Today is ‘world thinking day’. A day when all Brownies, Guides and Scouts around the world think about each other and the friendships they’ve made. Amy is excited because it means that she gets to wear her Brownie uniform to school and show off her growing collection of badges. I’m so proud of her as she’s worked hard for each of these. They’re also special because they are all the things that are dear to my heart too – toy making, home skills, artist and entertainer.
I’m so glad for her that the brownie uniform has changed since my day – cue dodgy photo of me from the ’70s!
little cotton rabbits 
That uniform is exactly the same as the one i used to wear. I was a sixer in the Gnomes– were you Sprites? I can remember getting a badge where I had to make a fire and ended up getting completely scruffy….
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Now I have to disagree with you! I LOVED the old brownie uniform and think they should bring it back!!! I managed to buy a copy of the Brownie Handbook on Ebay that I had as a child – my eldest regularly reads it cover to cover – it’s fab!
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Oh I remember that uniform – but I switched to a bobble hat as soon as we were allowed too. I hated that beret. I was in the Elves.
The badges are much prettier these days though – and Amy has far more than I ever managed!
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Oh, I remember that uniform – but I switched to a bobble hat as soon as we were allowed to. I hated the beret. I was in the Elves, I think. It does seem like a long time ago!
The badges are much prettier these days though – and Amy has far more than I ever managed!
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Congratulations to Amy!!
True, it’s a small world. Also my daughter (same age as yours) is a Scout (her level is named Wolf-cub in Italy that I believe is more or less the same as a Brownie) and just recently she made her promise and added new badges to her uniform. She was so proud and I was too, so much that I even wrote a couple of posts on my blog 😉
I am sure that Amy will enjoy her special day at school!
A warm hug to both of you
Gallinavecchia
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Ah I remember that uniform well! By the looks of your ‘six’ badge, you were an ‘Imp’, as was I. I never made the grade for sixer or seconder; did you? I also remember that after 4 years in Brownies, the uniform was indecently short, as my mum couldn’t afford to replace it despite my increasing height!
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I didn’t know about World Thinking Day and No2 is at Scouts. He’s working hard at badges too.
I’d love to find a photo of me in my Brownie uniform like yours! I was Sixer in the Sprites!
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The socks and shoes 🙂
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He he! I remember that too! My dad was in the RAF and we lived in Cyprus for a while. We were forced to wear those flipping wooly hats all the time – even in hot summer temperatures in the high 30s. My memories of Brownies bring back thoughts of itchy sweaty heads as a result!
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My daughter is a Brownie but there’s been no mention of World Thinking Day, perhaps because she is on half term. I loved being a Brownie and had the same uniform as you but with a bobble hat. Did you have a little pouch on your belt for subs too?
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Cute pic 🙂 I remember that uniform, but I never had one! So happy for your daughter, and well done on all her badges.
Have a great weekend.
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Look at you, all cute with your socks and sandals! I was never a Brownie, bit of a rebel even back then, didn’t want to conform!
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We’re all back down memory lane! I was a sixer in the gnomes, beret, no bobbles or purses for subs, just brown cotton and yellow (very carefully tied) neckerchiefs. Go Amy! Brownies looks much more fun!
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I would laugh, but the photo looks oddly familiar. Only I was a bobble hatted brownie and a gnome.
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No, no, that’s not a dodgy photo – that’s a picture of a lovely little girl with her ideas in the right place.
Being a brownie was a way to strive for something positive and have fun at the same time.
It worked for you – look how accomplished and positive you are!
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I had that uniform too! And just like Periwinkle I was a Sixer in the Gnomes cool Gosh, that’s brought back some memories.
Congratulations to Amy, by the way. x
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There was something special about our old Guide uniforms, like your Brownie one but blue. I didn’t get to be a Brownie but was a Guide(11-14) and Ranger(15-18), and got to go to Britain on a six week adventure through Guides. :O) I credit Guiding with teaching me a lot of things, and I still can recite the Laws. :O) I also learned to tie my tie square knotted behind my collar so that it was precisely three fingers above my belt buckle. And first I had to fold the thing into the right width! There’s learning in that, and I was proud of my uniform and that tie and my shiny brown shoes. I say happy Thinking Day to your daughter and hope her Brownie leaders are as wonderful as my Guiders were.
