As an adult, what do you REALLY wear?

[Falconidei]

Partners, Hi from Argentina, South America.  I followed the conversation with great interest. 

I have seen old BP's photographs. I have seen that he used garters and tabs, but, obviously, the photos are black and white and I can not distinguish the color of the tabs.

So my question is, what color were BP's tabs? 

And the second question,

Have Scouter ever used garters and tabs? What is the color of tabs that corresponds to the Scouter?

Thanks!

[MattR]

Hi @Falconidei, and welcome to the forum.

Maybe the best people to ask are our friends from the UK, @Cambridgeskip, @ianwilkins.

So, what were the original scout colors for uniforms? When I was a scout we had bright red garters.

[Falconidei]

MattR, thank you for your prompt response.

I take note of the advice, I'll contact the guys in the UK.

So, you were a young scout. Do you remember if your Scoutmaster used garters and tabs?

[MattR]

Do I remember the adults garters and tabs? That was 45 years ago! I assume they were the same colors as the scouts' uniforms because the BSA uses the same uniforms for adults as scouts.

Where are you in Argentina? My son was in Coronel Suarez, a small farm town North of Bahia Blanca, for a year as an exchange student.

BTW, Skip and Ian will get email to read this thread because of the way I quoted their names.

 

[ValleyBoy]

15 minutes ago, Falconidei said:

MattR, thank you for your prompt response.

I take note of the advice, I'll contact the guys in the UK.

So, you were a young scout. Do you remember if your Scoutmaster used garters and tabs?

My first SM only wore long pants, but this was due to him losing a leg in Vietnam.  Second SM who was a Korean war vet also only wore the long pants.  But I did know a lot of adults that   did wear the garters and tabs during the summer.  Never saw them without the garters and tabs while wearing the scout short pants.  Being from the southern US as the weather heated up you would see about as many scouts with short pants with garters and red tabs as you would see with the long pants.  The red boy scout tabs is the only color I remember seeing.  When the uniform design was changed in about 1980 to the tan shirt the long socks were changed to green with a red band at the top of the socks which end the garters and tabs.

I still have by olive green shirt from the late 80's that I wear to scouting events from time to time.

Edited June 19, 2018 by ValleyBoy

[ianwilkins]

I've had a quick look, and can't find anything. One of our more traditional branches of scouting in the UK (BPSA and BBS) wear green garter tabs, though I'm not sure about the leaders, I think they wear the same. Their uniform claims to be traditional and what Baden-Powell said they should be.

There might well be something in the dump:

 http://www.thedump.scoutscan.com

I would assume if they were green they would be a dark green, "bottle green". That's what I wore when I was a cub! That would also fit with the uniform being based on things you could get from army surplus easily, having a flash of red on your army uniform probably wouldn't be the greatest idea.

Looking at the black and white photos, it looks like a dark shade of whatever colour it is. 

 

Oh, and I met a lovely scout leader from Argentina last year at a Spanish Jamboree on the Canary Islands, she wanted to have photos with us and chat, to be friendly she said, despite our history of conflict over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, we agreed wholeheartedly. Her Scouts De Argentina woggle sits proudly on my necker.

Edited June 19, 2018 by ianwilkins

[NJCubScouter]

43 minutes ago, MattR said:

So, what were the original scout colors for uniforms? When I was a scout we had bright red garters.

You mean the tabs were red?  The actual garter (the part that went around the leg) was brown if I recall correctly - but people didn't see that because the sock was folded over it.  They only saw the tab - which in "my day" of wearing garters and tabs (say 1972-76) - was green.  If I recall correctly.  I seem to recall that around that time, they had "reorganized" the colors so red represented Exploring.

Added:  Oh, and look, I posted about this 14 years ago!  https://www.scouter.com/topic/12113-garter-tabs-and-shoulder-loops/?do=findComment&comment=78838  I was Googling to try to find a photo of the garter and tabs, and found my own post from 2004.

More added:  Oh look again, I found a green tab:

 

Edited June 19, 2018 by NJCubScouter

[Falconidei]

14 minutes ago, ValleyBoy said:

My first SM only wore long pants, but this was due to him losing a leg in Vietnam.  Second SM who was a Korean war vet also only wore the long pants.  But I did know a lot of adults that   did wear the garters and tabs during the summer.  Never saw them without the garters and tabs while wearing the scout short pants.  Being from the southern US as the weather heated up you would see about as many scouts with short pants with garters and red tabs as you would see with the long pants.  The red boy scout tabs is the only color I remember seeing.  When the uniform design was changed in about 1980 to the tan shirt the long socks were changed to green with a red band at the top of the socks which end the garters and tabs.

