Figure 1.-- I noticed Norman Rockwell did a lot of work on Scouting, both Cubs and Boy Scouts. He often depicted Cubs in a short pants uniform with matching knee socks. The illustration here is a good example. My uniform was just like the ones here. And the rest of my friends did also. I don't think I would have joined if I had to wear short pants and knee socks. In fact I never remember seeing any Cubs in my era wearing shorts, at least in Philadelphia.

Scouting was very popular when I was a boy. I was briefly a Cub Scout. It was either during 1960 or 61. I was never much of a joiner and I think I was a Cub for less than a year. The high point of my brief scouting career was a trip to West Point which entailed a train and boat ride. Mom took me down to Lit Brothers Department Store in Philadelphia to get my uniform. I noticed Norman Rockwell did a lot of work on Scouting, both Cubs and Boy Scouts. He often depicted Cubs in a short pants uniform with matching knee socks. The illustration here is a good example (figure 1). My uniform was just like the ones here, only I had long pants. And the rest of my friends did also. I think I would have balked at joining if I had to wear short pants and knee socks--especially as everyone else was wearing long pants. But I don't think I would have liked it even if some of the boys were wearing shorts. I never recall seeing any Cubs in my era wearing shorts, at least in Philadelphia. I remember the weekly meetings because my mom became a den mother and we met at our house. I kind of remember the handbook which showed the uniform options and I do remember seeing shorts as an option. In fact I never remember seeing any Cubs in my era wearing shorts, at least in Philadelphia. Actually for some reason, it was more common for Scouts to wear the short pants uniform than Cubs. I always remember wearing polished black Oxford shoes with the uniform as I believe that was a requirement in those days. The information HBU has on Cub uniforms is interesting.

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Created: 5:13 PM 2/27/2015
Last updated: 7:08 PM 2/27/2015