Old Uniform Display

[5thGenTexan]

I was a Cub Scout in the early 80's having earned my Arrow of Light.  Today I finally found my uniform in a box from storage.  I washed it once and it doesn't smell as mousey and dirty as it did,  :).  I think I may want to try to frame it for display.  Any ideas that present well?

I have Wolf, Bear, and Webelos neckerchiefs.  I for sure have a wolf slide and webelos slide, but I am not sure if there if there was a bear slide or not.  None of my hats really did well in storage. 

So, I put the shirt in the frame, 3 neckerchiefs and slides, my belt, and maybe put all my camp patches in there as well.

My shirt has all my rank badges, service stars, webelos colors (and pins), also have the plastic thing that the beads hung on.

[NJCubScouter]

And look at that, it has the American flag over the pocket, not on the shoulder.  At least this way there are no arguments about whether the flag is "backwards" or not.

I realize that doesn't help you very much, but I am sure someone around here will be experienced in the ways of memorabilia display, which I am not. 

[5thGenTexan]

9 minutes ago, NJCubScouter said:

And look at that, it has the American flag over the pocket, not on the shoulder.  At least this way there are no arguments about whether the flag is "backwards" or not.

I realize that doesn't help you very much, but I am sure someone around here will be experienced in the ways of memorabilia display, which I am not. 

I found a photo recently of the night I received my Bobcat badge (I was upside down)    I was surprised to see the flag there instead of the shoulder, I just didn't remember that.  I also have my dad's uniform from the 60's and there is no American flag at all.

[NJCubScouter]

There was recently a brief discussion of the flag thing in another thread.  I had pulled out my old Boy Scout uniform shirt (purchased 1972/3) and was surprised to see that it had no flag.  They were not part of the uniform until later.

[Eagle94-A1]

I can help.

 

Flag was something that you had to purchase separately. Cubs wore it above the pocket like that. Boy Scouts wore it on the sleeve.

There were only two slides: Cub Scout and Webelos. Wolves and Bears wore one that looked very similar to today's Wolf slide, except the background was blue and not red. Distinctive slides came in some time in the 1990s, early 2000s.

[5thGenTexan]

10 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I can help.

 

Flag was something that you had to purchase separately. Cubs wore it above the pocket like that. Boy Scouts wore it on the sleeve.

There were only two slides: Cub Scout and Webelos. Wolves and Bears wore one that looked very similar to today's Wolf slide, except the background was blue and not red. Distinctive slides came in some time in the 1990s, early 2000s.

In that case I might see if I can come up with another slide and place em on the wolf and bear neckerchief and polish up my Webelos slide for that neckerchief.

 

[blw2]

nice....

my mom had saved my old cub shirt from the early/mid 1970's and passed it on to me when my son started cubs.  This was in the day of community strips and before the council shoulder patch.  My son showed little interest & i seriously doubt he'll want it.

I've been toying with the idea of sending it to the council where my pack was..... Dubuque IA

either that or trying to sell it on ebay....

[Col. Flagg]

I'd hold on to it. It costs nothing to pop it in a tote and store in the attic. I recently found similar items from my dad. I wasn't going to wear them as a kid. As an adult I treasure them being there...especially as I lose him.

[Stosh]

1 hour ago, blw2 said:

nice....

my mom had saved my old cub shirt from the early/mid 1970's and passed it on to me when my son started cubs.  This was in the day of community strips and before the council shoulder patch.  My son showed little interest & i seriously doubt he'll want it.

I've been toying with the idea of sending it to the council where my pack was..... Dubuque IA

either that or trying to sell it on ebay....

I used to work with the NE IA Council back in the mid 70's, but I was working at setting up Exploring Posts.

[LeCastor]

4 hours ago, Col. Flagg said:

I'd hold on to it. It costs nothing to pop it in a tote and store in the attic. I recently found similar items from my dad. I wasn't going to wear them as a kid. As an adult I treasure them being there...especially as I lose him.

