Home Rag/Leather Home A Tribute to the Founder The Beginning of a Tradition Early Spread and Development The Influence of Ralph Cole The Rag Survives Controversy The Rag/Leather Program Today 100 Year Celebration Events Downloads Ordering Side Bars Contact Us The Story of the Rag In 1914, 38 year old Thomas Caldwell, boys' secretary of the Oakland, California YMCA was searching for a method to deal with certain discipline problems at camp in a positive, rather than negative, way. At the time, the method used by many YMCA camps was to present awards for participation in athletics and other activities. Caldwell considered this, but discarded the idea because a handicapped boy, Charles Von Konnigsburg, would be unable to win such an award, and was expected to attend camp. Caldwell's aspiration evolved into the idea of rewarding positive character traits, such as good heath habits, promptness, cheerfulness, morals, trust and helpfulness. To symbolize these positive qualities, Caldwell bought some very simple blue kerchiefs which he called “Rags ” for 10 cents each from the Williamson's County Store in Pescadero. Their simplicity signified that, in and of themselves, the rags had no value--rather, they were just a symbol of positive qualities the person had demonstrated. During an evening campfire program, Caldwell called several of the boys forward. As he tied the Rag around each boy’s neck, he explained to him, and the camp, the reason for receiving it. Thus a tradition was started.