The most ultimately evil book

[Fat Old Guy 11]

We all know that old handbooks are EVIL because they contain old knowledge like stalking and Morse code. Well, I now have possibly the most EVIL book ever published, B-P's "Scouting for Boys." The Oxford Press reprinted it and for Father's Day I was presented with a copy of it AND a similarly evil book, B-P's "Aids to Scoutmastership."

 

I've read most of "Scouting for Boys" and the only reference to tourniquets is that they are useful to stem bad arterial bleeding. Strange, no?

 

What I do find interesting about "Scouting for Boys" is that most of it is what a Scout needs to know, not the actual information but what he should seek out and learn.(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

[The Dude 10]

IS it the same book as Oingo Boingo's "Only A Lad" Album cover?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002GC5/qid%3D1089315590/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-5569789-5908622

[Fat Old Guy 11]

Nope, that's from the cover of the 6th Edition of the BSA handbook. The book that I speak of was originally published about 50 years earlier in 1908. You can find it here

 

Books-A-Million Scouting for Boys

 

Oddly, at Books-a-million, the hardback version costs much less than the paperback.

 

(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

[9muckraker7 11]

Personally, I think that the immediate past edition of the scout handbook (I think it's the tenth edition, if the current edition is the eleventh) is A LOT more informative than the current handbook, mostly because it contains valuable field information regarding nature and astronomy, something the new book doesn't really do...

[evmori 11]

I agree. The 10th edition had much more information in it. I still carry a copy with me.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Fat Old Guy 11]

You guys are wicked. Don't you know that the current BSA handbook is the best handbook ever and will remain such until BSA releases the new handbook which will be a 27 page comic book highlighting the new "1st Class, 1st Week" program.

[KoreaScouter 13]

Ooooh, I love the "best Handbook" threads. I'll cast my vote (again), for the 9th Edition, which is the last one that had Norman Rockwell illustrations.

 

I obtained both my 9th and 10th editions through a fluke; our librarian at an overseas air base called me because they were getting ready to throw out old handbooks and MB pamphlets in the juvenile books section, and asked if there were current versions. We provided current handbooks and some pamphlets, and they just gave us the old ones. What treasures!

 

KS

[AnneinMpls 10]

If you translate morse code backwards you get a message from the devil. Works for wigwag and semaphore too.

[Aardvark 10]

I thought it said "John is Dead"

 

[ManyIrons 10]

Greetings all, long time - no post. Like FOG I too received some Scouting handbooks for Father's Day. My wife found them at a local used book sale and snatched up the following for me:

 

- Handbook for Scoutmasters, Vol 1. (3rd edition, 1941)

- Handbook for Patrol Leaders. (1944)

- Handbook for Boys. (5th Edition, 1957)

- Fieldbook (1973).

 

Tucked inside the Fieldbook was a small recipe pamphlet called "Souper Camp Cookery" produced by the Campbell's Soup Company. It's undated, but appears to have been printed for the 6th National Jamboree.

 

I absolut(This message has been edited by ManyIrons)

[ManyIrons 10]

My post is getting cut off -- here's the rest:

 

I absolutely love the old books, primarily for their discussions on spirit, skills and leadership, but also for their illustrations. My favorite gem found thus far is from the Handbook for Scoutmasters (1941), Chapter 4 - Giving the Boy Scouting:

 

"We build on what we find. It is upon what the boy brings to us, what he is and what he wants, that we must build what we hope him to be - what he in his heart of hearts wants to be."

 

That sentence speaks volumes to me, and will be my inspiration as I continue to s(This message has been edited by ManyIrons)

[ManyIrons 10]

Houston, I'm breaking up!! (Please don't tell me it's Norton!)

 

. . . and will be my inspiration as I continue to strive to "deliver the promise".