind of thing that was drummed into us whenever we were out because we are representing something bigger than each other whither or not it was cubs, scouts or school and this contrasts that much with a picture on an activity I showed recently.

Their leader has high standards and personally I'd rather see more of the older uniform, a relatively minor shift from the original Wolf Cub pre 1967 one than what we have today.

The original Scout

As it is Friday, the first full week after the Tumblr of this blog was removed, I thought we'd go back to the beginning looking at the British Scout of the 1930's, very much influenced by B.P's ideas as set out in Scouting For Boys.

Thus you see the hard wearing filed shirt with their buttoned pockets, the brim hats echoing what was worn not just here but in the then Empire, the just above the knee shorts held by the Scout belt which interestingly in the 70's he had the then version of and the grey socks with garters.

Contrast that to the post 1967 Scout uniforms and you'll soon tell what was lost in this colourized picture as it's close to what was worn by Soldiers in warm climates and very practical.

The French Scout

Although the essence of scouting uniform is the same, this one is noticeable different from it's British counterpart in having the old heavier shirt in blue, the Ochre hat and the leather shorts more associated with central Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) than that of most in the North of Europe.

Getting Scouting Association scouts back in shorts over here seems an uphill struggle.

Stateside Cub

It was a long time coming but the 1972 US Boy Scouts uniform did look more obviously a scout one from a British perspective as for many years American boys of the BSA held out for their longs and having the odd idea long socks were for girls which is mo more true than saying ankle socks aren't.

Boys socks never come with bows or geometric patterns in the knit like Pereline girls socks do nor lace trimming!

The Boy Scout

While I have talked a little on here about Cubs and Wolf Cubs the point always was you passed on the next section which is Scouts (or as originally Boy Scouts) from around 10 and half years of age.

This is an actual membership card from 1965 two years before the changes came in so you can see what you would of been given when you handed in your old one upon transition which lists badges you could earn for both Public Service and Proficiency and what by way of aims you are expected to work toward as a Boy Scout.

A boy at 15 would if continuing in Scouting hand this card in for his Senior  Scout Card which historically at least tends to face more challenges from other interests such as films and movies apart from romantic impulses.

Rather like with Wolf Cubs or post 1967, Cubs, the Boy Scout also had annual publications whose content was geared around what you'd need and be interested in to gain your badges as that Boy Scout.

This 1961 edition of the Pathfinder Annual is a good example of one which also shows how pre 1967, the Boy Scout uniform that featured shorts and long socks with garters, just that bit more grown up from his Wolf Cub uniform.

Socks for the Wolf Cub

One topic I haven't actually spoken of on here is socks because it was unusual for the Scout Association to make a stipulation about the exact form although a pack may of had tradition and in the days of Wolf Cubs and Cubs even the shorts were basically the same as you had at school.

One often sees at infant and junior level patterned socks for boys with characters and motifs although some schools do insist on them being a plain colour but one place that still stocks the plainer long sock I wore is Marks and Spencers and they do go to size 4-7 which may fit some (certainly does with me).

These do fit well with 'proper' school type shorts for scouting type activities without drawing too much attention being what I wore for a long time after formal school with ribbing and aren't expensive.

I bought a pack for my activities today.

The older scout

A group of older scouts in Germany looking very smart in their more traditional uniform while talking to each other with the wide brimmed bush hat which is straight out of Scouting For Boys steeped in B-P's own adventures that lead to it.

Thee sense each boy is at ease with each other is telling.

Standards?

While the upper half of their uniforms look smart, honestly you can see why lacking  an actual standard for shorts is a problem because the longer pair aren't really shorts and more akin to cropped trousers and the socks are too short on the two that do wear actual shorts as they don't look balanced.

As for what they've been doing clearly they are happy which is the main thing I guess.

Righting Wrongs II

Anyone who has read this blog knows one of three reasons why this blog exists and as part of that I am putting together a uniform an amalgam of past and present as authentic as it gets for this Wolf Cub in spirit.

This is a genuine contemporary neckerchief from an official supplier  for me to learn to fold properly  and fasten

Purists and traditionalists may well prefer leather woggles which aesthetically they may have a point with but contemporary cubs from which Wolf Cubs were replaced by do use plastic ones today.
I may well get a leather one at some point but I don't like the angular Cubs written in bold designs like what's so wrong with having an actual logo a wolf cub perhaps and "cubs" underneath it?
The main thing me is to work on my dexterity so I can wear it correctly with given my conditions is itself a challenge.

Different packs had and have different attitudes to things like socks so I'm sticking with the old school grey school shorts and school socks that with the green top do look smart.

That for now wraps it up until next time

The Young want tradition!

Recently a young follower submitted this post of them as a Scout (they're in glasses, short and blond) a few years back on a St. George's Day Parade expressing the view that they'd wished they could of been a Scout in the traditional Shorts and Long socks era.

I find it actually interesting that he feels that way because that move in Scouts to longs was one of the products of the Advanced Party Report of 1966/7 which amongst other things suggested that they saw Scouts as "Juvenile" and uncool in the form Baden-Powell set out which lead to the formation of the Baden-Powell Scouting Association because they recognized scouting for what it was and refused to change.

My own feelings are that shorts and long socks at the very least ought to be an option within the Scouting Associations Scouts rather like with the BPSA they have Khaki shorts and long socks being recognized from the outset as more practical and hygienic in the field by BP himself and mandatory in Cubs.
A few Scout Troops have reverted to shorts in the last couple of years mirroring the Grey School Shorts revival in high schools.

My suspicions are that boys like my young follower actually love chunks of traditional boyhood and of having a distinct identity rather more than some adults in positions of authority think, wanting to follow in our footsteps and that's just great.

My message for adults in such positions  like Scout Leaders is to talk and especially listen to them rather than anonymous trendy focus groups.

Pix submitted by "olderboyshortshorts"