Scout slides

[Digger_O'Dell]

Hi All,
As a continuation of hunting the old elementary school, to go along with the bobcat pin I found not one, not 2, but THREE old neckercheif slides! Tried dating them, and best I can guess is they were from the 1950's, which would coincide with the date of the bobcat pin. Each one came out in progressively better condition. Strange, they were down 7-8 inches!

50274

[Full Metal Digger]

Great looking slides. They are actually called woggles though! HH, Dave.

[Digger_O'Dell]

I have heard them called both a woggle and a slide. On the scouts supply web site they are called slides. But here is the history of the woggle as quoted from Wikipedia:

"Early Scouts tied a knot in their neckerchief (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neckerchief) (scarf) to fasten it around the neck. In the United States, experiments were made with rings made from bone, rope or wood.[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woggle#cite_note-scoutbase-1)A young Australian (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia) Scout, Bill Shankley (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Shankley&action=edit&redlink=1), who was responsible for running a workshop and developing ideas for camping equipment at Gilwell Park (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilwell_Park), became aware of the American rings, and set out to create something similar. The result was the Gilwell Woggle.
On the origin of the Woggle, Shankley said:
They used to knot their scarves, which used to get creased and stick out at the ends. But in America the early scouts used to plait up various stuffs to make a ring for theirs — they called it a boon-doggle. I got some thin sewing machine leather belting, plaited it into a neat ring, submitted it, and had it accepted. I called it a Woggle and that’s the name it’s known by throughout the world "

[DavidGC]

I was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout in the 1960s and 70s and never heard the word "woggles."

[Digger_O'Dell]

I was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout in the 1960s and 70s and never heard the word "woggles."

Here's more information on the name "woggle" also from the Wiki article:

"Although the name woggle is used in many English-speaking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language) countries, in the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States), the term woggle is reserved for the turk's head knot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turk%27s_head_knot) used to secure the neckerchief of Woodbadge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodbadge) participants. In the US, the object used to secure the neckerchief is called a neckerchief slide.In the BSA magazine Scouting from August 1923 Page 7, the term "slip-on" and "slide" are both referenced. There is an example of a rams head made of bone and an illustration on how to make your own Turk's head slip-on. The article also comments that the neckerchief should be tied using the "four in hand" knot (often used to tie a necktie) when not using a slide.
Two months later, Boy's Life magazine repeated many of the article key points. The name Slide or Neckerchief Slide appears as early as October 1923 Page 62 with a discussion of the slide being a smart addition to the neckerchief and having some benefits over a knot to tie the neckerchief on. The article makes reference to making your own troop or patrol slide. Also in this same article, on page 63, the Slide is referred to as a "Slip-On"
The first appearance of the term "Woggle" in Boys Life was in Feb. 1966 (Page 71) with reference to a question in a quiz, asking what woggle is to a British Scout?"

Hope this sheds a bit more light into the origin of the name. Here's the link to the full entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woggle

[del]

congrats on the slides and thanks for their history lesson , I'm originally from the southwest and never heard of them called woggles either.

[Skamaniac]

Those are cool! We called them slides up here too.

[groundhog53946]

Congrats on you boy scout finds! I suppose hunting at an elementary school I wouldn't be surprised to find more of them

Sent from my XT830C using Tapatalk

[OxShoeDrew]

wow, I've only found two, ever! :notworthy:

[Digger_O'Dell]

Seems to me when I go out, in most cases it's either a block buster day or a total skunk. Usually the latter, but can't complain as long as I still get to swing.

[Bell-Two]

Nice find of scout items.