Emphasizing the transient nature of the internet, two web sites that archived images of Jamboree Shoulder Patches have disappeared, victims of the shutdown of their host, GeoCities.

Developed by Michael Bungo of Great Trail Council, the 2001 and 2005 JSP web sites were pioneers in collecting and presenting pictures and information about jamboree shoulder patches.  Sadly, archive.org has few remnants of the sites available available via their Wayback Machine. The 2001 JSP site was archived several times up until 2005. The 2005 JSP site was not as fortunate, with only two visits to archive its contents.

I tried contacting Michael to see if he was able to preserve a copy of his sites before the GeoCities shutdown, and to see if he might consider uploading it to an alternative host, but the yahoo email address I had for him is no longer valid.

So while I remove the links to these sites from the Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp I am once again reminded how impermanent a web site can be and encourage those who develop them to keep local backups and consider ways the information might be preserved for future generations.

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.

Jason Spangler has launched a new blog at 2009noac.com just in time for the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Conference to be held at Indiana University from August 1-6. Jason plans to report on the patch trading going on at NOAC using this blog as well as by microblogging through tweets. For the latter option, he’s also set up boyscouttweet.com so Scouts from around the world can update everyone via their mobile phones.

John Pannell is avidly tracking the Lodge emblems being issued for the upcoming 2009 National Order of the Arrow Conference on a special web page at oaimages.com, so I’ve revised the link that previously pointed to the 2006 NOAC patches to point to the new page.

Not only are the patches for NOAC now more likely to be a set containing a flap and matching pocket piece, it seems that more Lodge’s than ever have decided to issue multiple versions to expand their fundraising.

Above image was submitted to oaimages.com by Larry K. Mitchell

If you have eagle eyes you may have noticed a small change to the introductory text on the Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp home page. “The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp is a directory of helpful internet resources for pursuing our hobby of collecting and trading Boy Scout memorabilia” was changed to remove the word “Boy.” This was necessitated by the recent addition of two excellent web sites related to Girl Scouting.

The Vintage Girl Scout Museum, a site by Nancy White, is exactly what it sounds like, with pictures and descriptions of all sorts of uniforms, emblems, and medals, as well as historical information about Girl Scout programs around the world.

The Girl Guide and Girl Scout Patch Collecting Directory is a wonderful resource for current or aspiring collectors of Girl Scout or Girl Guide patches. Jessica Cangiano has done an amazing job of assembling dozens of links to helpful internet sites along with expert advice on starting a collection, finding lists of councils, and more.

Why the expansion to include Girl Scouts and Girl Guides? It seems only natural to include their program which promotes similar values and purposes, and I have a daughter who entered Junior Girl Scouts this year after entering the program as a Daisy, then spending several years as a Brownie. My wife (a volunteer leader of my daughter’s troop) has pleaded with me not to infect my daughter with my patch collecting fever, no doubt afraid that our abode will be overrun with even more colorful embroidered bits of cloth!

Craig Leighty, President of the International Scouting Collectors Association, posted a message to the Patch-L mailing list on January 11 advising that new versions of their invaluable OA and CSP checklists are now available. I was thrilled to read this, since I include links to both on the Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp, and the checklists had not been revised since July of 2006.

Not only are the new checklists updated to include all of the latest mergers and such, but they are also available in a variety of formats, including PDF, Excel, MS Word, PageMaker, and HTML. The lists are available to everyone, and include a handy membership form to join ISCA. You’ll find them on the ISCA web site here:

OA: http://www.scouttrader.org/References/oa_reference.shtml
CSP: http://www.scouttrader.org/References/csp.shtml

Thanks to Craig and everyone at ISCA for providing these excellent resources!

While researching information about a 1919 Boy Scout Handbook for a coworker I came across an excellent site that I immediately knew belonged on The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp.

History of the Boy Scout Handbook is actually part of the web site for Troop 97 of Fort Collins, Colorado. Scoutmaster Jeff Snowden has compiled a vast amount of information and pictures of every single edition’s cover in a well-organized and enjoyable site that is sure to be appreciated by anyone seeking to learn about the book most every Scout has studied, dog-eared, and marked off their advancement in. You’ll find it linked in the Scout History and Museums section of the Base Camp starting today.

The picture above is the cover of the edition I read cover-to-cover to learn the Scout Promise, Scout Law, how to pitch a tent, tie the correct knot, and so much more.

Recently within the span of just a few minutes I received emails from different friends recommending that I check out two Scout-related videos on YouTube. The first was for the great Arrow Ads produced by the Coosa Lodge shows team whose members include Ben Killen, Chris Brightwell, and Tim Hall, the hosts of ClothTalk.

The second message recommended that I view a film created by Jake Topkis that features the voice of OA Founder E. Urner Goodman as he addressed Arrowmen during the 1954 and 1956 National Order of the Arrow Conferences. Entitled Our Founders Voice: Dr. E. Urner Goodman, the film literally brought me goosebumps as I heard Dr. Goodman’s voice for the first time in my life.

Scouting is fortunate to benefit from the worldwide trend of audio and video as media now created by the public. Videos shared on YouTube and podcasts like ClothTalk are just the beginning of what I hope will become as ubiquitous as email messages are today in the world of sharing information about Scouting and the preservation of its history and traditions through memorabilia and collectibles.

I’ve added a new section to the Base Camp called Featured Videos which provides links to the two videos mentioned above as well as to the excellent iSash video, also produced by Coosa Shows, which mimics the colorful style of the famous Apple ads for the iPod.

As someone who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television-Film and has worked in broadcast production, I can attest to the many hours of hard work that goes into planning and producing something as short as a 60 second video or a 30 minute radio show. Kudos to Jake and the Coosa Shows team for shining a new light on Scout-related topics by honing their skills on projects that will catch and keep the attention of today’s media-aware generation.

http://www.patchcamp.com

The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp is a directory of helpful internet resources for pursuing our hobby of collecting and trading Boy Scout memorabilia, and beginning today you’ll find a wealth of new links to keep up with what’s happening as Scouts head for the Jamboree site at Hylands Park, Essex, UK.

From news headlines, blogs, weather, jamboree radio, and youtube videos, the Base Camp aims to be your central launch pad for media related to the Jamboree, as well as all of the collectibles surrounding it.

Additional improvements and refinements include:

- The custom google-powered search engine has been expanded to include over 60 sites related specifically to Scout patch collecting.
- Over 100 select sites linked from the main page to help you find the patch collecting information you are looking for.
- Hovering your mouse pointer over an icon next to each link will popup a small window with a preview of the linked site.
- Over 100 related sites submitted to our “Free Links” page. Do you have a web site, blog, or podcast related to patch collecting? Submit it today!

In Scouting,

Glenn
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Glenn Chase
Webmaster, The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp

http://www.patchcamp.com