Vol. 5, No. 7

"AD-VENTURE" OF SCOUTING EDITION

In this Issue: • Advent of Advertising • Buy It in Boys' Life • Official Catalogs • Jamboree Catalogs • Handbook Advertising

THE ADVENT OF ADVERTISING Since its earliest days, the Boy Scouts of America has offered its members terrific uniforms, camping gear, and everything else they've needed to enhance their Scouting experiences. Of course, that doesn't matter if nobody knows what's available. Clothing and equipment items aren't much good sitting in warehouses and on store shelves. Getting the word out has been the job of advertising. Therein lies a saga spanning more than a century of Scout publications.

The story begins with the first BSA advertisement ever, inside the cover of the 1911 Boy Scout Handbook. It showed two Scouts in outfits made by Sigmund Eisner. A supplier of uniforms for the United States military, the Eisner firm was engaged by the new Scout organization to produce the high-necked jackets and flared khaki pants that would soon be worn by Scouts across the nation.

1911 Boy Scout Handbook and advertisement inside the cover

The 1911 Handbook also featured a twenty page appendix entitled "Boy Scout Equipment" that showed everything from uniforms to whistles, axes, first aid kits, and bugles. The text explained that "In this suggested list of equipment all articles marked with a star may be secured either through a local dealer or by ordering directly through National headquarters in New York City."

First Aid Kit - 1911 BSA Handbook Appendix

Another ad in that early Handbook explained that broad-brimmed felt hats could be purchased at $2.50 for Scoutmasters, $2.00 for Scouts. Of course, a hat that appeared crisp and neat on the page could look a bit different after a Scout had worn it awhile in the field.

BUY IT IN BOYS' LIFE

The BSA began publishing Boys' Life magazine in 1912. The pages were filled with stories of adventure and outdoor skills. There were plenty of advertisements, too.

1913 Boys' Life Magazine

Each issue of the magazine and the handbook showed National Supply Division offerings in the best possible light. A 1920s BSA Handbook advertisement promised that every uniform detail had been tested and approved by experts. At least one of those experts appeared to have been a scientist studying the uniform (or some very tiny Scouts) through a microscope.

Footwear got close examination, too. A magnifying glass in this promotion highlighted the BSA emblem

featured on the soles of official Boy Scout shoes of the 1940s.

Two items that appeared frequently in Handbook advertisements of the early decades were bicycles for Scouts to ride and rifles for target shooting.

The item appearing in every Handbook, though, and most magazines has been the one that has changed the least through the years - the trusty Boy Scout pocketknife.

Take a look at the pocketknife engraved in honor of this year's National Jamboree, and you'll see little difference from the knives of a century ago other than a redesigned can opener and the addition of a pair of scissors.

Not every item offered by companies in BSA Handbooks seemed so well matched to its youthful audience. Take this hair product ad. Does any teenaged boy really want his hair to resemble his father's, even if it has "no objectionable 'patent-leather' look"?

OFFICIAL CATALOGS

To publicize its products beyond magazines and manuals, the BSA issued its first catalog in 1913 and sent a copy to every Scoutmaster. Catalogs are still produced today, their colorful pages full of

adventure, excitement, and things that Scouts are eager to own.

1921 BSA Catalog Offerings

Check out ScoutStuff.org and you'll see that camp drinking cups and eating utensils are much different today. The materials from which they are made have evolved, too, from nickel and aluminum to BPA-free polypropylene.

Cascadian Table Set

JAMBOREE CATALOGS

A special catalog is issued for each National Jamboree, too. The first came out in time for the 1937 Jamboree in Washington, DC.

Of course, there's a catalog for the 2013 National Jamboree.

HANDBOOK ADVERTISING

You can't go camping without a mug. Here is a Handbook advertisement from more than a hundred years ago of Scouts putting their mugs to good use. The ad was for bouillon - concentrated beef stock cubes for flavoring soups and beverages. That might not be your cup of choice, but the joys of Scouting and the opportunities for adventure were as delicious then as they are today.

The current Boy Scout Handbook has just one advertisement, a page in the back of the book directing readers to the ScoutStuff.org web site.

That's the doorway to everything the BSA's Supply Group has to offer for great Scouting adventures. Check it out today!

(This edition of the Be Prepared Newsletter was developed and written by Robert Birkby, author of the current editions of the Boy Scout Handbook, Fieldbook and Eagle Scouts: A Centennial History.)