A little while ago I picked up a set of five UNICEF Greeting cards with artwork painted by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouts and Girl Guides. The cards all feature different African animals in their natural landscape. I kept the elephant card and mailed off the zebra, giraffe, and other animals to my brothers and some friends. The cards were printed in Switzerland on 100% recycled paper. Unfortunately, or fortunately, if you are a collector, the inside of the card is covered in the proof information so while it was nice to have all the information on the artwork, I wasn’t able to write a message on the inside. I had to include a separate note in each envelope before I mailed them out.
Lord Baden-Powell is a controversial figure due to his role in the British military and in the Second Boer War in South Africa with the Siege of Mafeking. However, most people are unaware that Baden-Powell was a talented artist who came from a family of artists where his father and grandmother often sketched or painted. At a time when the arts were considered more of a feminine practice, he sketched or painted almost every day of his life. Baden-Powell used his art skills for the military and Scouting and provided all the original drawings for his best-selling book “Scouting for Boys” which kick-started the Scouting and Guiding Movement. He would write about the values of teaching boys to draw but would often focus on the ‘masculine’ benefit of the practice.
Unfortunately, there is no catalog of Baden-Powell’s work. While many of his works appear in books, museums, and Scout and Guiding headquarters around the world, no one knows exactly how much he produced throughout his lifetime. He would often publish his drawings in books and magazines, receiving regular payment from the Graphic Magazine. Baden-Powell had known exhibits in India, Southern Africa, and London. As a collector and a museum-goer, this is kind of exciting knowing I can be on the lookout for more of his works and learn more about his potential impact on the art cannon.
These cards were sold as part of a fundraising project for the global child welfare organization, UNICEF. This United Nations agency was the successor of the ‘United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund’, created in 1946, that provided aid to the families affected by the Second World War. In 1979, the United Nations celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ by declaring it as the International Year of the Child. UNICEF took a leading role in fundraising and education and I imagine that Lord Baden-Powell’s artwork was chosen for his leading role in creating two of the largest child’s movements, although I haven’t been able to find much information beyond what is written on the inside of the card.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts or ‘WAGGGS’ is still involved with UNICEF and the United Nations. Currently, WAGGGS has two teams of UN representatives, with one in Paris and the other in New York. Both teams work toward delivering WAGGS’s message and advocate for the needs of women and girls. Over the past decade, WAGGGS has untaken a number of amazing projects alongside UNICEF and the UN. In 2019, UNICEF joined the Girl Guide Association of Malaysia to empower 130,000 Girl Guide voices and allow them to advocate for children’s rights on social media. UNICEF provides and facilitates access to an online platform called U-report. In 2020, WAGGGS, UPS Foundation, and GenU used UNICEF’s U-reports to poll youth’s voices and then created different programs that would allow non-formal education experiences and opposites in underrepresented communities in the counties of Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico, and India. I feel bad I didn’t know this type of work was underway in a movement I’ve been involved with my whole life, I’m excited to keep my eye open for cool projects in the future.
When I saw these cards listed for sale, my first thought was about how fun it would be to mail one to my brother who collects Scout memorabilia. As a kid, one of the big Christmas traditions was my mom writing cards for families and friends. Most years she got cards sold by UNICEF and I think one of the things that attracted me to these cards is that it reminds me of home in a year when I haven’t been able to see my family. Being able to send them to some of my friends has been an amazing bonus.
Thanks for Reading! - EM
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