Hats and More Hats for Boy and Varsity Scouts/Scouters
Several questions have come up in the past about the various Boy and Varsity Scout hats and which ones are "official". Here's the answer, along with color illustrations from the present and past Supply Division catalogs which show these hats and the catalog numbers assigned to the gear.
Basically, any hat which the BSA has created for wear is suitable for wear by Scouts and Scouters at any time with any uniform. There's now nine different hats created by the BSA, starting with the "smokey-the-bear" Campaign Hat, and onward to today's "Indiana Jones" felt hat and there's several in-between. Official BSA hats have the BSA's seal inside or on a tag attached to the hat.
The key is that for Boy Scouters and Varsity Scouters, the TROOP or TEAM's YOUTH LEADERSHIP determines the hat style for wear. We adults would love to tell the youth what to do, but it's THEIR TROOP, and therefore they make the decision on the hat style (and neckerchiefs, for that matter).
Once a Troop or Team decides on what it's going to wear, then the next thing is to decide to go with official BSA hats (preferred) or a commerical hat (cheaper but not preferred). Your Troop or Team's financial state will determine which hat or what style of hat to wear.
Many of these hats are no longer sold through the BSA's Supply Division. I've been told that basically there's a ten-year shelf life on most BSA uniform items. You may be able to obtain these hats (and some others that I don't have scanned here, for instance the Explorer flat hats worn between 1958 and 1975 or so) from second-hand stores, resellers, memorbilia collectors, and the like. The Supply Division only maintains in CURRENT STOCK the hats shown in the most current BSA Supply Division catalogs. However, as I've wrote below, there's that slight chance that some of those hats are "found in a box in the back somewhere", and are made available to local Councils for "liquidation sales" or made available to general purchase.
Commercial hats can be obtained through the BSA's Supply Division, using their Custom Design catalog; or from a number of local and regional companies that deal with creative hat designs. Please consult your local Council before signing any kind of contract with a local or regional company, because only local Councils can enter into contracts with companies. (source: BSA Rules and Regulations; BSA Fund-rasing guidelines).
I get the most personal questions dealing with the old red beret...it was popular during it's time but not enough for the BSA to keep it around:
Henry Kramer asked:
I was wondering if anyone has information about the old red Scout beret. Specifically I would like to know when they were made a part of the uniform, also when they stopped being official Scout headgear.
The red beret was introduced originally as part of the Leadership Corps uniform in 1971. The Leadership Corps, as rolled out then, were the forerunner to today's Venture Crew -- three or more boys aged 14 or over, whose jobs it was to work with and advise the Troop's elected leadership, while training and coaching younger Scouts and continuing on their advancement. Leadership Corps members wore the kelly green Scout shirts with special "SCOUT BSA" strips (that's what we were calling ourselves back then...SCOUTS and SCOUTING/USA). In 1973, the red beret was extended for wear by ALL Scouts if the Troop's leadership (that is, the YOUTH leadership) elected to wear it.
The beret has NOT stopped being official, Henry. As long as the hatgear is decided upon by the Troop's membership and leadership, it may be worn if you can obtain them. This not only goes for the red beret, but also for the "floppy ears" hat, the Campaign ("smokey the bear") hat, the flat Scout hat (in the military we called it "the overseas hat") and seven other hats that the BSA has rolled out for it's youth and adults to wear over the years.
The key, Henry, is the last part of the first sentence in the above paragragh: ....it may be worn if you can obtain them." For some reason (popularity, I guess), those hats are HARD TO FIND (the official ones, not the ones that you can get from Brigade Quartermaster or other military surplus outlets; The U.S.Cav Store is another source). The OFFICIAL ones, like the one draped over my bookcase behind me (I earned it by being the best Patrol Leader in my Troop for a year), has the BSA's official seal and space for your name inside the hat and of course the BSA outlined emblem on the front.
You might even write National Supply; sometimes, in cleaning out their warehouses and storage facilities, and sometimes in the merger or closure of camping facilities, they get back some uniforms and insignia and sometimes those hats find their way "back home" again, ready for resale.
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