Collecting Scouting Memorabilia Perhaps no other youth organization in the world has generated so many collectible items as Scouting, and yet almost all of it is discarded as youngsters grow up.
Since Lord Baden Powell -- famous English general and a hero to his countrymen -- held the first summer Scout camp on Brownsea Island in 1907, the organization has spread to more than 100 nations. Scouting in every nation creates unique memorabilia, typically in small quantities.
From the earliest years, Scouting leaders recognized that children love to collect things. Scouting encouraged collections of natural things: leaves, stones, blossoms, and feathers. Collecting consisted of almost anything at hand: barbed wire, bottle caps, baseball cards, souvenirs, and Scout patches traded with other Scouts.
This particular collection was built by traditional swapping, based on a single organizing principle: unusual beauty. However, when a collection becomes very large, swapping is no longer the solution. These rare treasures are being sold item by item in order to share them with important collections.
So here are a few of the Scouting treasures collected over many decades. This is an opportunity to assemble an historic collection, or to enhance an existing collection. For more details, hold your cursor over an item for a moment. Click on each of the following patches to view similar rare offerings.
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