Bibliotheca Herpetologica 18(10)

Bell, C. J. and S. Skwarcan 2024. The Boy Scouts of America Reptile Study Merit Badge Pamphlet in World War II and the Broader Role of the Boy Scouts in Paper Rationing and Propaganda Distribution During the War. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 18(10):98–107.

John Moriarty’s excellent review of the history of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Reptile Study merit badge pamphlet (see Bibliotheca Herpetologica 10(1)) inspired our effort to compile as complete a set as possible of the different editions and printings of that pamphlet. The successful completion of that effort yielded an unexpected surprise for us — there were three cover styles during World War II for the merit badge pamphlets published by the BSA.

The earliest was printed between 1939 and 1943 (with a few copies printed early in 1944). That cover is Joe Price’s ‘Type 4 — Boy Scout Standing’ and was a colorful illustration of a boy scout in uniform on the left side of the front cover, backed mostly by white. (Joe Price privately published several catalogs of Boy Scout and Cub Scout handbooks, Boy Scout Merit Badge books and other Boy Scout Literature from roughly 1998–2002.)

The second wartime cover was printed on a thicker cardstock with a much-simplified design and was produced to comply with wartime restrictions on use of paper and color dyes. It was also printed with a much-simplified design and was produced to comply with wartime restrictions on use of paper and color dyes. That cover was printed between March and November of 1944 and is Joe Price’s ‘Type 5A — Cardboard or war cover’.

By the end of 1944 booklets with those covers had been entirely distributed for many merit badge titles and were replaced by the third type used during the war, the Type 5B cover which was made of slick clay paper but still lacked the extensive color illustrations of the printings in the early war years.

In addition to merit badge pamphlets many other BSA publications were impacted by wartime restrictions. As an example, the fourth edition of the Boy Scout Handbook also was impacted by wartime rationing — at the fifth printing (September, 1944), the size was reduced from 4.5 x 7 inches to 4 1/4 x 6 5/8 inches, and all color printing was eliminated to reduce use of pigments essential for the war effort. Many other publications of the Boy Scouts of America that were printed in 1944 and 1945 carry notices of compliance with wartime restrictions; the notice was dropped by March 1946. The broader context of those rationed materials lies in the general wartime restrictions under which many people lived during the war. That context also intersects again with the BSA in several ways and is discussed in the article.