I'm with you, @Col. Flagg!  My old Scout uniforms, handbooks, and other accoutrements are very important to me.  I also hold onto my grandfather's 1939 Lone Scout membership ID card, handbooks, jackknife, etc.  There are countless totes, like the one you mention, in my upstairs closet and I find myself looking through them often.

[LeCastor]

@5thGenTexan, that's a cool find!  Glad you have all your Cub stuff still.  I'm not one for putting my uniforms in shadow boxes--more likely to put patches in those things--but do like to fold them nicely and place in a plastic tote.  With that said, I think places like Michael's have pros who could give you advice on creating a nice shadow box.

[5thGenTexan]

49 minutes ago, LeCastor said:

@5thGenTexan, that's a cool find!  Glad you have all your Cub stuff still.  I'm not one for putting my uniforms in shadow boxes--more likely to put patches in those things--but do like to fold them nicely and place in a plastic tote.  With that said, I think places like Michael's have pros who could give you advice on creating a nice shadow box.

Well...  everything is just as it was the last time I wore it.  I don't want to take everything off.  If I can get a nice presentation I might take it to a den meeting to show.  My Boy Scout shirt is a different matter.  It was not as nice of an experience as Cub Scouts.  I think I will remove everything from it and pass the shirt down to my son when he is ready for the tan shirt.

[Col. Flagg]

On 1/8/2018 at 9:29 PM, 5thGenTexan said:

Well...  everything is just as it was the last time I wore it.  I don't want to take everything off.  If I can get a nice presentation I might take it to a den meeting to show.  My Boy Scout shirt is a different matter.  It was not as nice of an experience as Cub Scouts.  I think I will remove everything from it and pass the shirt down to my son when he is ready for the tan shirt.

Hobby Lobby has some nice wooden display frames that are made for showing off sports jerseys. You could put it in one of those if you like. I have seen that done in a few houses here in the Lone Star state. One guy has his Cub and Eagle uniform in two different ones his man cave.

[EmberMike]

Do a Google Image search for "scout uniform display" or something similar and you'll find tons of ideas for displaying an old uniform and badges. 

Just my 2¢, if you want to display the whole shirt, you need a pretty big frame for that. And depending on how much space you have in your home/office/room where you want to display it, these frames can end up taking up some serious wall space. Especially if you find any other memorabilia that you want to add to it. I've seen frames that include everything, Cub and BS uniforms, books, even pinewood derby cars. In my opinion, it's a bit much. And I think a lot of times those giant frames are gifted to young adults by their parents who dig all of that stuff out of the closet while Jr. is away at college. Except how many 20-somethings want a 4-foot by 4-foot by 4" deep frame of all of that stuff. 

Before you decide what to do with your uniform, maybe just consider where it will end up after it is framed or preserved, and choose options that best fit your desired wall space and display area. 

[Stosh]

4 hours ago, EmberMike said:

Do a Google Image search for "scout uniform display" or something similar and you'll find tons of ideas for displaying an old uniform and badges. 

Just my 2¢, if you want to display the whole shirt, you need a pretty big frame for that. And depending on how much space you have in your home/office/room where you want to display it, these frames can end up taking up some serious wall space. Especially if you find any other memorabilia that you want to add to it. I've seen frames that include everything, Cub and BS uniforms, books, even pinewood derby cars. In my opinion, it's a bit much. And I think a lot of times those giant frames are gifted to young adults by their parents who dig all of that stuff out of the closet while Jr. is away at college. Except how many 20-somethings want a 4-foot by 4-foot by 4" deep frame of all of that stuff. 

Before you decide what to do with your uniform, maybe just consider where it will end up after it is framed or preserved, and choose options that best fit your desired wall space and display area. 

Maybe a glass trophy case is in order here to handle all the bling collected.  A small one would only displace a sofa in the living room.