(Beehive) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – 1916

In 1916, the Beehive Girls were Latter-day Saint young women ages 14 and 15 (the 12- and 13-year-olds were still in Primary). Older teens, and even the mothers of Beehive Girls, could learn the same skills and earn the same badges of honor, if they chose to.

Beehive Girls from Thatcher, Arizona

In those days, the Beehive program mirrored many of the activities and trappings of the Boy Scouts: as the girls completed requirements for various skills, called “filling cells” (as if with honey) in their lingo, they won hexagonal-shaped badges to sew onto a sash. Those activities included spiritual goals, homemaking skills, camping, competency with tools, development of physical strength and health, animal care, etc. Their range of activities was easily equivalent to the Boy Scout program — with art needlework and childcare added, and with their hikes made in bloomers or skirts.

These pictures from 1916 show the girls engaged in projects to fill cells, proclaiming their pride in the program with parade floats they built themselves, cooking breakfast in the canyons, playing baseball, and sometimes just clowning around for the camera.

Ladies and gentlemen, our grandmothers!