Fondly remembering the heyday of eBay Girl Guide listings

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You know those moments when something miffs you a bit and you really need to get your mind off of it? Well, I'm having one of those right now regarding an overseas eBay seller and their rather unscrupulous, rude approach to handing the fact that my order (of some craft supplies) did not arrive. I filed a PayPal dispute on the last possible day to do so (so a full 45 days after I paid for my order) and they're basically going postal (no pun intended) on me for doing so, even though I'm 100% within my rights to do so.

Oh well, we'll just see happens there! (This isn't the first problem I've run into with various China/Hong Kong based craft supply sellers, but it will definitely be the last time I order from one of them - the few dollars saved from buying overseas isn't worth the headache!)

On the topic of eBay however, I'm sure I'm not alone in being the only that has noticed the ongoing decline in Canada Girl Guide item listings (I don't monitor GG/GS from other countries very closely, so I can't comment too much on how things have been in this regard with listings from the US, UK, Australia, etc). Five years ago now (wow, where does the time go?!) when I started collecting GG items again (for the first time as an adult) there was often quite an abundance of eBay listings for patches, badges, pins, buttons, uniform pieces, and sundry other Girl Guides of Canada related pieces.

It was well beyond the scope of my budget at the time to bid on (or buy every listing that caught my eye, but it was through eBay (especially during 2007 and 2008) that I built up the bulk of my present day collection. Had it not been for the large number of listings (and I can only guess at how many there were before 2007 - but I suspect perhaps even more then when I began bidding), my collection would be a far cry smaller than it is for sure!

{Official eBay logo via eBay.}

Much as the interest in patch collecting as a whole has dwindled over the years (a point regular readers of this blog have certainly seen my talk about me before), so too has the number of GGC eBay listings.

This isn't surprising to me, as I see the two as going hand-in-hand rather naturally. If there's less of a demand for something, there's likely to be fewer people selling it. The fact that various parts of the country (such as Ontario) have done away with the A/D/D system (and thus are not producing A/D/D crests any more), and also shut down all of the real world Guide shops, certainly didn't help matters either.

Have there been times over the past few years when there was a sudden spike in Girl Guide listings? Absolutely, but - especially from 2010 onward - they are become exceedingly few and far between. At any given moment there is at least a small number of GGC listings (often for Brownie or Guide badges and activity/camp crests), but it's been a good long time since there was much in the way of A/D/D or pin action.

I'm sure that as time goes on, there were will be other listings for these types of items, but I suspect it will be a very rare occurrence indeed when we see a seller listing ten, twenty or more A/D/Ds, hard to find badges, or other highly sought after items during the same week or month.

Nevertheless, I have no plans to give up my nearly daily eBay keyword searches for Girl Guide items, and am sure that every now and then a new listing for an item I don't already have (and would love to add to my collection) will pop up - and I want to ensure I toss my bid into the ring, so to speak, bright and early when it does!

One Guiding grail down, so many more to go

After more than two years of patiently waiting and previously always being out-bid on eBay, this month I was finally able to win one of my Girl Guides of Canada “holy grails”: an All-Around Cord!

Interesting, whereas in auctions past I’d bid (usually along with several other collectors) on the cord itself, this time around I ended up coming out as the lucky winner on an auction that included a Guide uniform (the late 20th century royal blue dress style) and a necktie. Even with shipping (from a location within in Canada), I ended up getting the cord (which is in fairly good condition, the ends are a bit worn, but the body of the cord itself is highly presentable) for an absolute song!

I’ve yearned for an All-Around Cord (sometimes also referred to as an “All-Round Cord”) since I was a girl (I started my Guiding journey as a Pathfinder and as such had already bypassed the branch [Guides] in which a girl could earn the All-Around Cord), and though I earned my Canada Cord (which I love and treasure to this day), I could never shake off my longing for one of the gorgeous blue and white tasselled cords that the most accomplished of Guides had earned.

I’m on cloud nine this week because my newly won Cord has arrived in the mail and is every bit as wonderful in person as I always dreamed it would be. Yet as all collectors know, so much of the thrill of collecting any category of items, is the t hunt itself. We love finding those pieces that are chief amongst our most desired items, yet also greatly enjoy knowing that there are still (often many!) other items that we’re still looking for – at least this is how I personally feel.

The spectrum of Girl Guide and Girl Scout collectibles is a vast one that encompasses many decades worth of items and thousands upon thousands of pieces that one could potentially be on the prowl for. My own GG/GS collection is fairly diverse (I collect patches, proficiency badges, pins, GGC uniforms and scarves, stickers, buttons, magazines, books, dolls, etc), but naturally there are certain items that pique my interest the most and which I’m forever trying to track down.

Having now acquired an All-Around Cord (and prior to that an All-Around Cord pin, which was another one of my biggest GGC wants), I find myself reflecting on my other “Guiding Grails” (that is to the say those elusive items that we collectors are always trying to track down, much like some seek the Holy Grail of biblical and Arthurian legend).

