Boys Town Commemorative - why does it have a girl on it?
TopographicOceans
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At first I couldn't tell, but I was wondering why the boy had a ponytail.
Then I found a larger picture and see there is a girl on the Boys Town commemorative.
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I suppose the girl is intended to remind us that Boys Town is about rescuing and helping children and families, not just little men as it was in 1917.
Lance.
while technically a boy he is actually gender-fluid and identifies as a girl
I don't believe they are limited to helping just boys anymore, though that was the case when they were founded.
As a guy from Omaha, the official name of the organization is now "Boys and Girls Town". And as a guy from Boys Town's hometown, there has not been ANY local publicity of this commemorative program. Today is the release day, and not a single story on the local news about the coins. Since Boys Town gets a surcharge per coin, you would think they would want to promote this to a local audience. But hey, what do I know....
The kid don't look like Jimmy Cagney either!
I read that it was Boys and Girls Town at some point but that it is simply Boys Town again today.
Is that wrong? I can't find any reference to Boys and Girls Town, even on the Boys Town website.
Lance.
Why ask why? It's the year 2017. It's the U.S. mint. It's the Citizens Coin Advisory Board. OF COURSE THERE'S A GIRL ON THE BOY'S TOWN COMMEMORATIVE COIN!
The 2010 Boy Scouts coin also has a girl on it.
Interestingly, the 2013 Girl Scouts coin does not have a boy on it.
I'm seeing a pattern here. Is it just me?
When I think of Boys Town I always am reminded of the famous statue that is on the grounds and the inscription "He ain't heavy father, he's m' brother". Here's a little background on the statue and the saying that goes with it.
**“He ain’t heavy, Father… he’s m’ brother.”
**That iconic phrase has symbolized the spirit of Boys Town for decades. But many people don’t know how it originated.
Back in 1918, a boy named Howard Loomis was abandoned by his mother at Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys, which had just opened a year earlier. Howard had polio and wore heavy leg braces. Walking was very difficult for him, especially when he had to go up or down steps.
Soon, several of the Home’s older boys were carrying Howard up and down the stairs.
One day, Father Flanagan asked Reuben Granger, one of those older boys, if carrying Howard was hard.
Reuben replied, “He ain’t heavy, Father… he’s m’ brother.
But the story doesn’t end there.
In 1943, Father Flanagan was paging through a copy of Ideal magazine when he saw an image of an older boy carrying a younger boy on his back. The caption read, “He ain’t heavy, mister… he’s my brother.”
Immediately, the priest was reminded of a photo of Reuben carrying Howard at a Boys Town picnic many years before. Father Flanagan wrote to the magazine and requested permission to use the image and quote. The magazine agreed, and Boys Town adopted them both as its new brand.
They are a good charity
But I see they have a net worth of $1.2 BILLION dollars.
Because it's 2017
I would have been more surprised if they didn't have a girl on it. This is a CCAC coin, after all.
sigh. It was Mickey Rooney.
Wait until the breast cancer commem next year. Chances of having a male organ on it? Close to zero...
Boy Scouts of America has Venture Scouts which is co-ed, thus the depiction of a girl on the coin.
The girl looks like Judy Garland.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
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Seems to me that a commemorative coin should reflect the roots of the organization not what it is today. There also seems to be a hostility to the male gender at the Mint in my view. Heaven forbid anything commemorating anything only male in DC.
or why doesn't it have a boy if they take both?
Maybe a shim?..Lol
I'll ask. Please tell me, "why doesn't it have a boy if they take both?"
I'm sure it's a rhetorical response, the answer will be weird, since there are boys on the coins. There is a little girl.
i'm killing myself lately
Not me, glad you are amusing / killing yourself
Cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usZtSl8mX08
It's also a Neil Diamond song.
Boring designs and PC to boot. Got to be winners.
Thanks for the clip. Brought back great memories of that era.
As stupid as millennial liberals are about trying to nit pick every possible situation for "lack of diversity," many of you here are just as guilty for trying to find every possible inkling of "PC."
Both sides actively make mountains out of mole hills and people wonder why we're so divided.
Wait till they do one for Testicular Cancer, that should be interesting.
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Obviously that one will have a vagina on it
My YouTube Channel
A couple of years ago I saw someone at the grocery store whom appeared to be female, but she had a female partner also so they must have been a couple - anyway she was wearing a shirt - "I love my vagina". Me being me and loving to stir the pot - I thought about how interesting it would be to get the same shirt and wear it out in public to see people's reactions
I grew up in the 'hood, not far from there. We just called it "uptown".
We can't assume it is a girl, that is gender discrimination.
Here are the design candidates. There was a variety of designs to choose from.
I think silver pairs 13, 15 and 22 might have translated well to engraved work and then to coins.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Me being me and loving to stir the pot - I thought about how interesting it would be to get the same shirt and wear it out in public to see people's reactions
I Love My Vagina Unisex - Tshirt
Pictures of it didn't happen!
Boys Town Commemorative - why does it have a girl on it? -to- I Love My Vagina Unisex - Tshirt
It's like a clothes washer that never finishes the final rinse.
I always thought Boys Town was a movie. I learned something today!
Wow... so many of those are better than the one they chose. This one's my favorite.
Interestingly, as I was scanning them looking for the design that I thought was best, I tended to skip the ones with people on them. This one is the best picture of whoever the dude is.
The expressed symbolism on the Boys Town silver dollar is different from my initial interpretation. I thought that the young lady was gazing up at the sky dreaming of the future and a better life. According to the note on the Certificate of Authenticity, she is looking up at a void (completed intended from the blank space in the design) looking for a better future.
Are you certain she isn't looking up to find a better coin only to find it void?
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I am not quite so critical of the designs. They do have an on-going theme, oak trees. They appear on the reverse of the of the silver dollar and the sapling is on the reverse of the $5 gold piece. The idea is, of course, if a young person is given an opportunity to grow properly that the results can be quite large and impressive.
There have been far worse designs, Like the embarrassment that appeared on the reverse of the Mt. Rushmore $5 gold. The artist claimed he was rushed and had too many commissions. All he did was put "Mount Rushmore National Memorial" on the reverse together with the statutorily required legends.
There there is my all time favorite bad commemorative coin design.
It took two "artists" to design that reverse.