Card Designs

Since the very first session, Membership Cards have been issued to those who joined The Boys’ Brigade. The earliest cards were of a simple design and often carried only the years for the session in which they were handed to members. From the 1890s images began to appear along with the words “remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth” and by the turn of the Twentieth Century striking full-colour images adorned the front cover.

Many cards published between the 1920s and 1980s carried designs created by members of The Boys’ Brigade. An annual competition was held and submissions regularly numbered in the hundreds for the honour of having their design chosen for the following session. 

Boys Brigade Stedfast Mag

 The 1954 design, was only one of two cards between the period 1922-1979 which were not designed by seniors Boys of the Brigade. The 1932-33 and 1953-54 cards were designed by celebrated BB artist, and Captain of the 46th Edinburgh Company, Tom Curr. The design for the 1933 card was reused again for the 1944-45 session. Similarly the 1927-28 design was reused for the 1945-46 session. 

 A Hollingberry from the 26th South Essex (Walthamstow) Company was particularly proficient in producing eye-catching designs, creating the winning entry for three consecutive sessions from 1955 to 1957. The Stedfast Mag reports a number of years later R Blayney of the 16th London, designer of the 1962-63 and 1963-64 was encouraged to enter by his then boss A Hollingberry.

Boys Brigade history stedfast Mag

Cash prizes were awarded to the winner and runner up, and the Stedfast Mag recorded that: The best design for the 1964/65 design will be used for next session’s BB Membership Card was submitted by L/Cpl. W. Minnis, of the 9th Coatbridge Company, who receives a cheque for £5/5/-, and the runner-up, S/Sgt. Kenneth Flynn, of the 1st Dublin Company, receives a cheque for £3/3/-.

During the late 1960’s and early 1970s on average about 110 entries were received annually, with between 5 and 10 entries received from members of The Boys’ Brigade in Malaysia. The 1965-66 card was designed by R Cheong Fook of the 1st Teluke Anson Company, Malaysia. Whilst the UK membership cards were regularly used around the world up until the 1970’s, some countries had started to produce their own membership cards. Australia and Rhodesia used the UK card designs in the early 1970s, the main differentiation being the Australian and Rhodesian cards were issued by calendar year, whilst the UK cards are issued by Brigade session.

The inside of the Membership Card differed from session to session, but space was often left blank to include the Member’s name, Company, Rank, age, and address which was signed by the Company Captain. Space was also often left for The Object of The Boys’ Brigade, a brief history of the ‘BB’, and details of who designed the card. A portion of many cards was set aside to record attendance at Church or Bible Class.

To mark the millenium a competition was again held to design the membership card for the 1999-2000 session, this was won by Jonathan Landman of the 7th Northampton Company.

Boys Brigade history membership card design 1999

From the 2015/16 session the design of the Membership Card underwent a dramatic refresh, with the new style card able to fit more easily in a wallet or purse. The updated card design featured an information card containing details relating to Church attendance, with a credit card sized card attached to the reverse with space for the member’s name and Company/Church details.

Media Files

Designers

Session Name Company
1979-80 R Dixon 104th London
1978-79 J Young 2nd Hamilton
1977-78 G Pointon 1st Camberley
1976-77 S Gurnett 4th West Kent
1975-76 S Montgomery 1st Antrim
1974-75 J Goodfellow 2nd N. W. Durham
1973-74 J Forsyth 146th Glasgow
1972-73 D Kenwood 73rd London
1971-72 E Hovarth 5th Gateshead
1970-71 P Hutchinson 90th Glasgow
1969-70 D Fuller 88th London
1968-69 B Sayers 1st Maidstone
1967-68 B Sayers 1st Maidstone
1966-67 A Simmonds 25th Waltham Forest
1965-66 R Cheong Fook 1st Teluk Anson
1964-65 W Minnis 9th Coatbridge
1963-64 R Blayney 16th london
1962-63 R Blayney 16th london
1961-62 R Brown 11th Southend-on-Sea
1959-60 G Dalrymple 39th Glasgow
1958-59 J Elmer 1st Knowle
1957-58 D Brown 73rd Birmingham
1956-57 A Hollingberry 26th S. Essex
1955-56 A Hollingberry 26th S. Essex
1954-55 A Hollingberry 26th S. Essex
1953-54 T Curr
1952-53 C Gazely 22nd S. Essex
1951-52 C Gazely 22nd S. Essex
1950-51 A Howe 8th Dublin
1949-50 54th Edinburgh
1948-49 34th Glasgow
1947-48 4th Kirkcaldy
1946-47 3rd Spalding
1943-44 18th Gateshead
1942-43 21st Halifax
1941-42 264th Glasgow
1940-41 2nd Doncaster
1939-40 4th Brighton
1938-39 3rd E. Surrey
1937-38 219th Glasgow
1936-37 219th Glasgow
1935-36 163rd Glasgow
1934-35 163rd Glasgow
1933-34 35th London
1931-32 3rd Stirling
1930-31 7th Enfield
1929-30 5th S. Essex
1928-29 4th Motherwell
1927-28 11th Aberdeen
1926-27 1st Glasgow
1925-26 1st Glasgow
1924-25 11th Aberdeen
1923-24 111th Glasgow
1922-23 39th Aberdeen

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