Brownie points to John for bringing me a cup of tea and a brownie while I am busy writing a post about "Brownie Points."
Recently, while helping with various tasks ahead of our book signing at Struan Farm, John announced to the world <within earshot of me> that he was clearly busy accumulating serious brownie points. In fact, brownie points were being mentioned so frequently that I had to pause from multi-tasking and query how the phrase came about.
My guess was that it was related to the Brownies <Girl Scouts>, merit badges, etc., but I didn't know that for sure.
It turns out the phrase did surface in the US originally, and this is probably the most widely accepted theory. Olave Baden-Powell, wife of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouts, named the Brownies after a mythological elf that did good deeds around the house.
A second theory relates to a railroad superintendent in the US named Brown, who devised a system of merits and demerits adopted by all railroads throughout the country.
A third theory relates to the earliest version of colored stamps that were issued by US retailers after World War II, redeemable for gifts.
Suffice it to say that at Struan Farm there are always lots of Brownie Points to be earned and redeemed either way!
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