2010 Spring Council Camporee

[dg98adams]

The Troop I serve (ASM) has volunteered to represent the "past" for the 2010 Council Camporee. We have a couple traditional Scout event-type activities. My question is uniforming.

 

Can anyone suggest a way to depict a "Scouting in the past" with the current uniform? Most of the Scouts in the Troop have the non-centennial short sleeve Scout shirt & Troop necker (2 styles).

 

I know we plan to not have any propane out, sticking with just cooking over an open fire with cast iron. Canvas tarps for tents, no poly tarps or nylon tents, wood poles no aluminum.

 

 

 

[Eagle92]

Find out if there are any Scouting museums or uniform collectors in the area, they may, stress may, be able to help out by providing samples of older uniforms.

 

Since the ODLs were a radical departure from previous uniforms, so your best bet would be to get odler uniforms.

 

As for activities, look at someof the older BSA handbooks and other literature.

 

Also PM KUDU as he has a bunch of stuff.

[Buffalo Skipper]

How about having a scavanger hunt?

 

Announce it in the camporee guide, and encourage units to gather older scout uniform parts and patches in advance. Have it all to be turned in in the morning (tagged) and display it at the afternoon events. Come up with a clever way to judge it, and offer bonus points to patrols which wear vintage uniform parts (extra bonus if they are wearing matching/age appropriate rank insignia).

 

Make it fun and they will come.

[Stosh]

Two of my boys wear the OD green uniform shirts from the 60's. They are cheap on E-Bay. Getting the correct patches is a bit more difficult. I have worked on my uniform and one of my boys has gotten back to all the correct patches including the R/W community strip and state. Red piped, mule-eared pocket pants are also available as well as garrison caps.

 

Otherwise, a red beret goes with the tan shirt as does the brass buckle belt. Just get the correct patches from the early 70's. Pants at that time were the 6 pocket cargo pants.

 

Go with the older red/black patrol patches on these uniforms and one can also get the matching patrol flags from Ebay too.

 

A lot of this stuff is readily available on Ebay, set up searches and it's really not that hard to come up with stuff.

 

Mess kit cooking as well as tarp tents is a good idea. The 1909 Reprint of the handbook also has plans for making many of the older tents as well as double wool blanket "sleeping bags" Yucca packs are running about $15-20 on Ebay.

 

Look at the pictures of the boys in the handbooks of the eras you wish to copy and that will give you an idea of what you're going to need.

 

Stosh

 

 

[shortridge]

- Instead of trying to outfit each of your Scouts in a complete older uniform, get a used mannequin and set him up with an old-style uniform - the basics described by BP, before National Supply was even a twinkle in James West's eye. You can get or make similar items for cheap.

 

- The Scout stave used to be a huge part of the uniform. Make it a program emphasis for your patrols to create their own. Kudu's inquiry.net and some other threads here on staves/walking sticks have some great ideas on jazzing them up and making them very functional.

[NJCubScouter]

I think Shortridge's suggestion of not trying to outfit the entire troop in an old uniform is a good one, but instead of a mannequin, how about one complete uniform of whatever decade you choose, being worn by an actual Scout? It's probably more interesting that way. Or maybe three different decades, by three different Scouts? -- one with a campaign hat, one with an overseas cap and the third with a red beret, with as close to the matching shirt, pants and neckerchief for the period as you can get. Like "Scouting through the ages."

[Eagle92]

Second the scout staves.