Friday, March 13, 2009

Still Fun at 101 ...

It was at this time in 1908, that youngsters in England - and their parents - were looking forward to the next installment of "Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship," the first book on the Scout Movement, written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell, the movement's founder, and based on his boyhood experiences with a cadet corps during the Boer War, and later at his experimental camp on Brownsea Island.

Personally, I think the value of Boy Scout manuals has diminished over time ... but that observation comes from a perspective that is archaic at best, and is based upon experiences with a Scouting that was older, and geared more towards a rural wilderness, rather than the urban variety ... navigating field and stream rather than drug use and self-esteem issues.

And besides, the dang-Yankee-from-back-east in me much preferred the old BSA headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey, over the corporate center near Dallas, Texas.

But that's just me.
Thanks, by the way to Frank at Books, Inq. for the heads-up.

2 comments:

Sis said...

Gosh, there a few old manuals laying around here in PA if you feel a little nostalgic or are planning a trip in the wilderness. Just contact BSA 281

Jeff said...

Sis, thanks for the offer ... but, no. I have some to send you, if you'd like.