Boy Scouting was a very popular advertising theme during the 1910s. Many companies developed "Boy Scout" products during this period. These products, strangely enough, often have apparently nothing to do with Boy Scouting. A good example of such a product is illustrated by the advertising label for "Boy Scout" oranges below. Companies that did not produce "Boy Scout" products also often used Boy Scout themes in their advertisements. Kellogg's and Kodak are two of the most prominent companies to use such advertisements. Boy Scout advertisements during the 1910s would have appealed both to boys that were actually involved in Scouting, and to individuals for whom the values of Boy Scouting represented something they wished to cultivate, such as hardiness or wholesomeness. For example, the Grape Nuts advertisement appearing below draws upon this theme, suggesting that Grape Nuts will help good Scouts, and presumably all who eat it, keep themselves "physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." The 1912 Colgate Toothpaste ad is a particularly good example of this.
|
