Figure 1.-- Here is the cover of The Scout's Pathfinder Annual for 1963. It competed with the Scout association's "The Scout Annual".

The Scout’s Pathfinder Annuals rivalled The Scout Annual. It was an independent publication where as the rival The Scout Annual was done in conjunction with the British Scout Association (BSA). As far as I'm aware, the material was original although the material could have appeared elsewhere that I'm unaware of. The first one appeared in 1959. I think they stopped publication in the 1990s, but am not sure about this. The Scout’s Pathfinder Annuals was similar in content to the The Scout Annual, although they weren’t as lengthy, stretching to 125 pages, whereas The Scout Annual had around 225. However, this had diminished when the annuals were published in the 1980s. The 1980 edition had been reduced to 79 pages. The fact that they were shorter in length didn’t demean its publication. In fact, both annuals complimented each other and were both prized by a young Scout when he found them in his stocking on Christmas morning. As with The Scout Annual they were rich in Scout and Sea Scout stories by authors such as Leighton Houghton and Arthur Catherall and again these were richly illustrated by John Challen. In 1969 Robert Moss who edited these annuals brought out a separate publication featuring some of the stories that featured in the main annual. The 1980 edition was edited by Jack Cox and the annuals were published by Purnell.

Rival Scout Annuals

The Scout’s Pathfinder Annuals rivalled The Scout Annual. It was an independent publication where as the rival The Scout Annual was done in conjunction with the British Scout Association (BSA).

Original Materail

As far as I'm aware, the material was original although the material could have appeared elsewhere that I'm unaware of.

Chronology

The first one appeared in 1959. I think they stopped publication in the 1990s, but am not sure about this.

Content

Adventure stories

The stories were adventure ones with some obstacle to make it more interesting. Some involved animals and rivalry between other Troops or Patrols. While others, may have dealt with an abduction or a crime in which the Scouts set about solving.

Illustrators

There was two illustrators assigned to the annual. These were Robert Gascoine and John Challen

Letters

There were no letters to the editor.

Popularity

The fact that they were shorter in length didn’t demean its publication. In fact, both annuals complimented each other and were both prized by a young Scout when he found them in his stocking on Christmas morning. I'm unsure at this time how Scouts reacted to the two rival publications and to what extent one was opreferred over the other.

Ethnic diversity

Blacks were very rarely if ever depicted in the annuals

Activities

No activities really stood out. A wide range of activities were covered in the Photo Pages. We note that in the years before computers, besides the various camping/outdoor activities, that photography and ham radio were popular topics.

Uniforms

The Scout uniform was often discussed in the Path finder Annuals. Here is one short article in the 1961 edition: "The Long and Short of It. Senior Scouts may wear long trousers instead of the traditional shorts if the whole Troop prefer them. This official ruling made early in 1961, finally decided an issue that had been a point of controversy for some time – and the great majority of Scouts and Scouters in the Movement will agree that the judgement was a wise one. Obviously, trousers and shorts must not be "mixed" in the same Troop; the effect would be untidy, even ludicrous. Scouts under fifteen continue to wear shorts, and very few, one imagines, will quarrel with this verdict. Scouters, of course, have been allowed to wear long trousers instead of shorts, if they preferred to do so, ever since the end of World Ward II. Shorts have been worn by Scouts, including Senior Scouts, for over fifty years, so the new ruling is quite a break with tradition. One important Scout figure who will not be personally affected is the Chief Scout, Sir Charles Maclean, who wears a kilt and will continue to do so."

Annual Editions

The issue pictured here is the 1963 edition. In 1969 Robert Moss who edited these annuals brought out a separate publication featuring some of the stories that featured in the main annual. The 1980 edition was edited by Jack Cox and the annuals were published by Purnell.

1959 Edition

The publishers of the Scouts' Pathfinders Annuls for several yers used plain colored backgrounds for their Annuals. The 1959 annul had a blue background. They used blue and red in subsequent years. Then for the 1963 annual, for the first time they started using actual locations. We do not yet information on the content of the 1959 annual.

1963 Edition

The cover of tge 1963 edition is shown here (figure 1). The contents of this edition included: The contents of the Pathfinder Annuals were listed in order of categories, which were the following in each section. Scouting Stories: 1.A Townee in the Troop 2.Night Operation 3.One Good Turn Troop activities: 1.How to Letter Your Troop Activities 2.Scouting for the Handicapped Nautical Knowledge: 1.Flags and Bells 2.Buoys 3.Rope Scout News Knotting and Mapping: 1.Know Your Knots 2.Protect that Map with a Map Case Comic Cartoons: 1.The opportunist 2.Cold Feet Camping, Hiking and Potholing: 1.Backwoods Camping 2.Hiking by Numbers 3.Underground Wonderland Quizzes and Puzzles: 1.Do You Know Your Scouting 2.Picture Quiz 3.Tree Topics Pioneering Days: 1.The Man They Called "B.-P." 2.The fleur-de-lis Scouting at Home and Abroad: 1.Song Helps Scouting 2.First Scout President of the U.S.A. Radio and Photography: 1.Are You a Ham 2.Tackling the Photographer Badge Patrol Leading: 1.Make a Patrol Flag 2.Snippets from "The Scout" Centres of Scouting: 1.The Philmont Scout Ranch 2.Brownsea 3.Scout Centre on the Roof of England Photo Pages