Handbook for Boys, Fifth edition, first cover (1948-1959; 1.3 million copies printed). Author credit: various experts (Ted Pettit, Editor). Cover art by Don Ross.
Norman Rockwell did not create the cover of the fifth edition of the Handbook. Artist Don Ross was responsible for this dull image - so dull, indeed, that it was quickly replaced. The fifth edition Handbook (1948-1959) introduced the Scout Slogan, “Do a good turn daily.” The fifth edition also is the first to include the Conservation Pledge: “I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to defend from waste the natural resources of my Country - its soil and minerals, its forests, water and wildlife.”