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Scout Handbooks & Guides

Evidence provided through scout advertisements, handbooks, and guides gives us a look into what types of activities were being promoted and encouraged in popular youth organizations. Click on the covers below to expand and read through the information related to arts and crafts activites. 

1973

1973

1977

1983

1986

Scout Commericals

Ceramics (13:53-14:57)
at Camp Timberlane, Woodruff, WI (1983)

Woodworking (6:09) Photography (6:42) 
Ceramics (7:23)

Camp Minnehaha in West Virginia, (1980s)

Arts and Crafts (0:20)
Young People's Day Camp, NY and NJ
(1988)

Crafts Shop (2:44)
Camp O-Ongo, CA
(1990s)

As camping moved through the 1970s to the 1990s, the articles of Camping Magazine shifted away from the previous “how-to-do” types of articles and moved towards engaging in conversations about broader, relevant world topics. A few of the themes written about include topics of diversity, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ issues, camping for special populations (blind, deaf, handicapable, and other individual disabilities), health and safety standards in camp (mandated reporting, abuse, and trauma training), youth development, combating drugs and alcohol use and abuse amongst campers/staff,  sexual health and education (sexual liberation movement and AIDS Epidemic), environmental, experiential education, and global/world education. While these topics moved in, arts and crafts-related content and other program-specific articles were phased out. Below are the titles of articles found in the Camping Magazine indexes from 1970-1999 related to summer camp arts and crafts:   

You can also view the entire archived collection on The Internet Archive.   

1972

June: Want a New Arts and Crafts Program?--Use Geometry

1973

January: Materials for Creative Crafts

1974

January: A Pioneer Theme Enhances Arts and Crafts

 

1975

April: Bicentennial Crafts and Camp

May: Camp Weaving

1979

March: Crafts at Camp

1987

February: Making Art Together

1992

May/June: Cameras in Camp

1995

July/August: Photography Basics

1997

July/August: Earth Art: Exploring the outdoors with nature crafts

1998

November/December: Creater-cizes: Creativity Exercise

Fostering Creativity in Camp

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