My original headline was “Dirty Pictures of Little Girls,” but Wife Lila, playing editor, put the kibosh on that.
The Missourian was very conservative. I’ve mentioned before that we had an editor who would censor Ann Landers if he thought the column was too racy. Some of these photos were too dirty for the Youth Page, so they have been suppressed for close to half a century.
The shot above and the one below ran August 12, 1967, with the caption “Brownie Scouts Shirley Laurentius (below) and Nancy Noffel (above) demonstrate how to do The Wade at Brownie Girl Scout Camp. It’s more difficult than it seems: novices end up doing The Splash.”
Shirley Laurentius
More than 160 Brownies attended the activities this week at the Seabaugh Farm on Cape LaCroix Creek Road. Shirley is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred J. Laurentius, 1601 Bloomfield, and Nancy is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. S. Edwin Noffel, 2532 Timber Lane. Now, let’s see, first you stick your right foot out and teeter all about…”
What in the world did you do?
Something tells me some parents got a real surprise when their Brownie showed up for a ride home. Here is a cleaner story about camping on the Seabaugh Farm.
Photo gallery of muddy Brownie Scouts
Here are some other outtakes from Brownies Gone Wild on the Seabaugh Farm. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the sides to move through the gallery. Parental discretion advised.
I knew from the first pic (before I read anything)that Girl Scouts were involved. The plaid canteen gave it away. 🙂 I would have been one of the girls with my hands in the mud too.
I noticed the canteen, too. I’m pretty sure more than hands got in the mud before all was said and done.
I am relieved that these were canteens. At first I thought two of the girls were carrying purses. I should have recognized the plaid cover from my Girl Scout days. I did immediately recognize the Girl Scout skirt on the leader.
Brownie’s in Cape in the 1950’s …young ladies getting instruction on how to cross a creek is priceless!
These photo’s are really enjoyable. I was going to say that the girls were being taught the “girl” way of crossing a creek compared to the little boy in one of the pictures, just splash on through but after seeing the girls in the mud there is a little kid in both boys and girls. I still get accused of splashing through puddles even today, still fun.
Nancy Noffel is the eldest of five (if memory serves) of Bev and Ed Noffel. Ed, of course, was the first full-time orthodontist in Cape. I was one of his first, if not the first, patients and have been friends ever since. Ed turned eighty recently and this is the first winter in many that I haven’t skied with him. Good folks.