Shoes

[eisely 13]

How many of you out there remember the Buster Brown Boy Scout Shoes of the forties and fifties? I was reminded of this at Philmont where I ran across a placque memorializing a donation by Buster Brown. I really liked the comic books you used to get with the shoes.

[yaworski 10]

I'm a bit young to remember them but I have a couple old handbooks that have ads for "official" boy scout shoes.

 

Perhaps that wouldn't be a bad thing even today. Perhaps BSA should either approve specific shoes and have the maker put an FDL on the box or they should publish a list of good shoes.

 

We have some really stupid parent/kid combinations out there. Parents that think that basketball shoes are hiking shoes. Kids that believe that snow boots or steel toes work boots are good for a hike.

[eisely 13]

One of the problems with footwear appropriate for class A uniforms is that there are very few manufacturers of leather footwear left in the US. Those that remain are all high end and very expensive. As I recall the Buster Browns they were very economical and we wore them everywhere.

 

Today I have some brown leather casual shoes that only cost $100 that I wear with my uniform. I agree that tennis shoes in all their variations look tacky with uniforms but I find it hard to fault parents in their reluctance to fork out $$$ for leather shoes that will be soon outgrown and seldom worn. It is bad enough to have to buy new hiking boots every 18 months to accomodate growing feet.

[FScouter 24]

I remember as a Cub Scout that there were official uniform shoes. None of us in Den 4 had them. I had a pair of U.S. Keds. Another kid had PF Flyers. He could run faster and jump higher than the rest of us.

[yaworski 10]

"One of the problems with footwear appropriate for class A uniforms is that there are very few

manufacturers of leather footwear left in the US. Those that remain are all high end and very

expensive. As I recall the Buster Browns they were very economical and we wore them everywhere."

 

How true. Back then, nearly everyone had "dress shoes" and "sneakers". We wore hard soled leather shoes to school everyday and changed into sneakers when we came home.

 

 

[FScouter 24]

How true. I remember shopping for new shoes with my mom or dad. It was always the same. We would go either to the JC Penney or to Sears. There were only two choices, either brown or black. With sneakers it was either high top or low top. Life was simple.

[Mike Long 10]

Definately a range of ages here. I never wore hard soled leather shoes to school. Those were for church and we wore sneakers to school. Nowadays it has become acceptable to wear sneaks in a corporate office. On Fridays around here I can't tell who is going to work and who is going to the park for a day in the sun.

 

I prefer to wear my hiking boots with the uniform. Actually, I prefer my hiking boots than wear any other type of shoe.

 

I have to agree Eisely, all the different goofball looking shoes they make now look tacky with the uniform. In my opinion most of them don't look good with anything, ever.

[le Voyageur 72]

Yep, do remember those shoes, and even the Buster Brown Show....

 

As for footwear for the class A's I would go with Hi Tec. You can buy 3 sets of Hi Tecs for the price of one set of those trendy shoes with the swoosh....my last pair cost 24 bucks, giving up the ghost after 18 months of hard use...

[sctmom 11]

"We have some really stupid parent/kid combinations out there. Parents that think that basketball shoes are hiking shoes. Kids that believe that snow boots or steel toes work boots are good for a hike. "

 

Good point. Yet at the same time, the "hiking" that many troops do can be done just fine in a good pair of sneakers. If you a hiking on a well traveled, packed trail through the local park, no need for high priced boots. You should see what some women think are "hiking boots" -- they look stylish, but are NOT for hiking!

 

I am very picky about shoes for myself and my son. I believe in high quality (not just high priced), comfortable shoes. If your shoes aren't well made and don't fit right, you will never want to wear them and there will lots of pain and whining on the trail.

 

Dark shoes look better with the BSA uniforms. Seems like I saw somewhere that dark shoes were recommended when in the "dress" uniform. Maybe that was for adults.

 

Buster Brown! I remember those. Also, there was "Golden Goose", you got a golden plastic egg with a toy in it. For us girls the choices were black Mary Janes or black and white saddle oxford's. I was thrilled to get a pair of brown and beige saddle oxford's or "be-bocks". I remember having one pair of those and one pair of Keds. Also, your feet were measured everytime you got new shoes. And if your feet could still squeeze into the old ones, you had to wear those to play in.

 

My pet peeve is the shoes not being tied, or tied so loose the kids foot is flopping around. Your shoes should be securely attached to your feet!

 

[rlculver415 10]

Buster Brown's were around in the sixties also. That was the only brand my mother would buy us. I wore a black pair of Mary Jane's style to school, and red Keds to play in after.

