Book Review: Complete Guide to Collecting Wabaningo Emblems

Posted on January 24th, 2024 in Hobby Trends,OA by ramore

As time marches on, we sometimes lose our history. Fortunately, an author came forward last year to remind us with a new update. Joe Taylor did this with his writing and publishing The Complete Guide to Collecting Wabaningo Emblems.

I have written for the International Scout Traders Association (ISCA) several Hobby Trend articles that have discussed collecting the Wab issues. I credit such a collection as an “Everest”, a climb up the tallest of mountains in our hobby. In last December’s issue in my article on “OA Trends” I noted how:

“This area overlaps with several of the previously mentioned themes including First Flaps, First Issues, and First Solid Flaps. Getting the particularly correct variety can be very challenging. Trend: Hot and Heating up” … ISCA Journal December, 2023.

Some History

In 1952 Scouter Dwight Bischel wrote and published the Wabaningo Lodge Emblem Handbook. It was the first “catalog” of Order of the Arrow issues ever done. Wabaningo (248) was his home lodge at the time of his writing although his Scouting youth was in Bay City, Michigan and Gimogash (214) lodge. The hobby has often shortened this title to “the Wab book”.

WAB book original cover

Joe’s new book includes some reprints of interviews down with Dwight over the years including senior collectors Jeff Morley and Bill Topkis and one by senior collector and ISCA OA Editor Bruce Shelley. Both are very informative and original source which is getting harder every day. Dwight has since passed away at age of 91 in 2020.

Dwight’s drive for creating the book was that when attending the 1950 National Jamboree he noticed that it was becoming a collecting theme yet there were not even published lists of the lodges let alone whether they had an “emblem”. Working with the OA National Secretary, the lead professional support person to the OA, he got a list of all lodges and their councils. He contacted the lodges and heard back from many of them. His book includes not just an example patch where he could but also lodge name, number, and history.

Inside pages from the original Wabaningo book

Prior to this the only picturing of lodge emblems was in the OA handbooks. But the handbooks were showing examples, some of which were not even OA patches, rather than a catalog.

Page 46 from the 1948 OA Handbook. Shows lodge emblems at that time although one is a camp patch and another is one we now call a section conclave. It also points out one of the problems that Dwight was trying to address for collectors – patches with no name or number designation. For example, the picture shows an Anicus 67 chenille (upper left corner) and a Tipisa 326 round (bottom center). At least the Mannaseh 81 arrowhead has the lodge name.

The Joe Taylor edition

Besides going to full color and full size, Joe has done several things not thought of Dwight’s time:

The book includes:

Difficulty ratings

Valuation guide (which likely change over time but give a starting point)

Clarification about the variety specifics between the issue featured in the original Wab books and other issues from the lodge that might be similar but are not the “Wab issue”. Which in several cases the original Wab issue turns out to be an earlier and harder variety.

Additional historical information including the transcripts of the interviews previously mentioned.

Table of Contents for the Joe Taylor Wab book
Example part of a page from the new Wab book.

Conclusion

The hobby has needed this book for some time for what was one of the first collecting areas in our Scout memorabilia hobby. It is a worthwhile library addition for those wanting to collect this area.

Post Script

The original Wab book is still coveted as it has historical information about the lodges and councils at the time. Only 2,000 were made so it is relatively scarce. There are though both copies (usually have a single color cover) and a reproduction printed likely in the 1960s that is similar but not an original.

Words from a girl Eagle Scout

Posted on November 22nd, 2022 in BSA Info,Hobby Trends,Legacy Interviews by ramore

We are heading into Thanksgiving. This came across from the Scouts from a girl Eagle Scout who was the  first-place winner in the Central Florida Council scholarship contest. Worth reading and sharing.

She said,

“Leaders have to make decisions, be problem solvers, face adversity, and follow their moral obligations – all principles of Scouting. … Teaching young girls and boys the values of responsibility, loyalty, leadership, and camaraderie at this age equips them for life in the reality we live in. In the ever-changing society that we are a part of, these characteristics are fundamental for children to possess and carry with them into adulthood.

“The Scout stands for pride, integrity, opportunity, strength, freedom, and the true meaning of being an American, as they embody the flag on the uniform. Scouting instills these values into young Americans who will grow up with respect for their country, only building upon it as they age. … Scouts are our future, and they are equipped with a skill set that gives me confidence and faith in the future of our country.”

Here’s a link to the full essay. Eagle Scout essay contest winner.

