MDScoutMom

Actually, my son has worn the WWII uniform quite a few times - our family all reenacts WWII and he portrays a WWII Boy Scout of his current rank. He has not been able to wear his original items lately because he outgrew the shirt he wore & I can't find a larger one. Depending on how he feels, he will wear the pants or the britches. I am amazed by the quality of the workmanship on this old clothing compared to that of today.

Thanks, I've seen these for my son's WWII Scout living history impression. I have a lot of BSA WWII stuff, including catalogues that are good reference. Email me or post here if you are interested in anything.

"A few minutes later one of the new Webelos walked in all alone and sat down. When his Mom didn't pop in after a few seconds, I asked where she was, and he said when she saw my car was already here she just let him go in and said she'd be back in 45 minutes."

--- I did that ONCE and promptly had a "talking to" when we picked up my son. Now that I am an adult leader as well for my son's troop and had to take the YP, I know why.

"Cub Scout den meetings are intended to be an activity for the individual boys. They are not a family activity, and the presence of parents can be a distraction. However, parental involvement is not forbidden and all meetings should be open to your participation. If you would like to be present at a den meeting, ask the den leader in advance so that the leader can plan a way for you to observe or participate in an unobtrusive manner."

--- They should post this or hand it out to all new Cub parents. I remember when my son was a Cub I was always at his meetings because I don't drive and was dropped off. But more than one parent in the den would do the son's project of the week for him. Pack meetings? Yeesh, they were parental competitions!

"100th Year Anniverysary patch with all the Ribbons"

--- I wasn't even aware of that one. Darn, that's what I get for not visiting here more often. Oh well, he is happy that he got the patches from going to the Star Spangled Jamboree.

December 31, 2010 is just around the corner, so I'm sure there are a lot of busy scouts trying to finish up at least one of the centennial badges or more. I think the program was a success.

I am really proud of my own son who received his Pathfinding and Signaling MB's at last week's COH, making him the only one in his troop to all four badges. We can now send morse code messages to each other, LOL!

Ours cost $1300, but we are the Baltimore Area Council. Just packed up the trailer like any regular event and drove down, so transportation costs were not an issue. Also, the boys came right home, no DC visitation (at least for our troop). Our troop can really do that anytime they want, as it is only about 45 minute train ride right into the heart of DC. I don't know what it included because I did not have the funds to send my son to the jamboree.

However, I did take him down to DC to visit the Adventure Base 100; no comparison to the jamboree, but was fun enough for something to do and was FREE. We saw many other Scouts down there walking around in the Smithsonian museums we went to and I had to wonder something - was or is there some type of arrogance amoung the Scouts who were lucky enough to have parents who could afford the jamboree and could go? My son was in his uniform and several times tried to talk to them and even salute one who was senior (Eagle), with no response. Well, he did get one grunt. Anyway, they were extraordinarily rude and poor Scout examples, IMHO.

Has anyone tried these instead of the thin ones? Do they convert into shorts just the same? Also, do they have the zippers at the bottom?

I know that the *vintage* (yes, I see them called that) ODR canvas pants were a lot more sturdy IMO and it took a real bad spill on the pavement for my son to tear them (even then, they could be easily fixed). I was thinking about getting him a set of those, especially come winter.

Just looking for opinions and experience, thanks.

Buffalo Skipper~

Boy, you bring back memories! I grew up in Chicagoland and was so accustomed to all the Polish influence. When I moved out to Maryland I must have stopped buying lunch ham at the deli for 6 years until someone realized what I was asking for when I requested Polish ham (they refer to it as imported ham out here). My best friend through life is the daughter of Polish immigrants and her mother got so used to me she would speak to me in Polish, LOL.

I would say that the Midwest region might be able to help you or maybe you send an email to Mitch Reis and see if he knows of any sources or could locate one for you. If you exhaust all avenues without success, would they allow you to have one made by an embroidery shop?

Don't feel bad though, I doubt my son could earn an interpreter strip for his language of interest: Latin. Not unless he needs to talk to Caesar....

When did they start putting the necker under the collar? I know that at least up to and during WWII it was always worn over the collar. I'm assuming that when the collarless came in, there was only one way to wear it and then when they returned with collared shirts the guys had the over/under option. Maybe those that first wore them under the collar did so somewhat like a man wearing a tie? I'm just guessing. But if the collar on centennial shirt bothers anyone, I guess you could say that since it represents 100 yrs the Scouts should wear the necker over the collar as they did in the beginning, thus hiding the collar.

