Re: Early Memories
Posted by Allwet on July 19, 2026 at 18:09:44
in Reply to: Re: Early Memories posted by Robin on July 18, 2026 at 08:50:47:
School uniforms, especially the suits and ties used in the UK and other places, were never a requirement in publicly funded school districts. Some private, charter and religious schools often have them, but those are usually polos and khakis (chinos). The LA school district where I attended more than 50 years ago was particularly lax for the time, jeans and t-shirts were very common. But many boys still wore casual button shirts or polos, and would often go more casual one day and “smarter” on the next. Tank tops were OK, and girls often wore very skimpy short cutoffs with halter tops. So the idea of taking “school clothes”, aka uniforms, to camp was out of the question.
Having said that, long-sleeved button up shirts were a requirement of the swim tests. This was so they could be tied off and closed to make emergency flotation devices after disrobing in the water. We did the same with pants.(Because of that we had wear swimsuits instead of underwear). I don’t think I ever saw anyone with it tucked in. The rules were drawn up by people of my parents’ or grandparents’ generation when almost all shirts were button up, even for outdoor activities, and t-shirts were just considered underwear. That changed by the time us late baby boomers came along, so a lot of kids wouldn’t have thought of taking a button shirt to camp. The exception was the scout uniform, so many kids wore that in the water. The other were cotton flannel shirts, which to me are the only button shirts I ever enjoyed getting wet, especially over a t-shirt or tank top. Unfortunately I didn’t own one at that camp swim test, so I wore a green sweatshirt and brown Levi’s cords. There was one guy I really envied who wore a dark green military GI fatigue shirt (like they wore in Vietnam) that he had probably gotten at a surplus store.
I returned to that camp the next year, but I already had gotten all the merit badges that required the swim test. But there were other places in camp where we could get wet. I did have a flannel shirt with me that time, and I ended up loaning it to a younger kid in our troop so he could do the swim test.
- Re: Early Memories Allwet 20:09:40 7/19/2026
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