How Girls Can Help Their Country: Handbook for Girl Scouts

by W.J. Hoxie

Originally published in 1913, this is a fascinating reproduction of the first American Girl Scout Handbook. Author W.J. Hoxie--a naturalist--included tips and tricks for provisioning a camp, tying knots, tending the injured, and telling time by the stars. In 1916, How Girls Can Help Their Country was adapted by Juliette Low into a newer version of the Girl Scout Handbook. The ranks of the American Girl Scouts have grown from the original eighteen members to the millions of members still active today. Through the decades, each Girl Scout has used some edition of the handbook to learn about everything from camping and first-aid, to "housewifery" and patriotism. Although the roles of women have changed over the years, the importance of the handbook has not. Complete with photographs and diagrams, this centennial edition serves as a reference for life in the times of the great-, great-great-, or even great-great-great-grandmothers of today's Girl Scouts.

Genres: Nonfiction

164 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

Reviews

[Liss Carmody · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reprint of the 1913 original Girl Scout's Handbook, this slim, fascinating volume is interesting to read as an illustration of where the Girl Scouting movement started philosophically, and to compare to where it is now. It's written entirely by Juliette Low, as best I can tell, and stuffed full of quirky moralizing anecdotes, the author's personal musings, and all kinds of curious tidbits. One entire page is devoted to how nice it is to get up before dawn and go hiking in the early morning, for example! On the whole the text, though broken into sections to some extent, is a bit of a random mash-up as Low felt free to go off on tangents if she was talking about something and another idea occurred to her. Don't be surprised to be reading a defense of botany and stumble across the non-sequitur, "We walk too little in America." Haha, okay, Juliette. Tell me how you really feel. The publication has the flavor of xeroxed 'handbooks' that were typed up by the leader of a small organization in the '80s and then distributed to new members on pale green or yellow paper, stapled, in the corner, without any kind of actual proofreading process. Which is probably more or less what happened, minus the xeroxing.

It's very clear from the organizational structure (not to mention the title!) how much of a pseud0-military flavor Scouting had in its earliest incarnation. There is quite a bit in here about how girls should drill and train physically and in terms of skills to suit themselves well to an adulthood that might well involve some manner of patriotic service. Honestly, the three areas of focus seem pretty balanced between outdoor-craft and naturalism (camping, orienteering, identifying birds, plants, insects, etc), housekeeping skills (caring for children, cleaning, mending, cooking, etc), and emergency preparedness (nursing skills, drowning/fire rescue, semaphore, Morse code, drilling and exercising, etc). All of this is established within a framework that puts young women of 21+ in charge of patrols organized by a girl of 15+, reporting upward. It's very clear from the writing how much this is expected to be a thing that takes place within close geographical confines: the girls in one's patrol are the same neighborhood girls one is already close to, only now they are going to begin to work together as well and put their play to a purpose.

Some of the admonitions here are, naturally, outdated. Other instructions have been bypassed by medical and technological developments (please do not use the Schäfer system to induce respiration on anyone who has drowned!). Others are of course still good, and some are most unique to Girl Scouts and pleasing. For example, Scouts are told to tie a knot in the tails of their neckerchief and not untie them until they have done a good turn for someone that day. If they get to the point of undressing for bed and haven't done one yet, they are to remember to do two the following day. Quaint! But charming.

Scouting today puts far less of an emphasis on knot-tying, nursing, and semaphore signaling. We no longer require Scouts to demonstrate that they have been able to earn and save 50 cents before being allowed to be promoted to First Class. We don't ask our Scouts to keep a log of their weight, height, and measurements over time to try to build them up into athletes ready for basic training. But on the whole, the Scouting movement hasn't necessarily moved so far from its origins. By the standards of its time, a group that advocated health and strength, career-oriented skill acquisition, and reliance from girls was really fairly progressive.

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a terrible Girl Scout. I think I lasted for maybe a year. I was disappointed that on our first "camping" trip, we were relegated to cabins instead of tents. Anyway, my sister is a fantastic scout, so I borrowed this handbook, first published in 1913, from her bookshelf.

Insightful. And too funny.

Some of the commentary is wonderfully dated. Case in point: "The Japs are particularly strong and healthy. [...] Their particular exercise is Ju-Jitsu, which is more a game than a drill and is generally played in pairs" (70-71).

However, I really appreciated the emphasis on doing things simply because they are good for you or others. I like the sense of obligation and duty that comes from instruction texts of that time period. I wish more kids (and adults) were raised with similar scruples. A little extra class and grace wouldn't hurt any of us.

[Tara Moye · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my daughter, I read this in preparation for years to come as a GS.

I appreciate all the text. And learned a bit myself if being honest. I rated four stars because it’s a bit out dated in relation to the days kids are being raised. But I loved and very much enjoyed the realism of the content.

[Leslie]

I found this fascinating and a small part of me wished I was in scouts at that time.

[Saleris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mine is the 60th anniversary edition, published in 1972. I WAS in the Girl Scouts then (and got it at discount at a day camp). Honestly, it's twee, but I liked it. So I kept it.

[CarrieAnne · Rating 1 out of 5]

very disorganized, outrageous advice