Funny, I never thought of the collarless shirt as a v-neck, the instant I first saw it I thought of baseball uniform shirts. Even today, I think they might be a great option or addition to the class B uniforms, especially if made of some material that wicks away the sweat of summer.

Well, I have done just that....Scouting into school.

I homeschool my son, so I use some of the merit badges for school work. For example, combining the three citizenship badges has made for a real good 7th grade Social Studies course and when we complete the course, that's three Eagle req's done!!

I'm sorry to say that I don't think you are going to find someone of that age, and I don't know if this guy is still with us but he was 96 last year:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Illinois-Man-Honored-as-Oldest-Living-Eagle-Scout.html

I remember reading about a 105 yr old man that died fairly recently who was awarded his Eagle shortly before he died as WWI had forced to not be around to get it (although he had completed all the necessary work for it). It was on one the Scouting online sites, maybe Scouting News online.

If he would be able to settle for a man who earned the Eagle just prior to WWII, he would have a greater chance. My son portrays a WWII Scout for WWII reenacting and we all attend many events where there are veterans. He always gets a few that come up to him and say, "I remember wearing that uniform! Do your best to get that Eagle badge!" So my suggestion would be to call some veterans organizations like the American Legion and see if they know of any.

If that would not work out, go on the NESA site and get the name of some Eagles from that time period and see if they have any sons or daughters who know anything about their dad's scouting history. I know my husband's grandfather would have filled your need perfectly but he died long ago. Still, Scouting was very important to him.

Good luck.

I find it ironic that the book still teaches first using the neckerchief to make a sling and other things and in order to do so you need the full size. But so many troops don't wear a neckerchief at all and if they do, it is rare to see them wearing them out camping, when they would be most likely to need it for first aid.

Ed,

Thank you so much for your information. My son is so proud of his WWII Scout portrayal and was very upset when the neckerchief that came with his uniform started to fray. I purchased a red cotton full square 35" one off ebay but because it is more than twice as big as his old one, it doesn't fit through the woggle! This is his joy in collecting that he and I share together. I can promise you that he treats every bit of these items with care. I would be most interested if you could help him out with the neckerchief, feel free to private message me.

He was talking to me the other day about using it to get his Collecting merit badge. One of our local troops had a hobby show recently and he showed up in his WWII uniform and set up a display - his most personally prized item is his grandfather's merit badge sash (a perfect reference for a WWII era Scout). He put a uniform on a dummy with the sash on it, minus the Eagle badge; my husband asked that not be out due to its sentimental value.

I am going to see if I can download some of his pictures in uniform to photobucket, I will post it when I do. His campaign hat does not have a badge yet because I THOUGHT his troop would help him more when asked to get his requirements checked off for 1st class, so we were waiting to buy that hat badge. I think I will have to go to Mitch Reis' site to get a 2nd class hat badge because he needs to finish up just ONE item - the water rescue - and his current troop told he would have to wait for June.

Thanks for your answers.

As we are a family of WWII reenacters and my son is too young to join a unit like the 3rd I.D., he portrays a WWII Scout, using his current rank for his portrayal. He has a proper uniform (actually dated to 1938 by the previous owner's papers), but the triangle shaped green/yellow stripe neckerchief has a slight tear that I do not want to make worse. Thus, I am looking for a proper vintage replacement. I already have a large red/black stripe full square neckerchief....I am wondering if that would be correct for the period.

jet:

I think your idea was a great one and truly wish more scouts had your attitude. I remember seeing scouts wear their uniform to school on meeting days every week when I was in school (um, not mentioning WHEN that was, LOL). My son is having to leave his current troop due to lack of activity. They have not been camping since November 2009 and it is driving him crazy. Now that we are looking for another troop we find that most are so lax about their uniform. They don't wear it to meetings and when they do, they don't bother with neckerchiefs or hats. Why is this? Is because of the boys or because the parents won't put out the money to pay for the uniform?

I'm hoping I can get some help here...I'd like to get some idea of what the neckerchiefs were like as first issued. Were they the full square type? Did they have just the B.S.A. inside that white diamond at two corners or did they have the broken approximate 1.5" line around the edge? What about colour, and when did the changes take place? From what I can see they are all smaller triangles now, IF the troop chooses to wear it at all. I had ordered the Ries book and hoped to find this information in there, but alas, my post office was it's usual bumbling self and lost it. Thanks very much to anyone who can help me with this.

