Thursday, April 16, 2009

Vintage Thingies Thursday -- Girl Scouts

Yesterday, I posted a picture of two of my friends and me in our Brownie uniforms from when we were 9 years old in 1972. I really enjoyed the comments I received so I thought for Vintage Thingies Thursday, I would share a few of the things from Girl Scouts that I've held on to all these years (and not old pictures of my mom's family as originally planned).

Like my time in Brownies, I don't remember much about being a Girl Scout. I think I only lasted one year wearing the green uniform, and once again, no s'mores were ever made. My troop didn't sell cookies but we did sell calendars. My memory is really hazy but I think there was some kind of event held at the Anaheim Convention Center to celebrate our sales and the sales of a zillion other Girl Scouts in the county. I could be wrong but I think that's where I picked up these patches. It's funny because as soon as I dug the Scout Sampler '74 one out of the shoebox where I keep this stuff, my first thought was "I could totally make that!" because of the satin stitch and cross stitch on it. (You can click the pictures to get a larger version.)



Karen mentioned having a sash for her Girl Scout badges. We did too but for some reason, my badges never were sewn on to mine. I get what the GS one stands for but what does the cup of coffee mean? I keep thinking we did some kind of cooking project to earn a badge but maybe we just learned how to make cappuccino (yes, it's the barista badge*). As you can see, we had to make our own soccer badge. If only I knew how to embroider back then. I could have made a nicer version with some black and white floss.



I no longer have my Brownie purse but hello, I still have the Genuine Cowhide Girl Scout green one. You can't tell from the scan but the Girl Scout logo is still a nice shiny gold.

And, what's inside the little purse? An identification card which cracks me up. Employed by? No one. Sex? Girl. Blood type? Red. The humor of a ten year old. (Who told me my hair was frosted?)



Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from my days as a Girl Scout. but here's one more from Brownies. In case any of these girls decides to Google herself one day, that's Nicole Royer, Leslie Talley, Shelly Adler, Shelly Monroe, Cristi Bondra and me.



*The cup of coffee badge was for Hospitality. The Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum has photos of tons of badges and I found the coffee one on the page for Junior badges 1963-1980. The one I drew the soccer ball on is called Our Own Troop. Look at all the nifty purses on this page and the hankies and aprons and needlework. Who knew?

Next week, I'll post my Girl Scout pins. Thanks for visiting my blog! To see who else is sharing their Vintage Thingies today, check Colorado Lady's blog.

32 comments:

Miri said...

Great post! Had me laughing!
Love the Brownie photo-I was a Brownie but never a Girl Scout! at least you got one year in!

Jenny S said...

hee hee! love your id card!

I knew what that coffee badge was the moment I saw it, no one in my family will let me forget! Over here it was the "Hostess" badge and little 8-year-old me misheard and proudly went home to tell everyone I had earned my Hostage badge! xo

ClassyChassy said...

Amazing that Girl Scout and Brownie stuff is still alive and well! They say everyone has their 'moment of fame', and mine was having my picture taken and put in the paper with the rest of my Brownie troop - how cool we thought we were back then!

Unknown said...

I always wanted to be a Girl Scout but we didn't have them w-a-y out in the country! I wanted a sash and a green uniform! That's great that you kept your badges and things!

Coloradolady said...

THis was such a fun post! I love the identification card...blood..red! Cute. I was not a girl scout but I was in Camp Fire Girls...Who knows what ever happened to my stuff from that, we had beads, not badges...makes me wonder what happened to all of that stuff now.
Have a great weekend Patty!

barncat (Lisa) said...

I never got to be a Girl Scout or Brownie, but I did lead my daughter's troop a few years back (one year I had 17 girls, what was I thinking??). I proudly collected patches of places we went and sewed them on a tote, just to replace the sash I never got to have. And yes, we made s'mores several times!

SueLovesCherries said...

Oh, how I loved Girl Scouts in the 60's and 70's! I wish I had my stuff still!

Anonymous said...

what fun!!..i love the photo and those badges are pretty nifty :)

Sarah said...

Oh, how funny that you should post this today. I came across some of my GS items a couple of days ago while going through some boxes of junque. Really haven't decided what to do with them yet!

Susan said...

The id card was a riot: employed by no one. Too cute. I was a brownie and a girl scout. Went on many weekend camping trips but didn't like digging the latrine and putting up the "sheet tent" around it. We had no privacy out in the wild. Cute picture of you all.

Barbara Jean said...

great old pics!
Wonder where my old pic of brownies is?

Blessings,
Barbara Jean

CC said...

Loved your post..you had me smiling. Happy VTT..have a great day.

Donna said...

Neat things you have!
blessings to all
donna

Salmagundi said...

What a fun reminder of most girl's first 'girly' club!! Just look at how cute you all were. Sally

Roslyn said...

