Category: The American Girl

A Singer’s Story

“A Singer’s Story” by Josephine Daskam Bacon is the next time Franké’s work appeared in The American Girl. It was published in the May 1921 issue. The format here looks like the format for “The Flesh-Pots of Egypt.”

As with previous issues of The American Girl, the scan could be cleaner. It appears these issues were converted from microfilm back to a full-sized PDF. Without that, this artwork might not have been preserved at all.

There are two illustrations. The first is a sketch that embellishes the first letter of the first paragraph. Here it is in context.

Here’s the same image, cleaned up a bit.

The other image is an illustration proper.

The next story in The American Girl illustrated by Franké is “The Camp at Gravel Point.”

Resources

  • “A Singer’s Story,” The American Girl, May 1921, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.

Kay’s Encounter

Franké’s second illustrated story in The American Girl was “Kay’s Encounter” by Jane Abbott. It appeared in its entirety in the April 1921 issue. In it, a young girl battles an alligator to save her beloved horse, Patsey. The story had only a single illustration.

Resources

  • “Kay’s Encounter,” The American Girl, April 1921, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.

The Flesh-Pots of Egypt

The first story Franké illustrated for The American Girl was surprisingly entitled “The Flesh-Pots of Egypt.” It appeared in the January and February issues of 1921.

The scans we have available could be much cleaner; it appears these were converted from microfilm back to a full-sized pdf but without that this artwork might not have been preserved at all.

The magazine had not standardized their layouts yet. In place of a masthead for the story title, we get these sketches incorporated into the first paragraph. The second image looks like an alteration of the first.

Each of the two installments had a single illustration. This one from the January issue,

…and this one the following month.

Resources

  • “The Flesh-Pots of Egypt,” The American Girl, January 1921, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.
  • “The Flesh-Pots of Egypt,” The American Girl, February 1921, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.

Some Notes on The American Girl

The Sept 1922 issue, Cover Art by J. H. Litchfield

The American Girl was the official magazine of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Originally titled The Rally, it was founded, in 1917, about 5 years after the organization itself. It lasted until 1979.

The early issues contained the kind of content familiar to anyone who has received a newsletter from a national organization: chapter news, national campaigns, motivational articles, and the like.

The title change came in June 1920 and with it an increased page count and additional material beyond just scouting news. This also began a transformation from a newsletter to a magazine that doubled as a recruiting tool. In 1923 the publishers announced their intention to create “a magazine that will appeal more and more to our friends who are not Scouts — or, not yet Scouts, shall we say?” “It will be a great day for us when The American Girl takes her place proudly on the newsstands with all the other big grown-up magazines,” they proclaimed.

Fiction arrived as part of the additional materials, both as short stories and serials. With the fiction came illustrations, usually just one or two for each story or installment. Franké was a regular contributor for about three years starting with the January 1921 issue.

Resources

  • Girl Scouts of the USA accessed 10 August 2022
  • “Our New Name,” The American Girl, June 1920, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.
  • “New Year Resolutions,” The American Girl, January 1923, National Headquarters Girl Scouts, Inc.