1960s Cub Scout Memories

My older brother and I are all decked out in our uniforms

My Bobcat Badge

The Boy Scouts celebrate the anniversary of their founding this month – so it's a good time for me to reminisce about being a Cub Scout in Lorain in the 1960s.

There's not a lot to reminisce about, however. Unlike my older brother who became a Boy Scout, I never advanced further than earning my Wolf badge. So I wasn't a Cub Scout very long.

I kind of regret that now, because I think the Boy Scouts are a very worthwhile organization, especially in this day and age. My young nephews down in Texas have been Scouts for years, and their lives have been enriched immensely by their involvement with Scouting.

But despite my too-brief Scouting career, I have a few pleasant memories.

I really liked my uniform, with its various pins (such as my Bobcat Badge) and patches. In fact, seeing those spiffy displays of Cub Scout uniforms in the Boys Departments of stores such as Kline's probably made me want to join in the first place (not unlike someone enlisting in the armed forces for the same reason)!

I enjoyed having a subscription to Boys Life, the official Boy Scout magazine (below).

Pedro the Mailburro
Circa 1960s

I loved to read, and looked forward to each issue. I especially enjoyed the cartoons (freckle-faced Pee Wee Harris, The Tracy Twins) and Pedro the burro's mail column. (Incidentally, I happened to look at a recent Boys Life at a doctor's office, and Pedro has been redesigned – hideously.)

The Den Meetings were fun. Our first Den Mother was Mrs. Krafcik, and I remember walking to her house near Masson School and doing crafts in her basement. (One of the projects involved painting a bunch of peas white, and then gluing them to a vase to create a gift for our unfortunate mothers.) Later, we had Mrs. O'Brien for our Den Mother, which was better for me since she lived in the next block on Skyline Drive. Plus, she tended to bake lots of goodies for our den – which we ate while watching cartoons.

The Pinewood Derby was a big deal and was held at Masson, which is where our "pack" was based. Since I was a big Peanuts fan, I carved my racer in the shape of Snoopy. It was a crowd favorite, but it did as poorly in the race as if it was carved by Charlie Brown himself.

Once we were going to have a big Scout outing at Mill Hollow. I think there was a big baseball game planned. But the whole thing was rained out and never rescheduled. I was rather relieved!

I remember a fundraising project in which we went door-to-door and sold Bob's Donuts. We took advance orders, collected the money and then delivered the donuts on a Saturday a few weeks later. It was a very good idea that I haven't seen done since, and it made me a fan of Bob's Donuts for life.

The thing I remember most about Cub Scouts was my Wolf handbook (above), which I enjoyed reading. The paint-by-number style illustrations on the cover really left a big impression on me. So did the drawings on the inside, which depicted an idealized world that wasn't quite a reflection of reality.

A typical den meeting as depicted in the Wolf handbook

The handbook also was the place to keep track of and write down your achievements towards your Wolf badge, and later, the completion of electives towards arrows for your uniform.

Here's a typical handbook spread describing an achievement ("Books") and what the Cub Scout needed to complete. The area in which a parent signed off as a witness that the task was completed is shown on the right. (I don't know how many times Dad mercifully signed off on an activity that I had sheepishly been unable to complete.)

Here are a few more spreads from the handbook. This one (below) is from the "Parties and Gifts" elective.

This one is from "Dramatics."

Like I said, I did earn my Wolf badge, but apparently lost interest in being a Cub Scout. 

Dad had enjoyed being a Boy Scout, and he never let on whether or not he was disappointed that none of his sons stayed in Scouting. (He couldn't make fishermen out of us either.) At least my nephews are keeping their grandfather's Scouting legacy alive.