Friday, January 15, 2010

Remember when you were a Girl Scout?

The February issue of Country Living Magazine has a delightful article on Girl Scout Collectibles. It brought back a lot of good memories, as a girl scout myself in the 70's and years later as my daughter's Girl Scout Leader. Both memories are as equally as enjoyable.

The article shows the progression of badge styles from 1913 - 1980. Of course I was a Brownie first and then from 1970 -1973 a Girl Scout. I actually earned the sign language badge that is showing as vintage ..... boy, do I feel old!











Here is my sash and below is a picture of me in full Girl Scout Dress Uniform. I know, I know, I look so serious .... honestly I was having fun.

My favorite badges dealt with art, of course.














I had so much fun as a troop leader. My girls enjoyed making necklaces from hardware store nuts and bolts, bottle caps, safety pins, paperclips and beads. We also did a time capsule that is buried in my backyard. There is an elderly housing complex next door to my home and every holiday, the troop and I packed up a party of food, decorations, music and crafts and took it next door. The residents loved having us over, and would look forward to it, weeks in advance of the event. My girls were equally as excited. They loved helping cut out shapes and gluing on the glitter, for what ever the holiday was. It was so nice to see all the smiles, both the young and the old.


This is what the new uniform looks like. It is just a vest and the girls can still earn the badges that you see already sewn on as well as patches they receive for the Annual Cookie Sale and other special yearly events.





This is my daughter at age 10 in her Girl Scout vest. It is green, but in this picture it looks blue. I think she was going for a "model" pose with the flowering bush behind her.


Even before I saw the magazine article, I was thinking Girl Scouts. It may be March when the cookies are delivered, but it is January when the orders are taken. Fortunately, there is always someone in the neighborhood or a co-worker's daughter that is a Girl Scout. You better believe that I am going to have my box of Thin Mints come spring.

3 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I was a Girl Scout in the 50's and 60's and my daughter was a Scout in the 80's. Times sure have changed. I saw that article in Country Living. I need to find my scout badges! Thanks for a great post.

Sissie's Shabby Cottage said...

I was a brownie in the 60's and a girl scout.
I have my badges somewhere. The one that was the most fun was the skating badge. We used to go to the roller rink and have so much fun!

Lyneen said...

WOW... I have mine stashed someplace I am going to have to pull it out and check what is on my sash... thanks for sharing.