When John Van Eaton (son of T. C. Van Eaton) was 14, in 1927, he was a Boy Scout.
His Boy Scout membership certificate is great — especially the illustration of the Boy Scout helping an elderly woman across the street. On the back side you can read the Boy Scout oath and law, which is much the same as it it today.
There are over 4.5 million members today and over 110 million since it was started.
Per Wikipedia, “The progressive movement in the United States was at its height during the early 20th century. With the migration of families from farms to cities, there were concerns among some people that young men were no longer learning patriotism and individualism. The YMCA was an early promoter of reforms for young men with a focus on social welfare and programs of mental, physical, social and religious development.”
I’m not sure what badges John earned. It looks like you could earn them in:
• first aid
• physical development
• personal health
• public health
• life saving
• pioneering
Images courtesy of Pat Van Eaton.
Click on images to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 
4 responses to “John Van Eaton – Boy Scout in 1927”
WOW !! what a treasure keepsake this is !! I joined what was supposed to be a boy scout club back when I was 12 or 13, but it turned into a bible study group instead. I have no problem including bible study with boyscouts, but we NEVER did boy scout stuff. I would sure like to see a whole lot more kids involved with this kind of “character building” activities, instead of being glued to their electronic doohickies !! (Boy do I sound like an old geezer or what !!)
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I love the certificate. It’s SO cool.
I was knee deep in 4H when I was that age. Still go to the county fairs and watch the kids competing. 🙂
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[…] John Van Eaton was a Boy Scout back in 1927 and received Boys’ Life, the Boy Scout’s magazine. You could get one for 20 cents or a annual subscription for $2.00. […]
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Very neat. 🙂
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