Friday, September 6, 2019

Early scouting uniform


We've discussed Boy Scout (and Girl Scout) uniforms here several times, even lamenting the change in the uniform over the decades.  What we didn't have at any point was a good photograph of any of the older uniforms.

So here's one.

I ran across this display recently which shows one of the older pattern Boy Scout uniforms.  I couldn't find my original thread on the topic, so I haven't linked it in, but this would be a post World War One, pre 1950s (maybe pre 1940s) uniform.

It's pretty closely patterened on the U.S. Army uniform of the period, and its not the light green color that came in around World War Two, so I think it predates that.  Of note its khaki colored at a time when most American soldiers wore a green uniform year around. 

A peculiarity is the shirt front.  It's button up all the way, but the external buttons mimic the pull over appearance of the Army shirt that was in use up until the uniforms were changed following World War One.  Pull over shirts are nice but they can be a pain and around that time the Army dispensed with them.  The Boy Scouts did too, but this pattern mimicked the appearance of the pull over.  Otherwise, it's actually a bit fancier, at least in regard to having expanding pockets (the Army pockets were simply enormous).

Also displayed here is a bugle, something that's well associated with the Scouts, and a display on their rifle program of the period.  I believe that they still retain one.

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