Wearing uniform hats indoors?

[KenD500]

At some Summer Camps, they have a rule for no hats in the mess hall.  It's the only time I'm a stickler for it as it's gone from etiquette to a rule.

 

Even then, I'm ensuring my Scouts comply not other Troops.

[Col. Flagg]

At some Summer Camps, they have a rule for no hats in the mess hall.  It's the only time I'm a stickler for it as it's gone from etiquette to a rule.

 

Even then, I'm ensuring my Scouts comply not other Troops.

 

I think this is very important: Take care of your troop, not other troops.

 

Early in my Scoutmastership we were at a popular camp for the summer back east. During dinner one night (where full Class A including MB sash was allowed and an OA event was to follow dinner) several of my guys were wearing their OA sash with their MB sash tucked in to their belt. I know, I know...but I was a new SM and that look had become "tradition" within the troop. Anyway, one well-meaning SM -- rather than address the issue with me -- decided to take it upon himself to be the BSA Uniform Police and dress down my guys, in public, in the middle of the dinning hall.

 

Unlike his approach, I invited him outside to chat and politely gave him a suggestion that, despite him being well-meaning, demeaning 15 year olds in public is not consistent with the Scout Law. He went away in a huff. Some never learn.

[krikkitbot]

One issue I have with hats is that BSA has put out so many different hats with the logo that people think they are "uniform" hats. 

[qwazse]

... MB sash tucked in to their belt. I know, I know...but I was a new SM and that look had become "tradition" within the troop. ...

When is a belt not a belt? When it's a sash-rack!

In the "red-beret" days, we would often fold it and stick it under an epaulet.

I would not be displeased at all if a troop invested in stock 'biners or parachord, and made something for boys to hang their hats to their belts when indoors.

What's the point of a hat if not to show how courteous you are?

[walk in the woods]

Yeah, just stuff the bill of your ball cap down the back of your pants, problem solved .

[Col. Flagg]

When is a belt not a belt? When it's a sash-rack!

In the "red-beret" days, we would often fold it and stick it under an epaulet.

 

 

I will take 45 different BSA hats as "uniform" apparel ANY DAY over wearing that dumb beret!!!!

 

The only thing it was good for was a ready-made capture the flag marker or a frisbee when bored. Talk about girl repellent!!!! Between that and the garters (who thought of that?!?!?!) I felt like Marlene Detreich getting ready for Scout meetings every Monday!

Edited July 20, 2017 by Col. Flagg

[walk in the woods]

I will take 45 different BSA hats as "uniform" apparel ANY DAY over wearing that dumb beret!!!!

 

The only thing it was good for was a ready-made capture the flag marker or a frisbee when bored. Talk about girl repellent!!!! Between that and the garters (who thought of that?!?!?!) I felt like Marlene Detreich getting ready for Scout meetings every Monday!

Thanks.  I'd almost fully suppressed my memory of those garters.....Back to therapy I guess.

[The Latin Scot]

Well, if my knowledge of sartorial history is correct, I recall that the garters were necessary back in the days before elastic was common enough to be used in socks to hold them up. In fact, it wasn't until the 40's or 50's that socks were able to fully incorporate elastic in the nylon to create socks that didn't require garters to keep them in place. So I imagine that since the BSA uniform favored knee-high socks back in the day (which was the usual style move with short pants in that era), it would have been natural for them to issue uniform garters as well. And as late as the 1930's, putting ribbons on the garters for a little bit of decoration was a perfectly normal thing to do, since anybody wearing socks would have needed the garters anyway to hold their socks up. But it's very possible some units or councils might have clung to that option for some time long after they were no longer a necessary element of the uniform; it would have been akin to seeing Scouts still wearing the red tabs on their epaulets today.

Edited July 20, 2017 by The Latin Scot

[Col. Flagg]

So I imagine that since the BSA uniform favored knee-high socks back in the day (which was the usual style move with short pants in that era), it would have been natural for them to issue uniform garters as well. boy scout uniform 1980

 

 

@@The Latin Scot, I know you (part) Scottish guys go in for skirts and high socks  , but we are talking the late 1970s here. I am pretty certain that elastic was prevalent in garments back then, if the jock straps they required us to wear in PE are any indication.

[desertrat77]

The beret makes for a good pot holder, too.

 

I've got an old raggedy one that I brought to summer camp this year.  Wearing it always brings about a variety of opinions, pro and con.  I was pleasantly surprised to meet several scouters from another troop that wore theirs regularly.

 

As we talked about it, it seems we were on the same page.  Heritage, eccentricity, and perhaps a bit of humor.  Okay, maybe a big dose of humor.

 

You gotta admit, the beret does make statement...for good or ill!

Edited July 21, 2017 by desertrat77

[Back Pack]

Berets? For Scouts?

 

Thank God I'm too young to have experienced that. I'd have quit.

[Col. Flagg]

Berets? For Scouts?

 

Thank God I'm too young to have experienced that. I'd have quit.

 

You dad wore them along with the garters. I have the pics to prove it!!

[SSScout]

Hat courtesy...  a contentious topic historically.   Here, in Scoutworld,  the answer is....  "It Depends "

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk…. The subject of “Hat Courtesy†goes back at least 400 years. For our purposes, the short answer to the original question is… “It depends†.
Back in the 1600’s, in England and in many other european countries, folks that had a hat on (and the wearing of hats had as much to do with unwashed hair as with anything else), were expected to take it off as a sign of respect to their “social superiors". There was no law about it , it was just expected, and if you didn’t you might be hauled before the local Magistrate and thrown in jail. Quakers were the first to challenge this, they chose to treat all as equal before God, and kept the hat on, even indoors.. And were thrown in jail for their timerity.
So Jews wear their hats in temple, and elsewhere, “church ladies†wear theirs seemingly everywhere, oldtime male Quakers would wear their hats in Meeting (worship), taking them off only if moved of the Spirit to stand and speak a message. Sihks wear theirs everywhere, so do our Muslim brothers, if they wear any. Our military direct that theirs be doffed indoors, unless in a ceremony.

Scouts?  If it is "the uniform" (Cub Scout Day Camp uniform, Uni of the Day at Camp Woebegone), keep it on and salute as usual.  Take it off in the dining hall, indoors, tuck it in the back belt.
My Woodbadge cap kept the sun out of my eyes and rain off my head, but got tucked into my back belt when I entered the “barnâ€, my Quaker sensitivities not withstanding. I took my hat off not out of “respect†for any person, but as part of the expected routine.
So, “it dependsâ€.

[NJCubScouter]

A photo from the Internet of some Scouts and Scouters happily wearing their red berets: http://tinyurl.com/yczoonxq

 

When the red beret (and other optional hats) were made available around 1972, my troop voted for the campaign hat. After just a few years we switched to the baseball cap, although as I recall those of us who had been to Philmont wore our Philmont baseball caps instead of the official one.

 

I remember wearing the garter with the tassel with the long socks in the summer. I don't remember minding it very much. It was just part of the uniform when wearing shorts.

[Stosh]

One has to be impolite to be able to point out the courtesy short-comings of others.  Maybe I need to work on my social skills that would allow me to point out the rudeness of those who find it necessary to chastise me for wearing my hat.