Destry was recently at a trade-o-ree here in Michigan held at Camp Gerber. There was a camporee also going on at the camp. He shared that a number of boy and girl Eagle Scouts came through. Destry’s a class of ’85 Eagle Scout. He got to chatting with them. This was the first time he had had chance to talk much with girl Eagle Scouts. He shared that all the Eagle Scouts were impressive but was particularly struck with how impressive the girls were. He noted that many were quite appreciative of the opportunity to be in Scouts/BSA and really enjoyed their trail to Eagle.

Warehouse sale, TOR & BBQ

Posted on May 20th, 2021 in Hobby Trends,Trade-o-rees by ramore

Couldn’t have this last year due to COVID. Looking things are opening up so we’re ready to party. This is likely to be a more local affair as there’s no NOAC at Michigan State this summer (as there was supposed to be last summer). If it works into your schedule, stop on by. Here’s the Eventbrite listing for the event. We’re asking folks to sign-up so we know how much food to plan on preparing.

TBT: Sale of Sales

Posted on April 15th, 2021 in Hobby Trends,Jamborees,OA by ramore

It’s Throwback Thursday. In going through my files, I came across my copy of the prices realized for the Don Dennison “Sale of Sales”, one of the earliest (maybe THE earliest) published prices realized for the sale of individual Scout memorabilia. Jack Keane published this on mimeograph (for Millennials this was an era before MS Word).

“Sale of Sales” cover

Some background on Don. He was the organizer and host for the Amaquonsippi Trail in southern Illinois. He was also a passionate patch collector of Scout patches: OA, jamboree, regions, and more.

Optimized by Pegasus Imaging Corp, http://www.jpg.com

Bruce Richardson has a great site referencing the collectibles associated with this trail. Check it out here.

Conducted in 1970, this was before there was any catalog of issues, this predated Arapaho I and II, so Don had to define the terms used in his sale listing.

So ultimately we do not know the specific issues as we define them these days but one can well infer what issue they were for many of the lodges and items as so few issues existed at this time. Remember, I do, that lodges often kept the same issue for several years! Rather than today’s practice to make a new issue every few months or faster.

Some quick observations:

  • The high prices realized for OA issues included:
    • 8 R solid: $117.76
    • 13 R Wakag (sic) (what later was turned out to be a Dovidio fake): $45
    • 34 Ko-Nosh-I-Oni sold for more than 34 Gonlix
    • 47 R (Hanigus): $150
    • Still active lodges sold for more than many merged lodges:
      • 89 F (Kepayshowink, Mischigonong did not exist): $83.76
      • 96 S: $90
      • 526 F: $120
      • 555 S: $75 (at the time, restricted to National pros)
  • Some of the other patches (there weren’t many offered)
    • Region 2 patch: $23.30
    • 1937 NJ patch: $75
    • 1953 NJ patch: $15

Here are the sales result pages. Note, this was an era where gas was $0.36 per gallon. New flaps cost a quarter.

Collecting the patches before CSPs

Posted on August 27th, 2019 in CSP,Hobby Trends,KRS and others,RWS,Shoulder Wear by ramore

One of the most widely collected areas in our hobby are council shoulder patches (CSPs). Every Scout can wear one. Most can be acquired for very little cost and are actively traded. With councils issuing so many special versions for recognition and such it can make collecting them a challenge. They are soon coming up on their 50th birthday as they became official uniform wear circa 1972.

The thing is, CSPs aren’t the first council (or community) identification shoulder wear. That would be what are now referred to as “Lettered Shoulder Patches” or LSPs. For the longest of times we referred to this whole area of collecting as red and white strips (RWS). I think it is because they were the patches, I’m dating myself, we wore on our Scout uniforms. The thing is, there were colors before RWS but that pre-dates almost all of today’s collectors. Here is some history on these and why they are so fun to collect.

Why collect these?

  • They are fun. Although plain in colors and design, they are easy to understand and distinctive in their own way. Some turn out easy to come by and others can be excrutiatingly hard to even see let alone acquire.
  • They tell the story of Scouting. Many councils never had CSPs. We too often forget that council boundaries were set not only before the internet but before the interstate. As mobility improved, territories (think councils) could come together to pool resources and professional talent.
  • They add depth to a collection. There was a transition where most issues were without state identification to then including the state(s). This seemed to have happened in the late 1960s. And mistakes did happen although usually are quite rare.
  • They show the reach of BSA truly spanning the globe where American’s were present.
  • There are variations but not anywhere to the extent we have today with CSPs. For most councils, there was just one version of lettered shoulder wear.
  • They haven’t been faked much. And the fakes that have been made are distinctive from the real patches as these were last issued in the age of cotton thread rather and Swiss-style loom embroidery.

Why so tough?

