1910s: Troop nicknames, were they common ...

[forrest747 16]

... or just in Houston, TX.

My research has touched on Houston's early scout troops.  Many had nicknames:  Troop 2, "the Black Cats"; Troop 4, "the Eastwood Texas Rangers"; Troop 5 "the Bob White Troop"; Troop 8, "the Sharks"; Troop 10, "the Sycamores"; Troop 16, "Houston's Pride'; Troop 20, "the Indians'; Troop 24, "the Pirates".  The nicknames sort of made sense.  Troop 16 won the early Field Days. Troop 8 won the swim meets. Troop 24 was affiliated with a Sea Scout Ship, "the Jolly Roger." 

OK, fine.  But there was a practical reason for the nicknames because it took a Very Long Time for a troop to be assigned a number.  Since the troop had no number, they used a nickname instead.  Use of nicknames solved a very real problem for Houston's early scout troops.

Question:  For 1910s scout troops, were Troop nicknames common across the USA, or are early troop nicknames unique to Houston, TX?   

(Yes, I know that many troops today have nicknames.)

[mashmaster 783]

I can't answer that question but Sea Scout Ships (Troops) have a number and a name.  For instance we are Sea Scout Ship 911 aka Response.

 

[rayezell_2000 39]

many early troops across the USA had nicknames (but weren't meant to replace unit numbers). In my research, I've determined that this was mostly associated with a function of these early troops fielding organized football, basketball, and baseball teams. Then there were also patrol names that were simply used as sports teams names when they were made up of individual patrols, rather than drawn from the entire troop...