History of Boys' Life

George S. Barton, of Somerville, Mass, was the founder, publisher, and first editor of Boys' Life Magazine. Barton called his magazine "The Boys and Boy Scouts' Magazine." But not "Scouts" as we think of it today. In 1911 there were three major competing Scout organizations: The American Boy Scouts, The New England Boy Scouts—which broke off from the American Boy Scouts— and the Boy Scouts of America.

Barton's earliest version of Boys' Life was published January 1, 1911, showing "Volume 1, Number 1" on the magazine's flag; however, very few of the 5,000 printed copies actually reached the public. Mr. Barton subsequently published another " Volume 1, Number 1," on March 1, 1911. This edition was enlarged from 8 to 48 pages, was reduced in size from 10 1/2" x 14" (tabloid) to 6 1/2" x 9 1/2,"—the size when purchased by the BSA. The revised edition also sported a two-color cover. This March 1st edition is generally accepted as the "first edition" of Boys' Life. Volume 1 continued until February 1912. Volume II commenced with the March 1912 issue.

The Boys' Life publishing house moved from Boston, Mass. to Providence, R.I. in 1912 because of the financial investment of Mr. Edward McFay, an orchestra leader and treasurer, Boys' Life.

To promote its "Learning To Read" program the Boy Scouts of America purchased Boys' Life from the George S. Barton Company June 10, 1912 for $6,ooo. The first Boys' Life edited at the National Office was the July 1912 issue; it appeared as Volume II, Number 5, no change being made in the numbering set by the previous ownership. Dr. James E. West, Chief Scout Executive, was the first BSA editor of Boys' Life.

It may be that Boys' Life, as a uniting force, was the pivotal element that allowed the BSA to become the dominant Scout organization (movement) in the USA.

In September 1995 demographic editions first appeared—the Cub Scout demographic and the Boy Scout demographic. In September 1999 a third demographic began with the addition of an 8-page poster pullout insert especially for Tiger Cubs.

The January 2002 issue of Boys' Life offered four new editorial refinements:

• New logo. It is the first change in the logo in 23 years.
• New Contents pages. Each edition of Boys' Life now has a different age-appropriate Contents page.
• Color-coded pages. The LOW and MIDDLE demographic editions now bear a gold color bar on each page edge for articles appearing only in the Cub Scout-age versions of the magazine.
• Four pages just for Tiger Cubs. In the LOW demographic edition there are now four pages just for Tiger Cubs—these replace the poster-pullout insert, used since September 1999