 

As far as today - I bought my son a pair of black dress-style shoes at Kmart for around $10 to wear to Scouts and church. (I also recall the recommendation for dark shoes, sctmom.) If they wear out before he outgrows them, I'll be surprised. Who cares if they're cheap man-made uppers? It looks better than all those funky looking shoes so many wear, in my opinion. We also contend with various beach shoes down here.

[mk9750 11]

I remember Buster Browns, too. Time sure has a way of changing things. I remember them fondly now, but I also remember some major hassles I gave my Mom when she insisted that's what I wear!

 

Our Troop allows tennis shoes to weekly meetings. We require hiking boots for outdoor activities. We require some type of dark dress shoe for Courts of Honor or other community activities like parades. Since none of the boys seem to wear dress shoes to school (or church for that matter), they all end up with the Wal mart - K mart option: A pair of dress shoes that they paid $10.00 - $15.00 for, and wear 5 - 10 times a year.

 

A quick story - Our Troop took a trip to New York City a few years back. the SM insisted that they all wear class A's when in public. Lot's of complaining, until at one of the sights, I think the Stock Exchange, they were standing in a line that wasn't moving. A security gaurd saw them, ushered them into the building and made them the next tour group. Also, everywhere they went, people, especially visiters from other countries, wanted to talk to them. The guys got such a kick out of bragging that they were asked to pose for easily 75 pictures with people. And, it seems foreign girls are quite enamored with American boys in Scout uniforms. To a person, these guys appreciated what wearing their uniform did for them (we try to keep it a secret what it does TO them!).

 

Mark

[MiG-19 10]

Not two weeks ago, e-bay had a new, still in the box pair of official brown Scout shoes, size 8, circa 1950's. I think they ended up selling for about $14.00.

I happen to wear an 8, but didn't bid.

Semper fi,

MiG-19

[willysjeep 10]

My dad told me many a story about the boondockers he wore as a kid. Leather shoes of this older style are actually probably better for hiking than a lot of the foreign made bagain priced hiking shoes out there today. Work boots can actually make pretty good hiking footware too. Those Brhama leather workboots are pretty light and offer a lot more support than a cordura and synthetic hiking boot ever could.

 

My troop goes to Mackinac Island every year or two and we require dark brown or black dress shoes for uniform wear to go. I have a pair of Dockers all leather brown shoes, I need to check where they were made, but they didn't cost more than $25 and have lasted a while under less than everyday use. For real hiking I prefer a hunting type leather boot.

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

I am really glad somebody brought this issue up. I know it is not one of those burning issues but it is one that has stuck with me. A few years ago, I spoke with a Scouting friend and he told me that he had bought a pair of Scout shoes when he was a kid. We talked about those shoes for about an hour. I am not sure what the fascination was all about but there it was and it has stayed with me.

 

In part, Scout shoes were a constant attraction for me as a youth because of the ads in Boys' Life and also occasionally picking up a pair to look at them in the store. For some reason, my interest was the merit badges on the sole. I always wanted to make an imprint in soft sand just to see the badges. I never really wanted a pair because they seemed impractical. I knew I would only wear them to the COHs with my Scouting best. I figured that when I got older and had more money that I would buy a pair then.

 

I got older and missed my opportunity. But, I decided to try and make a neckerchief slide replica of one of the shoes to wear. I got out a piece of wood and copied one of the old ads from my BL collection. A few evenings later, I had one shoe finished. It was one inch wide by two and one half inches long and about three quarters of an inch thick. It was a fair representation but without the merit badges on the bottom. The shoe was too small and my powers of whittling are not that accurate. I guess making a mark in the sand will have to be done some other way. Fuzzy

(This message has been edited by Fuzzy Bear)

[Daveeby 10]

Official Boy Scout shoes literally date back to 1911. There is an advertisement for them on the back of the very early issues of Boys Life. Those were patterned after the U.S. Army shoe of that time and were all leather although they were really what I would call boots as they were tall and went above the ankle. As I recall they were made by the same manufacturer of the Army shoes of that time period. At the Miakonda Scouting Museum in Toledo Ohio we have two pair of official BSA shoes on display. Both are in the original boxes and are both mint in unused condition. The one is the Buster Brown brand from the 1940's. The other which has to be the coolest BSA shoe ever made is the tracking shoe of the 1950's. The leather soles had merit badges pressed into them. One kid could walk around camp and others could track the highly distinctive footprints. The BSA also made official BSA sneekers in the 1950's and 1960's. They had more than one style of these. - Dave Eby, Miakonda Museum Curator