Reliving an award-winning youth

[aliantha]

I feel a little bit like the 45-year-old guy who still talks about his glory days on the high school gridiron....

Anyway. Behold: My Girl Scout sash.

The front:


And the back:


Happy to explain all this crap in detail, if anybody cares. In short: I earned the green-edged badges in Juniors (4th through 6th grades) and the gold-edged ones in Cadettes (7th through 9th grades). They didn't let us put anything but Official Girl Scout Insignia (tm) on the sash back then, which is why the big round patches aren't on it.

The star pins with the colored discs behind them denote one year of membership. I had three more with red discs, for Seniors, but they're not on this sash because Seniors didn't wear sashes.

The big oblong "Be Prepared" patch is my First Class award. At the time, First Class was the highest award in Girl Scouting. The four white pins around it are the Challenge pins you had to earn in order to get the First Class patch. They are: Social Dependability, Emergency Preparedness, Active Citizenship and the Girl Scout Promise.

Below the First Class stuff is the Sign of the Arrow and the Sign of the Star, which were Junior awards. Below *that* are my Brownie Wings, which I got when I "flew up" from Brownies to Juniors at the end of 3rd grade. (Yes, I still have them. Yes, I recognize how weird that is.)

Now, of course, almost everything has changed. The highest award now is the Gold Award, which you earn as a Senior (or Ambassador, maybe -- they rearranged the program levels *again* a few years ago, and I don't know the new system at all). I personally think it's harder to get a Gold Award than it is to be an Eagle Scout.

[MsMary]

I still have some of that type of stuff somewhere around the house, myself. I was big into Girl Scouts back in the day.

[sgt.null]

ali - thank you for posting. it is awesome that you still have that. i am going to have to rebuild mine from (a faulty) memory.

the eco action is AWESOME! very 70's.

and i am very jealous of the pins. not sure i have any scouting pins on my big board. i will try to get a pic up the lapel pin board soon. with the newest additions from my trip.

and a BIG THANK -YOU to lorin for nyc police and fire fighter pins. i am most appreciative.

[Holsety]

You don't even want to know where I was headed the last time I passed the GSA building in NYC. Thankfully, that was a brief and hopefully completed chapter in my life.

I am not sure if I have my C/BSA troop stuff...so I'm not going to try taking pictures.

[aliantha]

Thanks, guys. The big patch with the '73 in the middle has Morse code around it. I figured it out once, but I can't remember what it says now -- probably "Girl Scouts Camporee" or something like that. My candidate for most annoying patch is the one with the smiley face. "Girl Scouts aren't just cookie pushers -- they're smile pushers"?

[lorin]

some of them are really interesting.
A steaming cup of coffee....., a dragonfly, a teapot with flowers.


My favorite..........A pumpkin with a highheel shoe in front????

[aliantha]

Dragonfly? Which one did you think was a dragonfly?

The steaming cup is Hostess, the teapot is Hospitality -- or it might be the other way around, I'm not sure any more. Anyway, one is a Junior badge and the other one is the Cadette badge. They're basically the same thing, tho.

The pumpkin and shoe -- I can't remember the name of the badge any more, but I think it had to do with picking the right clothes and makeup and stuff like that.

[Menolly]

The pumpkin and shoe -- I can't remember the name of the badge any more, but I think it had to do with picking the right clothes and makeup and stuff like that.

Shades of Cinderella? Is it supposed to be a glass slipper?

[aliantha]

The pumpkin and shoe -- I can't remember the name of the badge any more, but I think it had to do with picking the right clothes and makeup and stuff like that.

Shades of Cinderella? Is it supposed to be a glass slipper?

Yes'm, it is. I'm sure I wouldn't have picked it to earn on my own -- must have been one we earned as a troop.

I'm trying to google the badges and not having much success. Jeez, you'd think GSUSA would have an archive of this stuff...

[sgt.null]

hostess, hospitality? we did not have those badges in the boy scouts.

[lorin]

Dragonfly? Which one did you think was a dragonfly?

Right below the gold eagle wings

[sgt.null]

that does look like a dragonfly

[aliantha]

Oh! It's a stoplight, with the green light facing out. What looks like wings are the the beams from the red lights on the sides of the stoplight. The name of the badge is Community Safety. (I did find a source on the web for all the badge names, finally. )

In order, left to right, from just below the Brownie wings, we have:

Junior badges: Dabbler, Community Safety, Collector
Needlecraft, Toymaker, Backyard Fun
Cook, Hospitality (I did have them switched), Pen Pal
Sewing, (Cadette badges start here) Creative Writer, Metal Arts
Good Grooming, First Aid, Family Camper
Dressmaker, Hostess
My Country

And on the back: Player-Producer
Sports, Conservation
Language

[Holsety]

hostess, hospitality? we did not have those badges in the boy scouts.

That's why GSA > BSA
(just kidding. It depends on your fellow scouts!)

[aliantha]

hostess, hospitality? we did not have those badges in the boy scouts.

That's why GSA > BSA
(just kidding. It depends on your fellow scouts!)

And your leader. I've heard many, many horror stories from women who were driven away from Girl Scouts because of the troop leader. (You know what they say about volunteer help: You get what you pay for.)

Sarge, the awards today concentrate a *lot* less on traditional homemaker skills and a lot more on careers and self-esteem. When the girls in Magickmaker's Senior troop got interested in learning to knit, I went through the badge book to see if they could get a badge out of it -- no dice.

[sgt.null]

ali - i am sure the bs have tons of badges that were not around when i was in. computers and such. will have to research when i have some more time.

[aliantha]

Let us know what you find out.

[Lefdmae Deemalr Effaeldm]

Maybe something like this? Yarn and Fabric Arts though, knitting included. www.osv.org/orders/scouts/Junior%20Girl ... 20Arts.pdf

[MsMary]

Dragonfly? Which one did you think was a dragonfly?

The steaming cup is Hostess, the teapot is Hospitality -- or it might be the other way around, I'm not sure any more. Anyway, one is a Junior badge and the other one is the Cadette badge. They're basically the same thing, tho.

The pumpkin and shoe -- I can't remember the name of the badge any more, but I think it had to do with picking the right clothes and makeup and stuff like that.

Ooh, I think I had the hostess and hospitality badges. I didn't get many badges in Girl Scouts cause my Scout Leaders were tough on giving out badges - they really made us work for them. But I sure had a lot of fun in GS.

[Savor Dam]

ali - i am sure the bs have tons of badges that were not around when i was in. computers and such. will have to research when i have some more time.

I can save you a lot of time on your research, Sarge. Visit meritbadge.org for information on all the rank advancement and merit badge requirements for all levels of BSA -- from Cubbing through Scouts and Venturing.