I’ve been collecting this area for years, sort of as a tie in to my CSPs and then later just as a stand-alone collection. Its a great area in that it is relatively limited, easy to start but has lots of challenge to finish.

For two reasons actually no one has completed the collection.

First, some of these were of extremely limited issue. A full order was a dozen patches. One could order as few as a ‘half-order’ or 6 patches. These orders got placed and were used by Council professionals or council-wide positions only. Others were used only by jamboree troops. One of the toughest was for Orange Empire’s contingent of 12 to the 1971 World Jamboree!

Second, we don’t yet know of what all exists. There are no records. The catalogers (right now lead by Dr. Blake Keasey) are reporting new finds every quarter in the ISCA journal. He and predecessors Art Hyman and Rob Kuts have been at it for years and we’re still making new discoveries. Just last month two new full size RWS were discovered: a ‘GTR CLEVELAND/C’ and ‘ALEXANDER HAMILTON/C’ with small council. That puts the known count of full-size (CSP-size) RWS at around 810 items.

Bruce Raver runs a nice web site that one should check out if you’re interested in this area. It is called RWS World.

This is a very legimate area of the hobby although 2003 this was ‘violated’ with the private issuance of some fake RWS. They are hard to tell but the lettering is off and the white thread, polyester based, has a pink tint to it due to the red base material.

Learn more and enjoy.