I always wanted o join the Girl Scouts in Aus. never got to. I know you have some great memories with all those things.
Happy VTT

Diane said...

Awesome post!

Glad to know that your blood is red, that will save A LOT of time for the paramedics.

That green belt purse is crazy awesome.

Busym1 said...

Blood...red....LOL! I found out I have a Brownie Doll in my mom's closet. One day,I will have to take a pic of it, and show you. If mom let's me.....anyway, great post! hugs, Michelle

Jenna Z said...

Oooh, this makes me want to dig mine out! I have my brownie and junior sashes with badges galore! But I never had a purse or anything fancy. My mom made all my girl scout uniforms from the patterns they sold and the fabric you could get from Joann's. I was mildly ashamed of my handmade brownie jumper but I bet no one could even tell the difference except it didn't have tags. :)

Beca said...

Cute! I'm sure that brings back many memories of your childhood. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

LOL at Jenny S! "Hostage badge".. that is priceless, I'll remember that. Hahaha.

I love the fact that no matter if our memories of Brownies and Girl Scouts were good or bad, it still brings us together as a group to talk and laugh and bond. Which was really the whole point of being a member in the first place. :)

Bea said...

I SOOOO knew that was the Hospitality badge! It was an easy one to get. You just had to hold your family HOSTAGE...LOL! Kidding! Thank you for those links. I may have to start another collection. =)

Mary said...

Thanks for posting the vintage badges and seeing your Brownies picture. I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout. I never earned any badges for some reason. I remember we tried to cook and it didn't work out very well. We also tried to do some crafts and that didn't work out either...lol. My brother was a boy scout and I used to read his books for the various badges so I learned how to make knots and learned Morse code and the military type alphabet codes. That was after I left Girl Scouts. I think if I had ever had girls I would have them join Girl Scouts since they do really fun stuff now.

Thanks again!
Mary

Amy said...

how neat that you kept all those, cool photo too :-)

Janet, said...

I was never in the girl scouts or brownies, but I like your badges. My favorite is the coffee cup one.

Unknown said...

Great post! I've been working on finding my GS things. Both my sister and I had sashes, but we can only find her's.

Anonymous said...

Most of my GS badges got sewn onto my vest (thank you, Mom). And all my Brownie badges got sewn onto my sash.

Sadly, both got lost when my parents moved. (Or maybe before, I don't know. All I know is that I haven't seen them in over 15 years. :( ) So all I have left of that is a couple of GS badges taht didn't get sewn onto my sash. That makes me sad.

I am Arizona; a person, not a place. said...

Wow, this post takes me back!! I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts, too, and have tons of badges. they're sewn on my vest, too. I'll dig it out and do a post on it. I know which box its in in the basement. I love the photo of your Brownie troop. Youth is awesome. I hope my girls want to do Brownies and 4H. There's a 4H in my mom's town, so I'll just say we live there!!

Kellie said...

I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout too! Sadly, I don't have any of my things. I had my old Brownie uniform for a while, but I'm not sure what ever happened to it. Maybe I'll dig through the closet.

Martha said...

Love the ID -- It's why I love reading your blog -- obviously, you've always had a droll sense of humor

Jennifer said...

I wish I had my girl scout badges and such, but I am pretty sure my evil mother gave them to my equally evil sister so she could take credit for them. I also remember having quite a few cookie sale tee shirts which have also disappeared.

Barbi said...

Oh what a cute photo, and I wonder what all my badges were... I know they are in a storage box SOMEwhere. Some day I'll find them and look them up, so fun to remember the "good ole days" huh? Even if it is a bit fuzzy...lol.

Holly said...

I just saw this today while googling vintage GS uniforms and I just had to comment.
I'm only 23 but I remember how uniforms have changed over the last two decades.
I was in GS from Daisies onto Adults, and am now an episodic volunteer for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.
When I was a Brownie, we marched in parades in the full uniform: the cute little beanie, the brown skirt and sash will all our triangular try-its on it, the blouse with the little brown trefoils on it, the belt, I think we had an orange necktie, and the brown socks with the little orange flashers/tabs on them that I hated so much.
It was in Juniors that we got vests; that was something we looked forward to.
I remember earning a whole lot of badges after the try-its.
When I was a Cadette, earned my Silver Award for trying to help retired racing greyhounds in shelters. Then when I was a Senior I became an independent Girl Scout, but joined up with some other independents and formed the "Big Trip" group: we organized fundraisers and sold cookies to be able to take a trip to London and thus Pax Lodge. That was an awesome trip I remember as I was, and still am, a big Beatles fan.
Anyway, my mom was the head of all the troops I was in and now she works in the Worcester office for GSCWM as a membership manager! And it was all because I wanted to be a Daisy!
I liked this entry, and the photo is cute too... Thanks for the memories!