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Guiding Girls

On May 12, 1912, Juliette Gordon Low organized the first

meeting of the Girl Guides in the United States in Savannah,

Georgia.

In 1908 Sir Robert Baden-Powell officially founded the Boy

Scout Movement in England. He was astounded when a number

of girls attended a huge rally at London

‘

s Crystal Palace in 1909.

He decided the girls should have their own movement and

―

The

Scheme for Girl Guides

‖

was published in the November, 1909 issue of the Boy

Scout Gazette. In 1910, Robert asked his sister Agnes to take charge of the

movement and in that year, the Girl Guides Association was founded.

Juliette Gordon Low was living in London and she met Robert and Agnes Baden-

Powell. She worked with the Girl Guides program in England before returning to

the United States.

In 1913, the Girl Guides

‘

handbook,

How Girls Can Help Their Country

, was

published. It described new roles for women, encouraging them to pursue

careers such as astronomers, aviators, doctors, and scientists. In addition the

book contained practical information on gardening, first aid, domestic arts, and

other subjects. In 1913 the Girl Guides became the

―

Girl Scouts.

‖

This Girl Guides knife has a master blade, a can opener blade, a punch, and a

corkscrew. The knife was made by W. Mount & Son in Sheffield, England.

The steel handle has the English Registration number 494,338. That Registration

number is from 1907. This story says the Girl Guides were founded in 1910. One

might wonder how can the knife come before the foundation of the organization?

Although the knife design was registered in 1907, the company would produce

the knife for years to come. When someone ordered it with the Girl Guides

engraving, the registration date of the knife was also engraved. It could have