"If he was presented it as a Boy Scout, then wearing it at special occasions would be ok. Not all medals we wear come from the BSA. This includes the religous medals & community organization awards (given by other groups & approved by the BSA) and trail medals. "

--- Actually, he earned as a Webelos II. He is the youngest person ever to receive the medal. I referred to his past "troop" before because I finally got used to Boy Scout vs. Cub Scout lingo and stopped calling it a pack. I am assuming you are saying that he would not be able to wear it?

Just thought I would share this: some very good photos of the uniform:

http://www.boyscoutstuff.com/Galleries/Awards/awards.html

Okay, I have another question regarding a medal:

My son was awarded the American Legion Americanism Medal. He was told by his last troop that he could wear it on special Scout occasions. What is your thought on this?

rmeints:

Here is another place that makes the 1912 uniform; it is overseas (India) but I have dealt with them. My husband purchased a class A British WWII through them. The quality was fantastic, the shipping was not outrageous and best of all, they were quick and had great communication:

http://www.replicaters.com/ww1USAEFuniforms.html

What were the buttons like at that time? Are they the same shank back using the ring attachers that the shirt had in WWII?

I just checked, and no, they won't let us stand outside and hand out the flyers at the restaurant. Neither will the Home Depot or grocery store nearby. I have a feeling this is not going to be very successful because our troop is very small & I really don't know how motivated the boys are to hand this stuff out at school. It's like a self imposed fine; your troop is small, thus fund raising is more difficult but you also don't attract new members like the big troops do, so your troop suffers the real possibility of dwindling away.

IMPO, at least half the boys in the troop see the BSA as their secondary extra-curricular activity. Thus, if it is a choice between a sports game and a fund raiser event for the Scouts, the Scouts lose out, less money comes in, you know the rest.

I think another reason they have trouble getting the boys to participate is because the last few time we have done anything as a fund raiser, all of the money has gone into the troop account. Regardless of much a boy did or did not work for it, no money went into their scout accounts. I see those scout accounts as incentive for each but now they just don't see any such thing. It's not like any of them (except the senior patrol leader) comes to the committee meetings.

I would really love to hear it if anyone has ideas that are particularly good for SMALL troops.

I will check in advance. I just hope it works out. Our troop needs the $$$, as we all can understand.

We are attempting a new fundraiser for our troop. Chili's restaurant (I don't know if it is nationwide) has fund-raising nights. You sign up, get a flyer for the chosen night, and give it to as many people as possible, encouraging them to eat at Chili's that chosen day between 4pm and 11pm. For every group that gives the server the flyer you handed out when they dine, your group gets a portion of the total bill (minus taxes, tip, etc). They add up all the tickets with flyers at the end of the evening and the group gets 10%. I am told they would cut us a check about two weeks later.

We are planning it on our meeting night and will position people at the door with copies of the flyer and ask them to please hand it to their server when they pay. This is the first time we are trying this so I have no idea how this will turn out...I'll let you know.

We are going on February 18th, so please hope for good weather!!

My son had that problem as a Cub as well. Finally, I took some tape (clear duct, I think, but it could have been masking) and wrapped it around those little metal "arms" at the back of the slider; sort of girls used wrap yarn around their boyfriend's class ring to make it fit their own finger. It worked for us because it made the opening smaller, thus tighter, and the tape seemed to make the slide stop acting like it was made of tephlon.

Another thing I just recently found when looking for an older slider for my son's WWII uniform is that they were not always made that pressed out way with the two pieces of metal folding over the back. The much older ones are much tighter (it's a chore getting it on sometimes, but it doesn't move even after an entire day). Offhand, I don't know when the Cubs became a part of Scouting, but maybe you could see if you could buy your son one of the older slides like I'm talking about. It should still be valid, I would think.

Good luck

1. "Women seem to love men in kilts...at least in my experience. "

----very true words indeed...the first time I saw my (now) husband in a kilt I was afraid I would laugh when I saw him; then when I did I was amazed how great it looks. When we got married, he and the groomsmen all wore kilts.

2. I would love to see my son in a kilt for the BSA. I know that the boys (after earning their chit) can carry their pocket knives and handle knives at camp, etc, but do you think that wearing the dirk would present a problem? It's a lot bigger to be carrying around on your person. Just wondering.

3. If we were to present a petition to the BSA about the kilt, wouldn't it look better (okay, just my opinion) to ask if part of that uniform could be a glengarry? The scout's rank pin could be put on the side as they do in Highland regiments, using the the same pin that is used on the campaign hat.

4. I think this is a great idea. I would love to take my son in a BSA kilted uniform to a Highland games or out on St. Andrew's Day.