I still have by olive green shirt from the late 80's that I wear to scouting events from time to time.

Thanks! excellent anecdote!

[Falconidei]

22 minutes ago, MattR said:

Do I remember the adults garters and tabs? That was 45 years ago! I assume they were the same colors as the scouts' uniforms because the BSA uses the same uniforms for adults as scouts.

Where are you in Argentina? My son was in Coronel Suarez, a small farm town North of Bahia Blanca, for a year as an exchange student.

BTW, Skip and Ian will get email to read this thread because of the way I quoted their names.

 

Ouh Waw!!! Yes I know Coronel Suárez, yeeees. I'm from Buenos Aires D.C. (Scout Group Nº 314 - San Telmo).

 Greetings to your son!

[NJCubScouter]

Welcome to the forum Falconidei from Argentina!

[Cambridgeskip]

59 minutes ago, MattR said:

Hi @Falconidei, and welcome to the forum.

Maybe the best people to ask are our friends from the UK, @Cambridgeskip, @ianwilkins.

So, what were the original scout colors for uniforms? When I was a scout we had bright red garters.

On the BP front, no idea. Sorry!

As for myself, no garters or tabs for me. If it's too hot for long trousers then it's too hot for long socks as well! Besides my legs are so hairy (my family call me The Yeti) they keep me nice and warm anyway.

[Falconidei]

18 minutes ago, NJCubScouter said:

You mean the tabs were red?  The actual garter (the part that went around the leg) was brown if I recall correctly - but people didn't see that because the sock was folded over it.  They only saw the tab - which in "my day" of wearing garters and tabs (say 1972-76) - was green.  If I recall correctly.  I seem to recall that around that time, they had "reorganized" the colors so red represented Exploring.

Added:  Oh, and look, I posted about this 14 years ago!  https://www.scouter.com/topic/12113-garter-tabs-and-shoulder-loops/?do=findComment&comment=78838  I was Googling to try to find a photo of the garter and tabs, and found my own post from 2004.

 

Thanks NJCubScouter. You have put a lot of light on my question. Then, recapitulating:

Cubs had yellow tassles or tabs.

Boy Scouts had green tassles or tabs.

Explorers had red tassles or tabs.

Scoutmaster had...  ????   (Do they have their own color or do they respect the color of each unit?)

[Falconidei]

4 minutes ago, Cambridgeskip said:

On the BP front, no idea. Sorry!

As for myself, no garters or tabs for me. If it's too hot for long trousers then it's too hot for long socks as well! Besides my legs are so hairy (my family call me The Yeti) they keep me nice and warm anyway.

HA HA HA!!! Me too! Great!

[Falconidei]

8 minutes ago, NJCubScouter said:

Welcome to the forum Falconidei from Argentina!

Thank You, my friend.

[Falconidei]

53 minutes ago, ianwilkins said:

I've had a quick look, and can't find anything. One of our more traditional branches of scouting in the UK (BPSA and BBS) wear green garter tabs, though I'm not sure about the leaders, I think they wear the same. Their uniform claims to be traditional and what Baden-Powell said they should be.

There might well be something in the dump:

 http://www.thedump.scoutscan.com

I would assume if they were green they would be a dark green, "bottle green". That's what I wore when I was a cub! That would also fit with the uniform being based on things you could get from army surplus easily, having a flash of red on your army uniform probably wouldn't be the greatest idea.

Looking at the black and white photos, it looks like a dark shade of whatever colour it is. 

 

Oh, and I met a lovely scout leader from Argentina last year at a Spanish Jamboree on the Canary Islands, she wanted to have photos with us and chat, to be friendly she said, despite our history of conflict over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, we agreed wholeheartedly. Her Scouts De Argentina woggle sits proudly on my necker.

Ian, thank you, friend. Great story

Do you remember her name? Maybe I know her.

As for the Falklands, well ... it has been a conflict overcome. We have many things in common and very few that are different. Argentina and the UK have a long and rich history in common and this has hardly been an incident. The most important thing is our Scout brotherhood.

It's moves me. Thanks friend.