I have been told that a “full order” could be as few as a dozen strips with the minimum order being half that. That is, a council could order as few as six of one lettered shoulder patch.

For some of these, they are “gauze backed” which might well mean that they were stiched up one at a time for what was needed. For some of these, there may have only been one or two patchs made.

Some of these were only worn by council level professional staff and volunteers. Some were used for contingents to national jamborees and a few for world jamborees.

What is their history?

For the first 18 years of BSA, there was no authorized community or council identification. It was not until 1928 that they came into the catalog for some communities and 1930 for councils. I am of the opinion it was due to regional and national trainging conferences for professional staff that drove the need for council identification. Up to that point, other than world jamborees there were not multi-council gatherings. If everyone is from the same council, why does one need council identification?

From the first collecting book for red and whites by Art Hyman and Rob Kutz:

  • 1928 Community strips authorized (khaki and red, KRS )
  • 1930 Council strips authorized (khaki and red) for council Scouters only
  • Early 1940’s size increased and other colors authorized
    • Dark blue and gold (yellow) for Cub Scouts (BYS)
    • White and blue (WBS) and blue and white (BWS) for Sea Scouts
    • Green and brown (GBS) for Explorer Scouts
    • Blue and blue for (BBS) for Air Scouts
  • Starting in 1952, the specific uniform colors were phased out (except for Sea Scouts) converting everyone to red and white (RWS).
  • 1972 discontinued although a few councils kept using a version and some commerative or fundraising issues have come out since.

Actually the hobby identifies these days the difference between the pre-World War 2 uniform color of “tan kahki” to post WW2 color of “green khaki”. The earlier ones are referred to as tan and red strips (TRS).

Why the transition to CSPs?

From a regional retired Scout Executive who as an SE at the time of transition in 1972 from red and whites to CSPs he said that councils could get stuck with inventory for a unit that came and went. Plus they took up a lot of space to store as inventory. With CSPs there only needed to be one patch for everyone. Now I think the Scouts lost something with this transition. I think it would be interesting if we went back to community strips and with current patch making technology, it might be well doable.

Other resources:

If you are a member of the International Scout Collectors Association, ISCA, you can download for free the Council Shoulder Insignia guide for free which inculdes full chapters on collecting lettered shoulder patches. Visit their web-site at ISCA Website. Go to the Members Only area for the CSI guide.

Examples from my collection:

Portage Trails Council khaki and red strip

Portage Trails Council khaki and red strip

Portage Trails Council red and white with type 1 border.

Portage Trails Council red and white with type 1 border.

Portage Trails Council RWS with type 2 border.

Portage Trails Council RWS with type 2 border.

Second edition of Portage Trails Council with Michigan added.

Second edition of Portage Trails Council with Michigan added.

Examples of different versions of states strips.

Examples of different versions of states strips.

Examples of different styles of community strips for the same community.

Examples of different styles of community strips for the same community.

Changes to Northern Illinois and Indiana Councils

Posted on August 1st, 2014 in BSA Info,Hobby News,Hobby Trends by ramore

Received this update from Central Region:

August 1, 2014
To:                          Central Region Executive Committee
                                Central Region Area 7 Committee
                                Chicago Area Council Key Three
                                Three Fires Council Key Three
                                Northeast Illinois Council Key Three
Des Plaines Council Key Three
Calumet Council Key Three
Blackhawk Area Council Key Three
Rainbow Council Key Three
Northwest Suburban Council Key Three
                                Central Region Area Directors
From:                    Brian Williams, Central Region President
                                Reid Christopherson, Central Region Commissioner
                                Al Lambert, Central Region Director
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After much research, discussion, and deliberation, the Central Region Executive Committee has adopted a multi-phase approach to the realignment of councils in the Chicago/Northwest Indiana Metropolitan area.
As Phase One, the geographical territory currently being served by Northwest Suburban Council, Chicago Area Council, Calumet Council and Des Plaines Valley Council will be assigned to a new council that will be created within the boundaries of these four councils.
It is believed that this new council, operating within these approved boundaries, will successfully position Scouting in the Chicago/Northwest Indiana Metropolitan area for the future.  This new council will be constructed and fully operational by early in the first quarter of 2015.  Until that time, the four legacy councils will continue to operate and should continue to provide the services necessary to support their Scouts and families.
The Central Region Executive Board will provide interim governance and support for the newly created council.   National Executive Board member Ray Wood has been appointed to lead our support of the legacy councils during the transition.  Ray’s committee will include representatives of both the National Executive Board and our Regional Board.  Deputy Regional Director Fred Wallace has been appointed to lead the daily operations of the new council during the build out and will replace Matt Thornton as interim Scout Executive in our legacy councils.    You will hear from Ray and Fred shortly.
Phase Two of the project will begin later in 2015.  During this phase we will look at the councils and the territory surrounding the new council and will continue to explore the best alignment of communities aligned to provide strong Scouting programs to more youth.  Some of these could include:
·         A review of the territory served by the Rainbow Council including potential consolidation, collaboration and/or shared resources.
·         A review of the territory served by the Blackhawk Area Council, Three Fires Council and Northeast Illinois Council which could include discussions of consolidation, collaboration, shared resources, and boundary realignment.
·         A review of the Wisconsin and Iowa territory included in Area 7 and Area 3 to determine if those counties are being served in the best possible manner.
·         Other areas of review as determined.
While there will be much to discuss as the new council is built, we look forward to the Area 7 committee engaging with you to insure that every youth has an opportunity to join a strong program this fall.  This is surely the Main Thing…more youth across Area 7 experiencing the fun and adventure of Scouting.  Mike Duffee and Ernie Froemel continue to provide strong leadership to Area 7 – please count on them.
A sincere thank you is extended to the multitude of volunteers and professionals that have participated in the consolidation talks the past two years.  Your input was invaluable throughout this process.

