2012 PENPEX Girl Scout Cachets
One of our special PENPEX cachets this year will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts of America.
Since the birth of the scouting movement, more than a century ago, millions of youths have learned to find their way in the world with skills and confidence acquired through scouting. Some of the first scouting experiences provided opportunities to hike, camp, study first aid and learn to tell time by the stars. While scouts still enjoy those activities, today they benefit from the latest advances in science and technology, with outdoor experiences offering opportunities to study ecology and discover new ways to protect the environment.
From the USPS Press Release:
“The Celebrate Scouting stamp is our special way of creating a lasting tribute to the Girl Scouts — by celebrating in song, a rich movement that began nearly a century ago and continues to develop young girls into future global leaders,” said Giselle Valera, vice president, Global Business. “I’m positive that the ideals of courage, confidence and character that I learned through scouting as a young girl helped me achieve the success I have as a woman today.”
Among the first advocates for a sister scouting movement were the girls who demanded inclusion in the Crystal Palace Boy Scout Rally, the first rally of its kind, held in London, England, in 1909. A year later, boy scout pioneer Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes Baden-Powell helped organize a scouting group for girls, The Girl Guides Association. Together they adapted his guidebook Scouting for Boys, and in 1912 they published the first official girl scouting manual.
Derry Noyes was the art director for this stamp, which was illustrated by Craig Frazier. The stamp features a large silhouette of a girl with binoculars looking into the distance. The scene within the silhouette features a girl in mid-stride with a walking stick, shorts and backpack on a summer trek. The environment is composed of large redwoods, a lake, a distant forested mountainside and small ferns in the foreground. The sky has a blue gradation as it appears in early morning or late evening.
