1910 BSA Handbook (called the Book of Organization) by Chief Scout, Ernest Thompson Seton, had 14 "Badges of Merit". They were: Ambulance, Clerk, Cycling, Electrician, Fireman, Gardener, Horseman, Marksmanship, Master-of-Arms, Musician, Pioneer, Seamanship, Signaler, and Stalkers.
The 1911 Handbook carried over all the 1910 Badges of Merit except the Master-at-Arms Badge of Merit. The Master-at-Arms Badge involved mastering 3 of the following combat skills: single stick, boxing, ju jitsu, wrestling, quarterstaff and fencing. The 1911 Handbook changed the term to Merit Badge and changed the names of the other 13 merit badges:
There were a total of 57 merit badges in the 1911 handbook. These included the 13 above that were carried over and the following which were added: Agriculture, Angling, Archery, Architecture, Art, Astronomy, Athletics, Automobiling, Aviation, Bee Farming, Blacksmithing, Bugling, Business, Camping, Carpentry, Chemistry, Civics, Conservation, Cooking, Craftsmanship, Dairying, First Aid to Animals, Forestry, Handicraft, Interpreting, Invention, Leather Working, Life Saving, Machinery, Masonry, Mining, Ornithology, Painting, Pathfinding, Personal Health, Photography, Plumbing, Poultry Farming, Printing, Public Health, Scholarship, Sculpture, Surveying, Swimming, and Taxidermy.
Merit badges are designed to emphasize the ability “to do” rather than just knowledge. They were designed to “introduce a boy to life” including careers , hobbies, and other skills. Of the 121 current merit badges, 27 remain from the group of 57 original merit badges and 94 have been introduced since then. An additional 88 merit badges were created after 1911 but were subsequently dropped. So, all together, there have been a total of 239 different merit badges.
A director of the Boy Scout division of the BSA stated at a Boy Scout Program conference at Philmont that a merit badge is never officially dropped. They are just omitted from all literature, the cloth badge is not made, and there are no books published. Apparently someone that has the most recent set of requirements can use them. I am not sure how one goes about getting an approved counselor. That could be a problem, however that hasn't stopped some people. A case in point is the Rabbit Raising Merit Badge that was dropped in 1993. BSA records indicate that 49 Rabbit Raising Merit Badges were earned in 2003. Using a realistic approach, my definition for the final year for a merit badge is the last year it appears in BSA literature as a valid merit badge even though it may be earned many years after that.
Most of the very popular merit badges are the Eagle Scout rank required badges. Approximately 50,000 of each of these are earned each year. Other popular merit badges include camp handicrafts such as leatherwork and carving; popular camp activities such as archery, rifle shoting, canoeing, indian lore, and wilderness survival; and others that are frequently done as a troop such as fingerprinting,
In looking at the list some general conclusions can be drawn. Slightly more Scout are into Music than Sports, 15,114 to 10,968. There is a lot of interest in the classic Scouting skills of first aid, swimming, lifesaving, cooking, climbing, and nature study. Nature study accounts for 10 of the more popular merit badges: Environmental Science, Mammal Study, Fishing, Geology, Nature, Weather, Forestry, Soil and Water Conservation, and Reptile Study. Hiking has dropped to the middle of the pack along with Cycling, Scholarship and Reading.
When a new merit badge is adopted, usually the least popular merit badge is in danger of being dropped.
Source: Steven Henning:
