American Mail Order Catalogs with Boys Clothings: 1926--Excelsior Boy Scout Shoes


Figure 1.--This is the ad in "The Youth's Companion" (October 1926) from Excelsior Shoe Company offering Boy Scout shoes. Notice that two of the three are the high-top style.

We notice ads from the Excelsior Shoe Company for Boy Scout shoes. There were three styles offered, including the still popular high-top style. This ad for 1926--Boy Scout shoes, appeared in The Youth's Companion, October 14, 1926, p. 745.

Excelsior Shoe Company

We have little information on the Excelsior Shoe Company at this time. Shoes in general are a topic that HBC has not yet fully addressed. The Excelsior Shoe Company was the Authorized Manufacturer of Official Boy Scout Shoes. They were located in Portsmouth, Ohio.

The Youth's Companion

We do not know a great deal about The Youth's Companion. It was a weekly publication for children. One of its principal editirs was Daniel Ford. The magazine published excitiung stories. We are not sure when it first appear. We notice the publication offering a calendar in 1879 and trading cards, we think in the 1880s. This relatively little known magazine today, was one of the most important publications in the United states. Literary historians point out that The Youth's Companion was either the first or second largest circulation weekly magazine in the United States. The reason for this popularity was largely due to the quality of writing. The magazine published excitiung stories that appealed to children, especially boys. In fact the writing was so good that the parents also often read the magazine. The Youth's Companion in the late 19th century had the largest or next to largest circulation of any American weekly magazine. The magazines circulation was about 385,000 (1885), 400,000 (1887) and 475,000 (1892), and over half a million (1898), and 545,000 (1901). Circulation began to decline in 1907, we are not sure precisely why. The circulation was 305,000 (1925). In that year the magazine was purchased by Atlantic Monthly Company in Boston. They published the magazine for only a few years. The final Atlantic Monthly issue of The Youth's Companion was published in 1929. The magazine was then incorporated into the American Boy. One of the matters for which The Youth's Companion is best known is the campaign it launched in 1892 for a "Plerdge of Allegiance" which eventually became adopted by schools all over America. One reason the magazine eventually disappeared is that it had scruples. Some of the major advertizers at the time were companies marketing tobacco, liquor, perfumes and exotic women's underwear. The editors of The Youth's Companion refused all such

Boy Scout Shoes

This ad for 1926--Boy Scout shoes, appeared in The Youth's Companion, October 14, 1926, p. 745. Here we see three styles of boys' shoes--a service hightop shoe for general outdoor wear on Scouting expeditions and two models of dress shoe (hightop and oxford). Note that the Scout uniform in the illustration at the upper left consists of the short pants uniform with knee socks. The ad copy read, "The Scout's Choice for the Great Outdoors--Excelsior Boy Scout Shoes. Some "kicks," too, boy--real he-man shoes. When you slip these on you'll be glad again you are Scout and have your shoes built the way they should be built for a boy. You know they are YOUR shoes--made especially for you and officially approved by your own organization. The service shoe for hikes, and the oxford or the dress shoe when you are "all dolled up." Say, Bud, that selection will give the gang a thrill. Of course you don't have to be a boy Scout to wear them, but every Boy Scout knows he ought to wear them. Look for your official seal on the lining--that's the "inside dope." If you can't get Excelsior Boy Scout Shoes at your regular shoe store, write us and we'll tell you where you can buy them."

Styles

There were three different styles of shoes. The Upper Left Model: No. 574. Boy Scouts' official service shoe. Lower Left Model: No. 575. Boy Scouts' official dress shoe. Lower Right Model: No. 576. Boy Scouts' official dress oxford.

Book

Apparently the Excelsior Shoe Company offered a booklet with the purchase of the shoes. The book was "The Indian Sign Language". The ad copy advised, "Ask for this Indian Sign Language booklet-- you'll be glad you did." This is a good example of the importance of Indian lore to early American Scouting.

Illustration

One interesting aspect of the illustration here is that the Scout is pictured wearing short pants and kneesocks. American Scouts in the 1920s wore knickers/breaches. The vast majority of Scouting images from this period shows the boys wearing breaches that look rather like knickerts. Only at Scout camps or special events like jamborees did the boys werar short opanbts like the Scouts in other countries.






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Created: 8:25 PM 1/7/2005
Last updated: 8:25 PM 1/7/2005