HOME—BSA Handbooks & Handbook Covers—Scout Handbook—5th Edition

The Scout Handbook, 1910-Today (continued)

5th Edition—Handbook for Boys (1948-1959)

5th Edition cover art by Don Ross:

• First two printings (upper pair of pictures)—painting of a patrol of Scouts hiking down a wooded trail, wearing campaign hats and red neckerchiefs. Cover art by BSA art director Don Ross, who also did the covers of the Scoutmaster Handbook and the Wolf, Bear, and Lion Cub Scout books of that period.
• Remaining ten printings (lower pair of pictures)—painting of two Scouts (red neckerchiefs) and an Explorer, all in overseas caps, sitting around a campfire with the smoke forming an Indian behind them. (The cover picture was changed because of the BSA's switch from campaign hats to overseas caps. Similar changes were made to the cover and inside illustrations of the Handbook for Scoutmasters. This occurred even though the campaign hat remained optional.) Don Ross may have also painted this cover, but I can't find a signature on the cover. All back covers had a US Bike Tire ad.

In 1948, the BSA lowered its entry age from 12 to 11 and changed the advancement requirements, necessitating a new Handbook.

The 5th Edition offered many changes from the previous Handbook. It drops the chapter on games and the extensive sections on animals, birds, insects, trees, fishes, which had appeared in all Handbooks until that time. In place of the wildlife descriptions, it groups flora and fauna in several drawings of various habitats (seashore, forest, etc.); the amount of wildlife content and discussion, however, is greatly reduced and remains so until the 9th Edition. The 5th Edition also contains a minimal discussion of puberty and not a hint of sex. Again, not until the 9th Edition would a Handbook contain any guidance on sex. Along with the Original Edition, the 5th Edition omits any mention of alcohol or tobacco or of poisonous snakes.

The 5th Edition is the first Handbook to show the taut line hitch, so useful on tent lines, and it is the first to include lashings. It is also the first Handbook to include edible wild plants and the Scout Slogan ("Do a Good Turn Daily"). It has a much more complete discussion of fire building than heretofore. In addition to other information on conservation, it is the first book to contain a "Conservation Pledge" ("I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to defend from waste the natural resources of my Country — its soil and minerals, its forests, water and wildlife." ). Starting with the 8th printing, this is reworded to our present "Outdoor Code" ("As an American, I will do my best to — be clean in my outdoor manners, be careful with fire, be considerate in the outdoors, and be conservation-minded.").

[It is ironic that the printing where the Conservation Pledge first appears contains an advertisement advocating species extermination. The ad (for Peters ammunition) is entitled "How Doc Peters helped Jimmie track down a menace." After shooting a bobcat, Jimmie says to Doc, "That's one less bobcat to plunder the woods." And Doc answers, "Yes, son, you've helped conservation of wild life."]

Interestingly, although BSA did not start showing non-white faces in the handbook until the 7th Edition, there is a single drawing in every printing of the 5th Edition that shows a black Scout (page 313).

The 5th Edition is the last Handbook written by a number of experts, the last of the small-size Handbooks, and the last printed exclusively in black and white (other than the cover).

5th Edition Summary and Printing History

• title from title page—Handbook for Boys
• by various experts (Ted Pettit, Editor)
• cover art by Don Ross (definitely the first cover; apparently also the second cover)
• 1948-1959 (11 years)
• 6,405,000 copies printed (average 582,272 copies printed per year)
• size 105x168x22 mm (4-1/8x6-5/8x7/8")
• 12 printings:
  —1st printing (Jun 1948, 840 000 copies)—566 numbered pages, some ads appeared in only 105 000 copies (the eight variants are distinguishable by 1 to 8 stars appearing at the bottom of the last page; in addition, the title page for the variants with 1 to 4 stars gives a printing quantity of 420,000; the title page for the variants with 5 to 8 stars gives a corrected printing quantity of 840,000) (cover drawing is smiling Scouts hiking in campaign hats)
  —2nd printing (Apr 1949, 420 000 copies)—566 numbered pages, some ads appeared in only 105 000 copies (the four variants are distinguishable by 1 to 4 stars appearing at the bottom of the last page)
  —3rd printing (Apr 1950, 420 000 copies)—564 numbered pages, some ads appeared in only 105 000 copies (the four variants are distinguishable by 1 to 4 stars appearing at the bottom of the last page) (cover drawing changed to Scouts in overseas hats around campfire)
  —4th printing (Jan 1951, 525 000 copies)—564 numbered pages
  —5th printing (Jun 1952, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages, some differences in ads
  —6th printing (Jun 1953, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages
  —7th printing (Jun 1954, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages
  —8th printing (Feb 1955, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages
  —9th printing (Jan 1956, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages
  —10th printing (Jan 1957, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages, some copies have 4 extra pages in the front commemorating the printing of the 15 millionth copy of the Handbook
  —11th printing (Oct 1957, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages
  —12th printing (Sep 1958, 525 000 copies)—568 numbered pages

Actual 5th Edition Table of Contents

• FUN AND ADVENTURE IN SCOUTING
• Part I—How to Become a Scout
  1. What to do First
      Tenderfoot Requirements [added in later printings]
  2. Rules of Scouting
  3. Signs of a Scout
  4. What Scouts Do [later called Take Part in Scout Activities]
  5. Our Flag [later called Love of Country]
  6. Tenderfoot Scoutcraft
• Part II—The Scouting Trail
  7. Climbing the Trail
  8. Second Class Requirements and First Class Requirements
• Part III—Playing the Game of Scouting
  9. Scout Spirit and Citizenship
  10. Do Your Part
• Part IV—Scouting Skills
  11. Prepare for Scout Hiking and Camping
  12. Wildlife and Woodlore
  13. Tracking and Stalking
  14. Find Your Way
  15. The Woodman's Tools
  16. Fire Building
  17. Camp Cooking
  18. Tents—Outdoor Shelters
  19. Handicraft
  20. First Aid
  21. Signaling
  22. Swimming
  23. Physical Fitness
• Part V—On to Eagle
  24. Merit Badge Program
  25. Star, Life, and Eagle Ranks
  26. Along the Eagle Trail
  27. Programs of Scouting [later called "When You're Older"]
  28. Special Scout Opportunities
  29. History of Scouting
  30. Books to Read [later moved to Appendix after Merit Badge Requirements]
• Appendix
  Merit Badge Requirements
  Index
  Advancement Record [later removed from table of contents when requirements section moved to front of Handbook]

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Last Revision to This Page: 9 January 2021
Text copyright © 1980, 1990, 1999, 2009 by Jeff Snowden
Web format © 1996-2021 by Troop 97 BSA
Handbook pictures copyright © by Boy Scouts of America