Topping the list of hard to find items that I’m most interested in right now, are Canadian Area/Division/District (and provincial) patches from the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut, as well as those from my home province of British Columbia (I’d especially love to find more patches from the Thompson-Okanagan/Okanagan-Similkameen region of the province), and from Calgary, Alberta (all of these geographical locations are near and dear to my heart for various reasons).

Ranger badges (though it’s been a number of years since they were in use, at one point the GGC Ranger programme included proficiency badges), certain older Brownie and Guide badges that I’m lacking (such as the Brownie Baton Twirling badge), and also newer badges from all levels of Guiding are high on my list, too.

Perhaps however, the Guiding article that has most moved into the spot where the All-Around Cord once sat on my list, is the (even harder to locate!) Gold Cord, which was in use during the mid-20th century, specifically from the 40s or 50s until the 1970s (I could be mistaken, but it’s my understanding the Gold Cord was the predecessor to the Canada Cord for older Guides in the days before the Pathfinder programme was in place; a smidge more info on the topic can be found on the site VintageGirlScout.com).

I’ve not been able to find very much information online about the Gold Cord (which is not the same thing as the modern day Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award) so far, but just as I’ll cheerfully continue to hunt for the Gold Cord, I’ll search more about its history.

{So elusive is the Gold Cord in fact, that I've not even tracked down a photo that I'm 100% certain is of it! The image above is from an eBay.uk sale that I discovered after it had ended (drat!) a few weeks ago, which listed this tasseled cord as being a Gold Cord. I do not know however if it was a Gold Cord from Canada, the UK or elsewhere, or if it is in fact an actual Girl Guide related cord at all. If anyone can provide more information on this cord or the GGC's Gold Cord, I would be most grateful.}


This post isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about my Guiding Grails, but as it’s a rare occurrence for me to actually find (and come into possession of) one of my most sought after of Guiding items, I really wanted to share my happiness with my readers and fellow collectors.

As always, I would love to hear about your own grails of GG/GS collecting, and welcome your comments and emails on the subject.

What’s your Holy Grail of Girl Guide or Girl Scout collectibles?

From the first moment I spied the listing, I knew the bidding was going to sky rocket. I’ve been following Girl Guide auctions closely on eBay for a year and a half now and I had never seen one of these babies pop up before. Though they were not uncommon during the time when Guides were eligible to achieve them, they are highly sought after now. What am I talking about, you may ask? A blue and white All-Round Cord (sometimes also called an "All-Around Cord").

While I have one All-Round Cord pin (the version with the modern GGC trefoil), I do not thus far have the tasselled, satiny royal blue and snow white hued cord itself. But goodness knows I want one.

As the week progressed I watch the listing price climb higher and higher, first $10 then $20, by early Saturday afternoon it was $40 and I knew that no matter how much I longed to add that cord to my collection, unless I won a lottery before day was over, there was no way I could even debate bidding on it. And so long after the sun had set, I watched one of my most sought after Girl Guide items sell for $44 US. In these modern days of eBay anonymity I have no clue who the lucky winner was, but I truly hope that they will treasure the cord as much as I would have.

Having joined the world of Guiding as a Pathfinder I missed out on the opportunity to achieve earning the All-Round Cord. As a Pathfinder I’d sometimes see one lopped proudly through the epaulet on a Guide’s shoulder and secretly think to myself how gorgeous it was and how wonderful it must have been to earn such an esteemed piece of insignia. I went on to achieve the Canada Cord, the highest level of award that a Pathfinder can earn, and love that beautiful crimson and white cord (and pin) with a passion, but I still can’t help yearning for an All-Round Cord.

As a Girl Guide and Girl Scout enthusiast with a broad range of interests in terms of what I collect (patches, earned badges, pins, scarves, etc) my wish list of items that I hope to one day be able to find continually grows in size seemingly by the day, but no matter how many items I’ve got my eye open – or hope to trade – for, there are certain few that have the ability to truly set my heart a flutter in that particular way that only the most pined for treasures can. Amongst collectors of all sorts, these kinds of items are sometimes referred to as your “Holy Grails”, as their scarcity, price point or some other element make them illusively hard to get your hands on.

For me such items include Ranger Badges (http://www.guidingproject.info/catalogue/rangers.html) (I am immensely fortunate to have a couple, but need numerous others), A/D/D patches from the Yukon and NWT/Nunavut, A/D/Ds from my home town and the areas around where I spent my childhood Guiding years (in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia) – and as you already know from this post, an All-Round Cord.

Surely though, for those like myself who still actively collect GG and GS items, there must be certain pieces – maybe a rare Brownie badge or crest from a particular camp you enjoyed attending – that you’d dubbed your Holy Grails. If you have such items that you’re trying to track down, I’d love to know about them! There’s a slim chance I might have what you’re looking for on my dupes list or know of someone else with the item(s) in question. But if not, I’d be more than happy to keep an eye peeled for you in case I do happen upon your dream GG item, all I ask in return is that you drop me a line if you ever come across an All-Round Cord :)

Photo of the All-Round cord from the
auction which led to the inspiration for this
post. Image by 2splats on eBay.