scouts after the Turn of the Century photograph

[noman]

http://www3.familyoldphotos.com/photo/pennsylvania/4565/northumberland-pa-boy-scout-troop-4

[King Ding Dong]

Nice. Only 4 out of 16 in uniform?..., weewooo. Weewooo weeewooo. What's a the statue of limitations on that.

[skeptic]

None; the uniform is only a tool and NOT required. Never has been. Of course KDD is just making fun:rolleyes:

[Stosh]

Nice. Only 4 out of 16 in uniform?...' date=' weewooo. Weewooo weeewooo. What's a the statue of limitations on that. [/quote']

 

Look closer, only two of the boys are in uniform. Two of the boys in campaign hats are wearing neck ties and vests. All the boys in the front row are wearing knee socks or leggings. The rest are not shown. Keep it in mind that the uniform was for field wear and for photographs one puts on their "Sunday-go-to-meetin'" clothes. If the boys were at camp posing for a picture I'm thinking there would be more uniforms.

 

What I can't figure out is the front row seems to be sitting on the steps to a building, but the third step seems to cut across the knees of the guys in the second row. Looking between the boys in the 2nd and 3rd rows, it seems that steps continue on behind them. The depth of field from front to back row is but a mere 3 feet at best (length of the flags).

 

Stosh

[SSScout]

48 star flag. pre WW1? The boys are sitting on newspaper. Cold stone steps? And yeah, how can the second row stand up? I think the second row is kneeling on a wide step and the third row is standing behind them. Look at the knees of the boy infront of the US flag, on the newspaper.

[skeptic]

If you look at the larger version by clicking original it appears they added some form of platform in front for the first row to sit on. The boy on the left of the photo seems to have a second class pin on his hat, though it could be first class with the top faded into the photo. The one on the far right does look as if he is in the early style uniform. But, this being an obviously posed photo, the group probably tried to look as good as they could, and most probably had little if any uniform parts.

 

Early photos in my collection gleaned from 15 years searching the web seem to mostly have boys with a neckerchief, a hat, a shirt, then maybe pants with lace sides; and pretty much in that order. The leg wear in the photo is fairly common in those from that era, whether a scout group or simply boys. I find it fun that they all have ties on except the two in obvious uniform who neither have neckerchiefs.

 

Those of us that have the historical interest beyond the superficial likely could spend a lot of time discussing old photos if we were together. We would try to identify units if not obvious like this one, and look for sleeve insignia. It is too bad so many of the photos are faded and small; but they continue to be fascinating to me.

[tonkatim]

The statue of Limitations is probably in behind them, out of the picture. They might be sitting on the statute of limitations, but is hard to tell if those are legal documents or just cloth.

 

[Stosh]

48 star flag. pre WW1? The boys are sitting on newspaper. Cold stone steps? And yeah' date=' how can the second row stand up? I think the second row is kneeling on a wide step and the third row is standing behind them. Look at the knees of the boy infront of the US flag, on the newspaper.[/quote']

 

48 Star flag 2/14/1912 until 1/3/1959 when Alaska became a state.

 

Also I do believe in the early years, one did not become a Boy Scout until they reached First Class. I don't know if the boys wore the uniform before that occurred.

 

The hat pin indicated they were a Boy Scout, thus the only pin was the FC pin.

 

The really early style of uniform had a shirt and tunic. If he was posing for a nice picture, he would have been wearing the tunic and that has a stand-up collar. Collar brass and rank were eventually displayed on the tunic. I don't know when the tunic was dropped and the shirt alone was adopted.

 

There is nothing that dates the photograph, but it could be anywhere from 1912 through the 30's by the style of clothing worn.

 

Stosh

[TAHAWK]

We have pictures in our Scout museum of Scouts, some in uniform, pre- BSA.

 

You were a B.S.A. Boy Scout in 1911 when you joined a Boy Scout patrol passed certain tests and took the Scout Oath.

.

BOY SCOUT CERTIFICATE

 

This is to certify that _________

of ___________ State of _________

Street and City or Town address

 

 

Age_____ Height_____ Weigh_____

 

is a member of ________ Patrol, of Troop No. _____

 

________________

Scout Master

 

 

SCOUT HISTORY

 

Qualified as Tenderfoot ________ 191_

 

Second Class Scout _________ 191_

 

First Class Scout _______ 191_

 

How to Become a Boy Scout

The easiest way to become a boy scout is to join a patrol that has already been started. This patrol may be in {12} a Sunday School, Boys' Brigade, Boys' Club, Young Men's Christian Association, Young Men's Hebrew Association, Young Men's Catholic Association, or any other organization to which you may belong. If there is no patrol near you, get some man interested enough to start one by giving him all the information.

A patrol consists of eight boys, one of whom becomes the patrol leader and another the assistant patrol leader.

A troop consists of three or more patrols, and the leader of the troop is called a scout master. There can be no patrols or troops of boy scouts without this scout master.

 

To become a scout a boy must be at least twelve years of age and must pass a test in the following:

 

1. Know the scout law, sign, salute, and significance of the badge.

 

2. Know the composition and history of the national flag and the customary forms of respect due to it.

 

3. Tie four out of the following knots: square or reef, sheet-bend, bowline, fisherman's, sheepshank, halter, clove hitch, timber hitch, or two half hitches.

 

He then takes the scout oath, is enrolled as a tenderfoot, and is entitled to wear the tenderfoot badge.

 

There were , in 1911, Tenderfoot pins, Second Class pins, and First Class pins, all described and specified in the first Handbook.