The ‘BB Grip’
article extracted from The Boys' Brigade Gazette (January 2003 issue) - BB UK

Have you ever wondered how the famous ‘BB Handshake’ started? Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that but I can reveal how and when it came to Britain.

In August 1905, Revd Joseph H Cudlipp, Adjutant-General of the Pennsylvania Division of The United Boys’ Brigade of America, arrived in Liverpool on the start of a two month tour of the UK.
He was editor and publisher of ‘The Brigade Boy’, the UBBA Journal and was accompanied by a Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal and Private of that organisation, described by him as ‘Troop F’. In the previous year he had undertaken a trip around the USA with a similar group but this was to be the trip of a lifetime.

Jos Cudlipp admired the way in which the BB was organised in the UK. On his tour he visited most of the large cities in Britain and Ireland. Naturally, he was warmly welcomed wherever he went, shaking hands with many British BB officers and boys. ‘Troop F’ was present for the Brigade Council weekend in Aberdeen and made a great impression upon its hosts, particularly members of the 1st Glasgow Company. The Founder’s son G Stanley Smith, then 15 years old,
observed that the UBBA members had a particular way of shaking hands known as the ‘BB Grip’. The BB Grip
was described as ‘a handshake which involved dropping the little finger so that it goes between the little and third
finger of the other chap’s hand’. In a letter to ‘Stedfast Mag’ in 1957, Stanley Smith recalled the introduction of the
grip…. ‘we at once adopted it in our own company as ‘The First Glasgow Grip’, I have no doubt other companies
did likewise. After I joined Headquarters Staff I travelled around a great deal and wherever I went always used to pass on the handshake to officers and boys ‘The BB Grip’. It soon became famous and today it is known all over the BB world.’

Joseph Cudlipp introduced the ‘BB Grip’ to Britain. In the 1950s, Harold T Barrow, former Company Chaplain and Secretary for Youth work in the forerunner to The Leprosy Mission, published a booklet entitled: ‘The Boys’ Brigade Handshake’, being an extended version of a Bible Class talk he had given to the 1st Maidstone and 12th West Kent companies, using II Kings 10 v 15 as his starting point. The booklet outlined the handshake as The Sign of Loyalty, A Declaration of Friendship, An Expression of Sympathy and Compassion, A Proof of Agreement and a Covenant of Fellowship. What does it mean to you?

Rob Bolton