rmeints

The first manufacturer of the BSA uniform in 1910 was the Sigmund Eisner company in Red Bank New Jersey. They were a major supplier of uniforms to the US military and the early BSA uniforms made by them were derived from them. After about 1912 the collar of the BSA tunic was switched from the straight collar with holes for insignia to the "stand and fall" collar that became ubiquitous for WW1 era scouts. The main difference was that the BSA uniforms never had epaulettes in the early years. Those got added much later.

There are a number of online retailers that can sell you reproduction tunics (the coat) and breeches (the pants). As has been said previously, the uniforms are expensive to most people's budgets. My troop turned 100 in 2017. I actually had been working on a "centennial" uniform for a few years prior to that. Here's me wearing it back in 2017, flooded by a picture of the tunic closer up. I recommend the US army M1912 tunic in the summer cotton fabric instead of the more expensive, heavier, and probably scratchier wool fabric. The tunic and breeches will probably cost about $350 as a

Becoming the first Eagle Scout was absolutely a big deal. When Arthur Eldred was announced as the first official Eagle Scout there were letters of protest from at least two other scouts (who ended up being the second and third official Eagles). It made national news. Arthur's Eagle Board of Review was conducted by James E. West, Dan Beard, Ernest Seton Thompson, and Lord Baden-Powell himself, who just happened to be in New York as part of a nationwide speaking tour. Arthur passed with flying colors, but he was put through his paces for several hours, including having to start a fire with a bow

Ornithology/Bird Study used the same "white bird" design from 1914-1968. It's not an online resource, but Fred Duersch's book, Merit Badge Field Guide has pictures of all the merit badges (other than Invention) up through 2008, with numbers awarded and a fair bit of history thrown in. Most collectors call the square ones "Type A", although once you mention "square" in describing them most people will know exactly what you mean.

Stosh (jblake47) raises some interesting points. I am not trying to start an argument by pointing out there are two (or more) sides to this. Yes, the Old World does operate on different standards for some things, including doing exactly what Stosh says the Colonials do: The Europeans went around the world bringing all manner of other country's traditions and dress back home. The English in particular did this with gusto, with many things from Egypt, India, and South Africa to name a few. This even applies to woodbadge itself. The original woodbadge beads were from a Zulu leader's necklace

Sorry, meant to say "Stosh"...

Josh, The buttons on my cotton tunic are on metal loops so they are removable. Did you buy one of the shirts? Rick

I attended the Woodbadge for the 21st century course in the fall of 2008 (C60-08). I completed my tickets a little over a year later. I have been a Tigercub Den Leader and have just finished my second year as Cubmaster. I was also in both cub scouts and boy scouts as a youth, all the way through to earning Eagle. By profession I am a Corporate Training manager. Now that you know my background, here are the questions I ask people who are considering if Woodbadge is for them: 1. Are you a registered adult scout leader? 2. Do you enjoy the time you spend on scouting? 3. Do you wan

I received my "1912" uniform in the mail from schipperfabrik. They did an awesome job and it fits me perfectly. The buttons used on the shirts and jackets in the teens and 20s were painted metal. They had loops on the back so you can remove the buttons to make it possible to wash the jacket. Finding the smaller 5/8" buttons for the pockets was very easy. Finding the 5 larger 3/4" buttons that button up the jacket is more troublesome.

The buttons were painted. Congrats on getting the uniform. Where did you get it from?

The two best places I have found to get a reproduction scout uniform from the teens are: http://www.schipperfabrik.com/ami_uniforms.html (1912 cotton tunic and breeches for $224.95 -or- http://www.greatwar.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=42 Every other place I have found is overseas, which means more expensive shipping and such. Buying a reproduction WW1 US Army tunic does mean you have to ask for a few modifications if you want a more exact match to what Scouts actually wore. Both of the above companies are willing to leave off the epaulets, and to either leave off the

Wood badge comes down to attending the training sessions (two weekends or a long single week, depending on the schedule) and then completing your 5 ticket items. My wood badge course didn't have any "tests" in it, so by the usual definition of "fail" you can't fail. You can "fail" to earn the physical wood beads if you don't complete your ticket items.

The Tiger Cub Program has gone through some revisions for achievemnet over the last few years, and the Tiger Cub book doesn't seem to have been completely reviewed and edited to catch all of the references on sequence and such. The way I have been teaching it to Den Leaders is: 1. Complete the three requirements to get their Tiger Cub Immediate Recognition Emblem. 2. Complete the remaining 5 requirements to get their Bobcat Badge. 3. Complete the 15 requirements for the Tiger Cub Rank Badge. One of the nice things in the above order of sequence is that the 3 requirements to

I believe that the Tiger Cub Handbook on page 18 states it fairly clearly: "The advancement requirements are written in such a way as to give you room to customize activities for your boy and your den. There are no performance requirements for Tiger Cubs. Boys should never be tested or placed in a position where they will not be successful. Simply participating in the activities and doing his best constitutes completion." They italicized the last sentence for emphasis.

Hello Goose, Most importantly, hang in there. Tiger Cubs is the first year of the cub scouting program and that means that most of the tiger cub parents are beginners too. I just ran the Tiger Cub Den leader session breakout at our District's Cub Scout Leader training day. Here are the main things I emphasised: 1. Set Adult Partner Expectations - The Tiger program states right up front that each boy should be accompanied by an adult partner, but that means more than just showing up. It means that each of those partners will be assisting you in running the program. As soon as possible