Between 1907 and 1916, several companies tried to capitalize on the popularity of the Scouting movement by branding their products with the name "Scout" and using graphic images of Boy Scouts to promote their merchandise. At one time it was possible to buy "Scout Coffee", "Scout Tobacco", "Scout Firecrackers", "Scout Oranges", and "Scout Gum" among other items.
In 1914 the Scout Gum Company, of Rochester, New York,
copyrighted and published a series of twelve numbered postcards depicting Scouts engaged in various activities. The drawings for the multi-colored chromolithograph cards were all executed by H. C. Edwards whose signature is visible in most of the pictures.
The backs of the cards, in brown, each contain a number, a title, a brief paragraph describing the activity, and a trademark notice for "Scout".
The Boy Scouts of America did not authorize these cards.