Do you collect Girl Guides of Canada catalogues?

There’s something about catalogues – especially ones relating to clothing, craft supplies, or toys – that have always appealed to me. Growing up in the 1980s we received both the Sears and the Consumer’s Distributing catalogues each fall – well in advance of Christmas – and, like youngsters everywhere, I would pour over them wishfully for weeks.

Both back then three decades ago and now, we’ve never had the volume of catalogues available to us in Canada that our neighbours to the south in America do, which is perhaps that more reason I fell head-over-heals in love with the Girl Guides of Canada catalogue the first time I received one as a young Pathfinder.

Truthfully I do not know how long the GGC has been issuing catalogues for, but I believe the history of this annually printed booklet stems back to the 1930s, if not earlier. Certainly in Great Britain and other countries where Girl Guiding and Scouting were established early on, catalogues stretch back almost to the earliest days of Guiding in such places. I would love to know more about the history of GG/GS catalogues from around the world, and would welcome any information on the subject that my reader might have to share.

When I began to collect Girl Guide related items again in 2007, one of things that I almost instantly began adding to my collection were GGC catalogues. To date I’ve obtained a copy of each of the following catalogues:

-1990/1991 (30 pages)

-1993/1994 (34 pages)

-1995/1996 (33 pages)

-1998/1999 (38 pages)

-2000/2001 (38 pages)

-2001/2002 (38 pages)

-2003/2004 (37 pages)

-2004 to 2006 (“An updated reprint”, says the front cover, “of the 2004 /05 catalogue”, adds the back page; 37 pages)

-2006/2007 (37 pages)


As this list shows, while I do have several of the more recent catalogues, there are many (a few newer, most older) that I do not. I was wondering if there are other Guiding enthusiasts out there who also collect GGC catalogues and who would be interested in trading. I only have one duplicate (catalogue) at the moment (a copy of 2003/04 issue), I would be happy to swap catalogues for items from my patch/badge/pin dupes and traders list.

Do you collect GGC (or foreign GS/GG) catalogues? If so when did you start, what do you like best about the older catalogues, and do you have any to swap? :)

Gearing up for 100 years of Girl Guides greatness

{Official logo of the 100th anniversary of the GGC.}
It is with great pride and joy that many of the earliest countries to have respectively founded Girl Guide and Girl Scout organizations will soon reach their hundredth birthdays. In 2010 the Girl Guides of Canada will hit this centennial anniversary, and over at the official GGC website preparations for this once in a lifetime milestone and the yearlong celebration that will help to commemorate it (while also honouring the important role of Guiding into today’s world).

For more information (including dates of large events that are being held to celebrate, such as National Rally Day on May 15th) be sure to check out the official 2010 website, and also stay tuned to this blog, as I’ll try to post pertinent information regarding the GGC’s 100th anniversary in the months leading up to it and all through 2010.

Ahoy, collectors! A reader is searching for a Sea Ranger pin

One of the neat aspects of running a blog about Girl Guide and Girl Scout collectibles is that I routinely receive emails from people from around the world who are looking for very specific items. Sometimes the item(s) they're on the hunt for is for their collection, other times they want to replace pins, badges or patches that they once earned but are no longer in possession of.

The later situation applies to a lovely lady who recently contacted me in regards to the (now defunct) Canadian Sea Rangers, which were once a branch of the GGC Rangers. As a member in late 1960s here in Canada, this woman remembers her time in the Sea Rangers fondly and would absolutely love to have a Sea Ranger enrollment pin again.

Personally I don’t have any Sea Ranger items at all in my collection (much as I’d like to, too!), and honestly was not sure where to point her, though I did suggest a couple of people and places. As things stand now, I don’t believe she’s gotten any further ahead in her quest, so I offered to post about her search here.

A thorough internet search turned up one image (from the Vintage Girl Scout Museum) that was listed as being a GGC Sea Ranger pin. I’m posting that image here for anyone who is curious as to what these pins looked like (note the earlier version of the GGC trefoil).

Should anybody who follows this blog happen to have a spare Sea Ranger enrollment pin that they’re looking to trade/sell or even just more info on these pins, please don’t hesitate to contact me so that I can pass along your information to this once fellow GGC member.