I love flipping through my stack of vintage ‘Canadian Guider’ magazines and taking a look at the old stories, photos and ads. These magazines could make an amazing primary source for researchers and are a fun look back on the movement for any collector. They come up pretty often for sale on Etsy or eBay either in a singular or annual format which contains each issue of the ‘Guider’ that was published that year. I have the annual form 1961 and one of my highlights is seeing the vintage coke ads. Although I wasn’t born when those ads were printed, they still make me feel nostalgic and I just really love this art style. One of the ads in the February issue is for a badge booklet published by Coke with the Girl Guides on information on how to earn the Hostess badge. As soon as I saw this, I knew I needed this odd combination of Coca-Cola ad and badge work in my collection.
The booklet is pretty small only measuring and the cover uses the classic coke colours of red and white. The ink has held up pretty well over the years and the images still carry a lot of colour. The booklet lists all the requirements it takes for a Guide to earn the Hostess badge with tips on how to arranging a party, sent out invite, and what types of refreshment to serve (hint it’s ice cold Coca-Cola, the sparking drink most people enjoy as told by the ad for the pamphlet). The book offers examples of parties you could host at valentine's day, Halloween or other special events and gave receipts on what food you could serve that would pair nicely with the Coca-Cola taste.
The booklet offers tips on being a perfect host that are definitely rooted in the gender roles of the early 1960’s. However, I thought I would be rolling my eyes at it way more than I did. There is no getting around the fact that this booklet is an ad but it generally seems that the person who wrote it wanted the Guides to leave with the knowledge of running a fun party. It had a great tip to introduce people who had similar interests so that they could talk. It also suggests that the host introduce a newcomer to individuals rather than to the whole group to avoid them feeling overwhelmed. The booklet goes on to suggest spending time with them until they settle and check in on them often. The tip section even ends with the great and very pro Guiding remark of “Above all - from Start to finish of any party - be Calm and Confident... and, as in many other guiding activities… be prepared”
It was pretty easy for Guides to get this pamphlet, Guides had to write to Coca-Cola Ltd at 90 Broadview Ave in Toronto, Ontario. I’m not sure if there was a way Guiders could mass order them for their units but I couldn’t see why not. The pamphlet was free and on the inside cover told readers how much fun coke was to a party and that the local bottler was also ‘Prepared’ to help them in providing refreshment for any special Guide event. If units wanted booths or cooler they could phone in and ask for the Special Affair Department. It’s weird because this pamphlet wasn’t even subtle in the way it was an ad but this doesn't appear to be an issue as it was produced with the help of Girl Guides of Canada and advertised in the ‘Canadian Guider’ which Coke was one of the sponsors of.
However, the Girl Guides of Canada wasn’t the only organization that had one of these booklets. There was a similar pamphlet created by Coke for Scouts Canada that explained Foil Cooking. Other Pop companies also marketed themselves to both movements. A few years ago I bought my dad a poster ad from Pepsi marketing as the perfect after meeting drink to the Boy Scouts of America and it's not hard to find dozens more of these different types of pop posters for sale aimed at Girl Guides and Scouts in both Canada and America. I think these ads and badge booklets really show how times have changed and not often now that we see pop and junk food companies advertised in children focus spaces. I’m probably not going to pull this booklet out when I’m preparing to host my next party but it’s a really fun addition to my collection.
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