The little guy's in the Cub Scouts - and we recently went to a Boy Scout Expo where a vendor was selling old handbooks. I got the little guy a Wolf manual from the early 70s, and I picked up a Boy Scout handbook and a Scoutmaster's handbook from the mid-60's. Looking through these, I noticed that there was a fair bit more info than in the current version of the Wolf handbook. I swung by the local Scout shop and picked up a current Boy Scout handbook, and started comparing.
Then I got on EBay and found a Boy Scout handbook from the early 40's. Boy, was I shocked.
The 1940's handbook had roughly 40 pages on various types of trees. 45 pages on animals and birds, and that wasn't in the 'extended scoutcraft' sections. There are much larger sections on American history and various subjects of scoutcraft and camping than there are in the contemporary manuals.
Admittedly, the '40's handbook was designed during the tail end of the depression. A pocket encyclopedia for a boy would be a justifiable expense - while these days the resources are so much greater. But I felt like I was looking at a Powerpoint presentation when I looked at the current Handbook as opposed to the much greater range info in the '40s handbook. Graphically, the current handbook was easier to read. Larger type, better line spacing, very liberal usage of graphics and pictures. But it felt like a great deal was left out.
Perhaps they're trying to compete with all the other distractions in society today - I don't know. Certainly the current handbook doesn't present Scouting to be much of a challenge, or so I see it. The theme in the '40s handbook was that the Scout needed to work, needed to prepare himself and help others. The theme in the current handbook... well, there didn't seem to be much of one.
It kind of makes me wonder if that's the reality of it - that the current version of Scouting's kind of a hollow shell compared with what they tried for in the '40s. Well, I don't see there's much of an alternative. Admittedly the values that Scouts are supposed to live by are pretty archaic, but I like the concepts and think Aaron wouldn't be hurt by learning them. So - we'll see what we see.
But I do feel it's not what it used to be.
J.
Comments (9)
I agree. Stick to whatever resource you think si best. And if you REALLY think it's the best, scan it in so others can use it too. Put it up on a website. Make digital coppies and give it to Aaron's scoutmates.
Or don't... it could be copyrighted, and while I personally don't respect copyright one bit, you just might.
Posted by rawb | December 4, 2005 12:39 AM
Posted on December 4, 2005 00:39
You ought to see some of the other early Handbooks; I have a facsimile of the 1910 Handbook, and copies of the 1942 Air Scout Handbook and the 1941 Sea Scout Handbook (the Air Scouts and Sea Scouts were eventually absorbed into the Explorer program). One thing to remember: the Scouts were originally intended to prepare boys for the military, and it is quite clear in the earlier Handbooks. Nowadays people are so upset with the idea that the Scouts might have any military connection that military bases are no longer permitted to sponsor Scout troops. But the Scouts also taught such outmoded concepts as trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness - you get the idea - and these are good things for everyone, not just those who go into the military.
Posted by John C. | December 4, 2005 2:02 PM
Posted on December 4, 2005 14:02
One of the things that I didn't know but learned from stories in my early 1900s St. Nicholas magazines were that Boy Scouts were trained in crowd control. They used long poles which they drilled with, and the elder scouts were, if some type of event happened that crowd control was necessary, expected to get these poles or reasonable facsimiles thereof, and help out the police or help before the police got there. (Before some other commenter asks, NO, they were not supposed to beat people over the heads or do anything violent with them.) The particular story I read had a Scouting ceremony taking place in a large rented hall--badges were being awarded, presentations made, etc. Families and friends of the Scouts were there and it was very crowded. A fire broke out while the ceremony was going on and it wasn't noticed until the situation had become grave. The Scouts brought out the poles and used them to bar people from dangerous parts of the building as well as funnel the crowd toward the proper exits. They were expected to "stay at their posts" until the last person was out. (Of course there was the subplot of someone being trapped in the building and one of the Scouts rescuing him. This heroism was treated as something "normal" for a Boy Scout, although the boy involved was praised and rewarded afterward.)
I believe the other reason the books are so simplified, is, sadly, that children don't read as well as they used to 50, 60, 70 years ago--and that no one expects them to.
Posted by LindaY | December 5, 2005 11:40 AM
Posted on December 5, 2005 11:40
Well, Linda, it depends on the child, and on the parents. The little guy's reading the current Boy Scout handbook, which is supposedly aimed at the 12+ crowd. (He's reading books for school at the 4th grade level, BTW.) I just got a 1956 Boy Scout handbook on Ebay - it'll be interesting to see the changes decade to decade. If he starts making noises about wanting to build a shelter in the backyard - we'll take him seriously.
BTW, no mention of crowd control or the like in the '40s manual.
J.
Posted by JLawson | December 5, 2005 12:23 PM
Posted on December 5, 2005 12:23
John, I won't disagree that a lot of the info learned from the books would be helpful in the military. And there IS a certain expectation in them that you'll do your duty as a citizen. Whether that means miltiary service or being a responsible member of society is open to interpretation.
And that idea you had, Rawb, about scanning in the manuals... Hmmm.
Hey, John - how much would Jamie charge for a job like that?
J.
Posted by JLawson | December 5, 2005 1:01 PM
Posted on December 5, 2005 13:01
On the bright side, it's only a matter of years before the scout handbook is a tiny, epaper terminal tied to ScoutNet (TM).
Posted by Bellman | December 5, 2005 2:45 PM
Posted on December 5, 2005 14:45
You might well be right on that one!
BTW, I saw you're still having problems with your blog - any ETA on getting everything back up on line?
J.
Posted by JLawson | December 5, 2005 3:15 PM
Posted on December 5, 2005 15:15
We ended up punting on the drupal powered blog, for a variety of reasons. The new version is on blogspot, but thebellman.org still gets there. It looks like it will be our permanent (in internet years) home.
Posted by Bellman | December 5, 2005 3:54 PM
Posted on December 5, 2005 15:54
Well, you can always try the folks I use. Haven't had any real problems (just one misunderstanding about what I could do) and their cost isn't much at all.
1and1 Hosting - they've got a starter package at about $3 a month, including domain name. (I use the $9.99/month business package.)
You might also want to consider shifting over to MT - the current incarnation's real sweet when it comes to filtering out spam and junk trackbacks.
J.
Posted by JLawson | December 6, 2005 11:29 AM
Posted on December 6, 2005 11:29