I promised a better look at our newly acquired, hyper-adorable uniform for Brownies in the Philippines.

Ta da!

I don’t have many hard facts about this uniform, but there are plenty of clues.

The dress has no labels or manufacturing marks, so it likely was homemade. It is pale brown linen.

A card in the pocket says it was donated by Mildred “Connie” Conrad in March 1987, but it is obviously much older. This was part of a large donation that included flags for every country represented; the US flag included only has 48 stars, suggesting the 1950s or earlier.

The Philippines is an exception to the “Girl Guides” naming pattern used by most countries in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The first troops in the Philippines were established by families of US servicemen stationed there. They were registered in New York as Girl Scouts, much like Troops on Foreign Soil. The original charter for the Philippines was issued in May 1940, but the organization had to be significantly reorganized and revived after World War II.

The dress has several patches, badges, and insignia:

These look like the Golden Hand and Golden Bar emblems used by American Brownies between 1926 and 1937. The Girl Scout Collector’s Guide explains,

The Golden Bar rank represented a bit of the Golden Ground that the Brownie stands on ready to lend a hand. The Golden Hand rank showed that the Brownie could really lend a hand.

The other shoulder has a Brownie Six emblem, council strip, and troop number.

This looks like the “Little People” emblem, which was introduced in 1929.

The dress includes eight badges, sewn around the waistband. These resemble badges earned by Girl Guides, especially as US Brownies did not earn badges before 1986.

Now, for the hard part, can anyone identify the badges?

Based on current and vintage Girl Guide badges, my best guess is:

Writer, Knitting, Swimmer

img 3871

writer

gg knit

gg swimmer

Swimmer, Housekeeper (or cooking?), Jester (Blue Skeletor? He’s kinda creepy.)

img 3872

gg swimmer

canada housekeeper

jester

Jester, Toymaker, Discoverer

img 3873

jester

toy maker

discoverer

Badge #8 is on the back of the dress. Perhaps Softball? Athlete?

I’ll share some of the other vintage uniforms, but don’t promise to do all 50!

GSUSA recently announced the new Girls’ Choice outdoor-themed badges that will be available this fall. They are: Outdoor Adventure (Brownie), Horseback Riding (Junior), Archery (Cadette), Paddling (Senior), and Ultimate Recreation Challenge (Ambassador).

The results made me wonder what were the most popular badges of the past?

I used the sales figures reported in the 2005 edition of the Girl Scout Collector’s Guide by Mary Degenhardt and Judith Kirsch to find out. (I assume those numbers only go to 2004, and the book has not been updated.) The results are grouped into the Worlds to Explore Era (1980-1999) and post-Worlds to Explore, when the border colors changed but most of the designs did not.

As I’ve previously written, for Cadettes between 1963 and 1980, the clear winner was Social Dancer. Juniors in the same period, went for Troop Camper followed closely by Cook.

Brownies: 1986-1998

Brownie Try-Its were introduced in 1986 with 15 awards. They program was a huge hit, so additional Try-Its were added in 1989, 1993, and 1997. That makes it hard to compare overall totals, since some were available for more years than others. (Some names changed along the way, too.)

The top five Try-Its of the Worlds to Explore era.

The top five were Girl Scout Ways (5.8 million), Playing Around the World (4.2 million), Food Fun/Make It, Eat It (3.8 million), Making Music (3.6 million), and Dance/Dancercize (3.6 million). The top outdoor-themed Try-It ranked seventh: Outdoor Fun/Eco-Explorer, with 3.2 million.

Juniors: 1980-2001

The Worlds to Explore program, introduced in 1980, divided badges into five categories. Badges for each category had a specific border color: Arts (purple), Out-of-Doors (yellow), People (blue), Today and Tomorrow (orange), and Well-Being (red). Four of the top five Junior badges were from the World of the Out-of-Doors:

The all-time favorite of Juniors in the 1980s and 1990s was First Aid, with nearly 3 million sold. Followed close behind were Troop Camper (2.9 million; the design changed in 1990); Horse Lover (1.8 million), Swimming (1.4 million), and Wildlife (1.4 million).

The top five Junior badges from the Worlds to Explore era.

Cadettes & Seniors: 1980-2004

Cadettes and Seniors were a remarkably consistent group, with nearly identical results in both time periods.

The most popular Interest Projects from 1980-1996 (top) and 1997-2005 (bottom).

Under Worlds to Explore (1980-1996), teens chose Fashion, Fitness, and Makeup (301,391; it had a purple border its first year), Creative Cooking (262,163), Camping (204,851), Games (167,056), and Child Care (160,052).

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the favorites were Cookies and Dough (153,989), Creative Cooking (111,638), From Fitness to Fashion (97,469), Camping (93,923), and Child Care (86,509).

Juniors: 2001-2004

Juniors of the early twenty-first century were evidently a patriotic group, interested in good grooming, and still happy to go camping.

Top selling Junior badges were Cookie Connection (290,165), Looking Your Best (198,647), Girl Scouting in the USA (197,634), United We Stand (186,761), and Camp Together (171,069). Past favorites remained popular, including First Aid (6th), Horse Fan (11th), Outdoor Fun (12th), and Outdoor Cook (13th).

I was surprised at how popular United We Stand was. It was part of the trio of badges, including Wave the Flag for Brownies and American Patriotism for Cadettes and Seniors, issued following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. These three were not included in the handbooks; leaders had to download the requirements themselves.

Brownies: 1999-2004

Brownies at the turn of the century also stuck with some favorite topics, including Cookies Count (1.6 million), Girl Scout Ways (1.55 million), Manners (1.2 million), Art to Wear (1.17 million), and Caring and Sharing (1.08 million)..

Cookie-themed awarded topped all three post-Worlds to Explore badge categories.

Top of the Charts

Drumroll, please, the most popular Girl Scout badges between 1963 and 2004 were:

Tag: Brownie Girl Scouts

Brownies in the Philippines

What Were the Most Popular Girl Scout Badges?