9/23/09

GIRL RESERVE has been preserved

These lovely little ladies date back to 1940. They were place cards at a Girl Reserve dinner held on March 15, 1940 for a "Mother-Daughter Banquet", which is what it says under the lace of the little fan. 

mother and daughter papeerdolls_tatteredandlost

mother and daughter placecards_tatteredandlost
Click on images to see them larger.

Inside the little fan there are three pages of typed copy. The first page reads:
"A mother is a mother still--
The holiest thing alive."
                   --Coolridge
Next page, the menu:
  • Fruit cup
  • Baked Ham
  • Horseradish Sauce
  • Stuffed Baked Potato
  • Vegetable Salad
  • Rolls
  • Butter 
  • Coffee
  • Ice Cream 
  • Cookies
And the final page: 
Toastmistress------------------------- Betty Jo Scheafer

G-rateful Hearts----------------------Mrs. Potadle
I-nspirational Melody---------------Jean, Lucille, Judith
R-estful Moments--------------------Alice Peck
L-oving memories-------------------Rosamond Hancock
S-olo-----------------------------------Miss Johnson

Song - Nebraska Girl Reserve
This was purchased at the same estate sale where I purchased the lovely wedding paperdolls. These were on a table in a little plastic bag. I thought they were fascinating and more than likely few others have survived since this big wing ding took place. 

Now, I'd never heard of the Girl Reserves, but a little googling gave me some information. Click on the link below in the source to see some of the paraphernalia associated with the group, ie. armbands, booklets, photos, rings, etc. 
Officially the Girl Reserves of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) began in 1918. However, like many clubs - it evolved from many informal girl gatherings under the YWCA program and from the Patriotic League of the YWCA. The Girl Reserves sought to help girls 12-18 develop a well-balanced personality, grow physically and take on social responsibility.

By 1921 there was a Girl Reserves handbook  to outlined the program.  It was a uniformed group, although by the 1930 there was a great deal of discussion on the merits of uniforms. (SOURCE: Vintage Kid Stuff)
And here's the Foreword to the aforementioned handbook along with a link in the source to the rest of the book:
FOREWORD 

THE Young Women's Christian Association is a fellow- 
ship of women and girls. The value of the fellowship 
lies in whatever it may contribute to self-expression, dis- 
cipline and growth of the whole life of each of its members and 
in the effectiveness of that group as it functions in the life of 
a community. It offers, therefore, to advisers of g'irls a place 
of leadership which has the greatest value. 

There is a standard toward which the development of all the 
membership both girls and advisers is set. The standard 
is expressed in the name "The Christian" and makes the teach- 
ings of Jesus the informing and directing principles of any of 
the Association's programs. His example of growth in wis- 
dom and stature and in favor with God and man is consciously 
followed. Any girl may enter this fellowship; there is noth- 
ing selective about its membership. The possibility of ful- 
filling this standard of achieving -this growth, is in direct 
proportion to the gift of self of those advisers who have ac- 
cepted places of leadership in the " Association movement. 

The Girl Reserves are a cross section of the whole fellow- 
ship. They are a movement within the movement of the whole. 
All the resources of the organization, general and specialized, 
lie back of the Girl Reserves, and are available for their de- 
velopment. The Girl Reserves are to the Young Women's 
Christian Association, of which they are a part, the fresh 
stream which feeds into the main current of the movement at 
its source or along itsl course the very youth of its youth. 
They have its future in their keeping. 

MABEL CRATTV. 

Office of THE GENERAL SECRETARY, 

National Board, Young Womens Christian Associations, 
United States of America. 
June 1921. (SOURCE: Archive.org)
I basically gather it was like Scouts and Campfire Girls. Now, did they sell candy or cookies? I don't know. Girl Reserve Cookies just doesn't roll off your tongue like "Give me a box of thin mints!"

7 comments:

  1. how interesting, I've never heard of this organisation. Love the idea of the Mother - Daughter banquet!

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  2. We did Mother-Daughter and Father-Daughter Banquets when I was in High School. I'm trying to remember which "club" did this. Seems like it was GRA...I'll have to find one of my old yearbooks to even remember what that stood for.

    Yeah....I was in a lot of clubs and associations.....trips, time out of class, there were benefits to someone such as me.

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  3. I never belonged to any clubs in high school until my senior year. Then I was in yearbook so I joined all sorts of cock-a-mamie clubs that never had meetings so we got our pictures in the yearbook. Groups of maybe 6 people, but we were a club so they had to put our picture in. I had an attitude problem my senior year and just wanted out of the place. All the other years I was invisible. Well, I was invisible my senior year too until people looked at their yearbook.

    Yes, a Mother-Daughter banquet does sound nice. Never went to one.

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  4. I think we need Girl Reserves to make a comeback....there are a lot of young girls out there who need to take lessons in being a lady!

    Tattered, it was the same way in our high school. My BFF and I were looking through our yearbook when she visited, and laughing at the pics of Latin Club, GAA, etc. They were just photos in a yearbook and that's it.

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  5. I agree, but let's change it to Nice Girls Reserve. Then we could get bumper stickers put up that say Preserve Nice Girls Reserve. That would get a few confused looks. Uniform. Plaid skirt below the knee, white blouse with Peter Pan collar...oh shoot. I'm just describing Catholic School uniforms!

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  6. I love this kind of ephemera. A unique long ago event that fell through a crack of time.

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  7. Linda, I was thrilled to find it and had no idea what it was. It was in a little plastic bag stuck under a stack of junk on a card table. I didn't even bother to take it out of the bag until I got home afraid I'd tear it. I need to put it in one of my paper doll albums.

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