We are handling the council shoulder patch collection for long time collector Bob Walton of North Carolina. The collection is special in it’s own right. It is among the top 5 (3?) such collections in the country and arguably the deepest in some of its specific themes. It is what we call a “generational collection” as it represents over 20 years of collecting. His collection is near complete in first issue CSPs. I call these the “rookie cards” of the hobby. His collection includes virtually all of the toughest of first issues. It is one of the most extensive Eagle Scout CSP collections we have ever seen (and we’ve seen a lot.)

But I’m burying the lede here. What is the most significant message here is that we are not selling this for Bob. We are selling it for Cape Fear Council, BSA. Bob has donated this whole collection to the Scouts for the council’s restricted endowment fund! He will be helping the hobby as today’s collectors will have a chance to pick up needs that rarely come available as there are so few. He will also be helping to assure that Scouting continues going forward developing today’s youth that will become tomorrow’s leaders!

While Bob was here we shot a couple of interviews. The first part discusses his collecting history and a few of the special issues in his collection.

Attending the 1957 Jamborees

In the first part Bob mentions starting his collecting in 1981 at the BSA National Jamboree that year. This wasn’t his first jamboree. Bob attended the 1957 BSA National Jamboree AND the 1957 World Jamboree! We did a second part where we go over those experiences and what it was like to start from Valley Forge and head to England and Europe.

The 1957 World Jamboree was an “extra” jamboree (my term). The prior World Jamboree was in 1955. Normally jamborees are four years apart. What made 1957 special is it was the 50th anniversary of the founding of Scouting and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lord Baden Powell. Bob recounts seeing the young Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip as they toured the entire jamboree site as well as other signatory experiences that such an event offers to the world’s youth.

Here’s the video.

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