Lone Scouting was started in 1915 by William D. Boyce who had started the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Lone Scouts gave rural boys a chance to participate in Scouting.
Lone Scout Magazine Letters
Sometime in December 1917, Raymond Austin sent his brother Mac Austin’s Chattanooga, Tennessee address to the Lone Scout Magazine, asking Lone Scout readers to write to Mac.
Girls from rural areas across the United States saw Mac’s address in the Lone Scout magazine (often their brother’s) and wrote to him. The girls described their looks and their daily lives in the cold winter of 1918.
They wrote about school, which was often 6 days a week. Basketball was played by both boys and girls. Some families had cars. Kodak cameras were popular. Besides winter sports, movies were popular and the young ladies often liked to go dancing. Many of the girls helped out the Red Cross in some way.
Nearly all of the girls insisted on a photo of Mac. However, the gals often did not have a photo of themselves, but would promise to send him a photo when the lighting was better or the film was developed. They always seemed to have some excuse.
The letters from these young ladies were from January and February 1918.
