[UKRAINIAN DIASPORA – SCOUTING AND CHILD EDUCATION] Pidruchna knyzhechka plastuna [The Plast scout's little booklet].
New York: Vydannia KPS–ZDA, 1955. Small octavo (13 × 9.5 cm). Original reenforced green buckram embossed in yellow; 79, [1] pp. Illustrations throughout. Owner inscription “M. Lutskiyi” to title page. Very good. Item #55324
A pocket-sized illustrated handbook given to a child on joining “Plast”, a patriotic Ukrainian scouting organization which was founded in Lviv in 1911, and continued to operate during WWII and after, in displaced persons camps in Germany. After the dispersion of Ukrainian DPs in the early 1950s, many Ukrainians settled in the United States, with this handbook published in New York. The handbook opens with a vow of the scout, two Plast anthems (separate one for Carpathian Ukraine), as well as a scout code of honor, followed by a brief history of world scouting, starting in England in 1908, US in 1910, Plast in 1911, and the founding of the DP scouting department in 1947. Historical and demographic information about Ukraine follows, with the Plast scouting movement closely tied to the patriotic and nationalist strains in Ukrainian culture. The bulk of the handbook contains the code of conduct of a Plast scout, including good deeds, self-discipline, and discussions of social behavior (vs antisocial behavior), as well as good hygiene. Finally, instructions on building a tent, building a fire, cooking outdoors, hand signs and field signs, tying of knots, information on how to read maps and how to draw them, as well as basics of morse code. Unique for this edition is the information about poisonous plants of North America, complete with pictures, a list of US presidents, demographic information about the US, and a conversion table of Fahrenheit to Celsius. A list of books about Ukraine in English, as well as addresses for all the Plast offices in USA, Australia, UK, Argentina, Canada, and Germany close the volume.
As of October 2025, not in KVK, OCLC.
Price: €350.00