American Boy Scouts: Vintage Uniform


Figure 1.--This is the ABS jacket. Notice it buttons at the collar. As a result there was no uniform shirt. Note the ABS shield on the left sleeve. Click on the image to see the back.

We do not yet have detailed information on the ABS uniform. American Boy Scouts was an early competitor of the Boy Scouts of America. Sponsered by William Ranolph Hearst the Newspaper Mogul. The ABS lasted from 1910 to 1918, Boy Scouts of America received a Congressional Charter in 1916 to the rights of the words Scout, Scouts and Scouting thus spelling the end of the American Boy Scouts. It appears to have been brown rather than olive greem. It looks very similar to the BSA uniforms, including a long jacket and knickers. We think they also wore the wide-brimmed hat. We are not sure if there was a standard kerchief. One we note is yellow. The ABS patch seen here was worn on the right shoulder (figure 1). We do not yet have photographs of ABS Scouts, but we do have images of an ABS vintage uniform.

American Boys Scouts

The American Boy Scouts was an early competitor of the Boy Scouts of America. Sponsered by William Ranolph Hearst the Newspaper Mogul. The ABS lasted from 1910 to 1918, Boy Scouts of America received a Congressional Charter in 1916 to the rights of the words Scout, Scouts and Scouting thus spelling the end of the American Boy Scouts.

Uniform

We do not yet have detailed information on the ABS uniform. It appears to have been brown rather than olive greem. It looks very similar to the BSA uniforms, including a long jacket and knickers. We think they also wore the wide-brimmed hat. We are not sure if there was a standard kerchief. One we note is yellow. The ABS patch seen here was worn on the right shoulder (figure 1). We do not yet have photographs of ABS Scouts, but we do have images of an ABS vintage uniform.


Figure 2.--Here is the ABS shield worn on the left sleeve. Click on the image to see the button.

Garments

The uniform consists of the shirt and knickers ( knee pants). The uniform was found with a yellow handkerchief (no markings) in the right pocket. Also had a yellow belt with it but I don't think this is original.

Hat

The uniform here did not have a hat, but we believe the official uniform included the wide-brimmed hat.

Jacket

The uniform had no official shirt that I know of. The uniform had a long jacket (figure 2). It buttoned at the collar so whatever shirt was worn wouyld not be vissible. It was a long jacket extending well below the waistline. The jacket is 28 inch chest, 21 inch sleeve and the back of the jacket is 25 inches long. The collar is in the style of a World War I uniform. All the buttons on the shirt are marked ABS around the depiction of an Eagle, the front four buttons are 3/4 of inch and pocket,sleeve and shoulder buttons are 1/2 inch. The jacket has four front buttons and four pockets with flaps and buttoned. The end of the sleeves have one button.

Kerchief

We are not sure about the official kerchief. This uniform was found with a plain yellow kerchief wiyj no design.


Figure 3.--Here are the knickers that were worn with the uniform. Both the ABS and the BSA chose knickers. European Scout associations chose short pants.

Knickers

The ABS uniform had knicker pants. Here are the knickers that were worn with the uniform (figure 3). Both the ABS and the BSA chose knickers. European Scout associations chose short pants. Waist size of the pants is 26 inches and inseam is 15 inches. There are buckles on the bottom of the pants to tighten the legs. The pants have 6 waist buttons for suspenders, it also has belt loops, two front pockets and one right rear pocket with a button, the fly has two button with the top waist button missing. The metal pants buttons look original but are not marked ABS.





HBU






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Created: 3:11 AM 10/14/2004
Last updated: 3:11 AM 10/14/2004