Everygirl’s was a magazine for members of the Camp Fire Girls. The Camp Fire Girls were established in 1912 as an organization for girls that was an alternative to the Boy Scouts. Interestingly, Juliette Low was busy at the same time organizing the Girl Scouts, and in the early days of both organizations there were several attempts to merge the two groups.
Almost all the issues in my collection have ads for middies. In one issue girls were reminded:
A clean middy a day will keep life gay. Yes, there are middies and middies. Not every piece of cloth cut with a sailor collar and long enough to go over your skirt is acceptable to Camp Fire Girls. We want cut plus style, don’t we? And sometimes we want those stunning corduroy knicker suits.
In the early days of the organization the Campfire Girls were strongly influenced by “Native American lifestyle,” which included members making and dressing in an Indian style dress and making up an Indian name and symbol for oneself. I’ve seen dozens of these “Indian” dresses for sale over the years.
Through the magazine girls were encouraged to live a healthy and active lifestyle, which included sports of all kinds. I love how these girls were active and well-dressed. An article about winter sports reinforced the idea of looking fashionable:
…Gladys, the fashion plate of the crowd, had achieved a very elegant effect. She wore forest green corduroy knickers, a green suede windbreaker and a green beret, and double socks, the short ones turned down over the top of her ankle-high elk skin shoes. She looked stunning. Moreover, the outfit was both warm and practical.
The magazine seems to be targeted toward teen girls, and this 1931 cover has an older looking girl on the cover. All the issues mention appropriate dress for girls, but the 1931 issue also includes some pages that actually feature fashions. I find it interesting that a magazine for a camping organization was also in tune with girls’ desires to look fashionable.
The Vintage Traveler 
I love the 1926 cover – Makes being a school girl look so wholesome and fun!
LikeLike
It really does!
LikeLike
great art / layouts..thank you Ms. Lizzie!
LikeLike
Happy to share!
LikeLike
The uniform at the camp in northern Michigan where I grew up was navy blue corduroy knickers. It started in the 20s, and the knickers were part of the uniform well into the 70s. They were fun to wear!
LikeLike
That’s really interesting. I don’t suppose you have photos?
LikeLike
I’d never heard of this organisation Lizzie, so thank you for sharing your knowledge once again!
I absolutely adore the ‘Jan 1929’ cover. So utterly stylish, and each girl striking a slightly different pose. I want to be the girl on the left wearing the white shawl collar!!! 😉
LikeLike
I’m pretty sure that Camp Fire was strictly an American organization.
That 1929 one is my favorite of the covers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There were also British Camp Fire Girls. Some groups were formed before and during World War I, but they were not nationally organized until 1921. Members of the Society of Friends and other pacifist organizations preferred the Camp Fire Girls to the Girl Guides because the Camp Fire Girls were not military.
LikeLike
I don’t know why, but I love that style. It was fun to see, and then to hear about the navy blue knickers worn at a northern Michigan camp (MI is where I grew up, but lower on the mitten). Always enjoy your posts, Lizzie. I’m sure it’s pretty this time of year in your part of the country.
LikeLike
It is very pretty here, but a bit on the warm side!
LikeLike
When I was growing up, there were still Campfire Girls, or at least that’s what I remember. They were by then a kind of fringe organization to the Girl Scouts. From what you’ve shown here, it’s too bad that they didn’t thrive. It would have been a big boost to American sportswear!
LikeLike
In the early days, there were more Camp Fire girls than there were Girl Scouts. I’m not sure how the GS became so huge, but even though I knew about the Camp Fire Girls as a girl in the 1960s, there were no groups in my area.
LikeLike
Camp Fire Girls were never a fringe organization of the Girl Scouts. They were, and remain separate organizations. Camp Fire began accepting boys in 1975 so the name has changed.
LikeLike
Camp Fire Girls started a year before the Girl Scouts. I was a Camp Fire Girl in the 60s. Our uniform was a blue skirt, white blouse, red kerchief and I think a vest. I would have loved the middy blouse. When we got to junior high, our leader decided that 4-H would be more useful than Camp Fire, so we learned to sew, (I think she was right!)
LikeLike
I think she was probably right as well. I can remember that most of the girls around here quit Scouting when they went to junior high anyway.
LikeLike
Interesting to see these images. This is a well made film from 1919.
http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/wohelo-camp-ca-1919
LikeLike
That film is simply amazing!
LikeLike
Pingback: Knickers – Precursor to Slacks for Women | The Vintage Traveler
I remember the Campfire Girls’ song from the 60s, but didn’t know a thing about their history. Fascinating, and I agree with Louise that those ski fashions are killer! “Stunning”, “warm” and “practical” are a great triad of adjectives to reach for in winter style…:)
Thanks for sharing this great info and the wonderful images, Lizzie!
LikeLike
The Camp Fire Girls became coeducational in 1976; the organization is now called simply Camp Fire. Almost every state had at least one Camp Fire Girls camp for a while in the twentieth-century. There are still Camp Fire camps in Iowa, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California and a few other states. Washington, Idaho and Iowa have the oldest camps. Camp Fire Girls was mainly in the United States but there were some groups in other countries in the 20s and there were British Camp Fire Girls into the 1950s. Camp Fire has never been connected to the Girl Scouts; they are 2 separate and different groups. Camp Fire Girls was the strongest in the Midwestern and Pacific Coast states.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for the history lesson.
LikeLike