Following the future of the Blue Book

August 4, 2009 Glenn Chase Base Camp

The Blue Book: Order of the Arrow Standard Insignia Catalog was first published in 1996, and for over a decade has been the primary reference for OA collectors. Published by the American Scouting Historical Society every two years to coincide with the National Order of the Arrow Conference, the first 5 issues were printed in bound volumes. The sixth edition had become too large to print economically, and so was supplied in electronic form, either on CDROM or available via download.

From its inception the Blue Book has always been a nonprofit effort that depended upon the contributions of hundreds of collectors and the collaboration of  regional,  state, and national editors to assemble the data associated with over 50,000 insignia items listed.

The 2 year publishing cycle was interrupted this year. The rights to the the Blue Book were included in the sale of the Morley-Topkis collection to the Las Vegas International Scouting Museum but no effort was made to publish an update to the Sixth Edition.

Bill Mulrenin recently reported on his blog that the rights to publish the Blue Book have been acquired from the LVISM by Roy More of The Scout Patch Auction, whose plans for the publication are being shared on a new web site, oabluebook.com.

There is encouraging news there that efforts are underway to produce a new edition, and discussion about what changes are being considered. Since the Blue Book is a vital reference that OA collectors depend upon regularly, there are several links related to it on The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp, now including the new oabluebook.com site where you can follow the development of the next edition.