Figure 1.--Many troops had no policy about the uniform pants. Boys could wear either shorts or longs. This is the current approach at most troops. Some troops had rules about wearing shorts and longs, particularly for special occassions.

The BSA when they introduced short pants to the official uniform in the 1940s for both Cubs and Scouts as an option. Scout troops at the loval level differed in their approach. Many troops ledt it up to the individual to decide what they wanted to wear. Thus you have troops with boys wearing both short and long pants. Some troops decided that this did not give a smart uniform look so they established uniform standards. This varied widely from troop to troop over the country. Of course climate was a factor. Some troops such as boys in Florida could wear shorts year round. This was hardly possible in Minnesota. In some cases troops only enforced the standard approach for parades and other special events. Other troops ebforced the policy even at weekly troop meetings. Hopefully HBU readers will provide us some details about troop policies. I was a Cub in the early 1950s. I don't think our pack had a policy about the pabts, but we all wore the full uniform to weekly pack meetings. None of us wore the short pants uniform, but that was because we did not wear short pants as part of our regular clothes even during the summer.