Scouting for Girls: Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts (Classic Reprint)

Lord Baden Powell founded the Boy Scouts in England in 1908, with the idea that boys should be trained for war during peacetime. He founded the Girl Guides shortly thereafter; his friend, Juliette Gordon Low, loved the idea and transplanted it to the United States, founding the Girl Scouts in 1912. This short history is to highlight the original purpose of the organization as a way to ready civilian children for the rigors of war. What a difference a century makes! Reading this wonder of a book, originally published in 1920 (shortly after the end of WWI), you will immediately be jolted by the differences in the agendas of the organization then and now. The book describes in some detail (to young girls, mind you) the death and destruction of an aerial attack on a London railway station to highlight a young girl's ability to calmly spring into action, as all Guides and Scouts were to be trained to do. The book contains sections on marching correctly and other signs of militaria. There's also a somewhat odd section on how to observe and follow people without them catching on (Stalking 101). Of course, first aid, campcraft and much, much more survival and emergency preparedness skills are discussed. But, that's not where it ends. Not only were the girls expected to learn everything that their male counterparts did, but they also had to learn how to keep a perfect home, cook and serve a perfect meal and generally be a pleasant young woman who would one day, single-handedly, be happily responsible for the daily care of an entire family. Ha! The boys got off light, didn't they? Today's emphasis on individualism and the empowerment of each girl is, in many ways, the teachings of a completely different group. But, look beneath the surface and much of our history remains. This book is a treasure, greatly deserving to be preserved for the next century of Girl Scouts in this format. It's a privilege to be part of an organization with such a rich heritage and the flexibility to roll with the times.

The content is good, as expected. The quality is lacking. Delivery took too long as well.

This book was published in 1920 and it's very interesting to find out what was important to Girl Scouts in 1920. Obviously their kitchens were very basic. It's fascinating to think that my mother could have had this very book when she was a girl. Times have changed. But they had paper towels back then too. I was quite amazed.

How much fun is this! Looking back to 1925! Great to compare scouting then to scouting now. I can look through the different sections to compare the guidelines. My little Daisy is too young to read it easily herself, but still enjoys little bits of information from the "Really OLD days of Girl Scouts"!

This is a wonderful nostalgia trip: an ancient, perhaps the original GS handbook which features such startling information as that it is preferable to wash one's hair once a month and other treasures of personal care hints. If you loved being a GS and GS camp this is a trip you won't want to miss.