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lol dear oh dear
i too had ‘that’ uniform but again with the bobble hat… oh the days lol x
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I was just thinking to myself…wow how funky are the brownie uniforms now? Those badges are great and then I scrolled to your picture and I loved it just as much! How wonderful to share a part of your childhood and history with your daughter. It is fantastic!
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Well, tell Amy “HI” from troop 307 in Tucson, Arizona!! Now we are THINKING about you!!
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Wow! That’s a lot of badges–way to go, Amy! And I love your old Brownie’s get up, Julie. The shoes are a very nice touch, as well. 🙂
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You look so sweet. I remember the uniform because I was a brownie for a very short time but I wasn’t allowed to have all the kit. Did you ever read the Brownie story books?
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I was a Brownie and a Guide! I was sixer leader. I still have my Guides handbook and my camp blanket with my meager collection of badges. I am pretty sure I got the arts and crafts one. I remember making a crocodile out of Fimo for it.
I like the new uniform but I think the old is way cooler!
Well done to your daughter, I’d be proud too.
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Cute picture. I was a brownie too when I was a little girl.
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Oh just caught up with your last few posts, help now I am worried about the inland revenue. I was under the impression you had to break the £4,000 odd tax threshold before you had to declare anything?
My middle girl is in rainbows, don’t remember rainbows in my day but do remember brownies. I was a guide as well and remember working towards my badges, even got my aircraft recognition badge (helped my dad was a navigator in the air force LOL). Congratulate your daughter for us lovely to see.
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Was your Brownie dress the cotton one or the lovely classy drip dry nylon version like mine? It felt horrible but was the latest kit in 1970. I was a seconder in the Gnomes.
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OHhh Julie I have the very same photo, what was with that brown felt hat? And in our day those badges where not easy to get either. What a trip back in time this post is. I still have my badges in a box.
I hope Amy had a wonderful day.
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Hate to admit it, but my brownies uniform was the one before yours. When we lived down at Moruya, on the southern coast of New South Wales, Brownies meetings were after school on a Tuesday, and one of the attractions of being a brownie was that you got to wear your uniform to school. I remember having to learn the complicated way of folding the scarf (can’t remember correct term for it) and then being miffed after all that effort they brought in the new one that didn’t need to be folded. Still have my much treasured brownie badge – mine is with the brownie on a plain horizontal bar. Ahhhh memories!!!
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Oh My goodness I remember that uniform so well! I was a gnome – I was envious of the girls who got to be ‘cute’ packs like sprite and elf – so silly now but seemed SO important at the time!
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Oh, so lovely. My brownie dress in Australia was a pinafore with a yellow skivvy underneath and roman sandals! How seventies swish. You just reminded me and made me smile. We had aborignal names, not gnomes and sprites. I’ll have to ask my mum. I was a sixer too. Good on Amy for all those badges!
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Aaahhh what a cutie!
love Alison x
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Oh Lordy, I have an almost identical photo of my good self at ten years kicking around somewhere…is that an Imp badge I see? I was an Imp too!
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I had the same dodgy outfit! I was a Gnome …. dear old Brown Owl …… we used to sew our badges onto this old blanket …. I wonder if my mother still has that!
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It’s good to see the old and the new. here in NZ we are just introducing a new uniform and while it is super trendy (pink and a lovley blue) it’s just not the same.
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I remember that uniform so well!
I was an Elf but I wish I could said I was a Pixie -would have been more appropriate somehow! In our pack we had Sprites and Kelpies too.
I used to love the owl sitting on the toadstool in the middle of the ring. I hope they still have that.
Loving the sock and sandals combo too!
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OMG love the brownie photo! I was forced to wear a bobble hat, but used to “lose” it regularly so I could wear the beret! I was a sprite (before I got asked to leave ahem!!)
love your blog, came here from the maker of monkees!!
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Well i still have my uniform complete with both beret and bobble hat and still the goodies we had to carry in our pockets as a brownie always had to be prepared.
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i got 52 badges
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I live in Barbados and we STILL wear that uniform!! My daughter is a Brownie now, an Elf, and she is longing for a belt purse like the one in your picture. If they are still on sale, could you please tell me where (even a second-hand shop will do). I am in England regularly.
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Hey i need to find a picture of a brownies in uniform from Barbados.Can anyone help me??? My daughter is an 8yr old brownie in Trinidad and working on her project. She’s a Kelpee(if that’s how u spell it) she already has her artist badge, sport badge, book lovers badge and collectors badge..
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