eBay lot takes in the unknowing

Posted on June 22nd, 2014 in Fakes,Hobby Trends,Rank by ramore

Here’s the title of a recent offering on eBay (end of May, 2014)

***RARE*** Vintage Boy Eagle Scout Type 1 Or 2 Rank Patch Badge BSA Merit Award

With the following description:

This is an extremely rare vintage 1924 Eagle Scout rank patch that has been kept in excellent condition and is certainly a rare find! I’m not sure if this is a type 1 or 2 but either way it is an extremely rare patch! This patch is a collectors dream and is something that everyone desires but no everyone gets! Bid on it now to secure that you will be the next owner of this amazing patch that is part of scouting history!! Happy Bidding!!! Let me know if you have any question!

And here’s a picture of the listing and patch:

But rather than be an authentic first issue Eagle patch, it is from the modern BSA issued commemorative Eagle patch display.

Now the history of avarice and greed are not new to our hobby. At one level, one can reach more collectors more quickly than ever before but at another level frauds can be found out more quickly. Moral of the story: buy from reputable dealers who know the patches (and that really is fewer than many realize). Also, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Update:

This seller is back now listing this as:

***RARE***Vintage Eagle Scout Rank Boy Scout Patch 1924 – 1932

with this description:

This eagle rank is an extremely rare find and has been passed down from my grandpa’s collection! He had it displayed and sewn onto a navy blue felt material years ago and this is how I got it from him. This is a patch is in amazing condition compared to others which is really hard to find and is a collectors dream! I have to start getting rid of his collection and this one must go! Let me know if you have any questions that I can help you with and make sure you get this for your collection today!!! Thank you!!

and here’s the picture:

 

WRONG!!!!!

I see that someone did get taken in. Bought it. Paid for it. Received it and then when pointing out that it was the modern fake/repro and tried to return it the seller tried to charge a $125 re-stocking fee. What a scam!

 

Neat Camp Tom Wooten site

Posted on December 28th, 2013 in Camps,Hobby Trends by ramore

Just this past week I was discussing with a senior collector about the struggles in the hobby right now with knowledge. We are creating so many items that its hard to keep up with what’s newly issued and as a result the older, seldom seen items get missed or forgotten. Ultimately the solution is better education and education tools.

Against that is technology is giving us better tools to record and share information than ever before. This thought comes to mind as I was responding to a share of an eBay auction for an old Camp Tom Wooten felt camp patch.

The title says it was from the 1930s. To me it didn’t quite have that “feel” as I have patches with this design in my collection that are dated in the 1940s. Well, a person quickly was able share a web-site link that showed the historical Camp Tom Wooten patches. Very neat! Very useful. There are a lot of these out there but what we need to do is figure out how to integrate them all.

In the OA Blue Book web-site, collectors can now record the history of patches in the comment fields for any issue. We could never do that before and it only works with an on-line database. (and there has to be in the design for folks to comment back either to add to the information or correct a mis-statement). We need to do more of this.

A few years back I created the ScoutPatchWiki. Folks from around the world were putting reference information in. But, it got massively hacked by foreign spammers and had to take it down. I still have the data and it looks like the software has increased its security so maybe that will be part of the new year’s resolutions is to resurrect this site.

 

Sometimes the lowest are the rarest – Scout Position Badge edition

Posted on December 10th, 2013 in Adult Position Badges,Hobby Trends,Insignia by ramore

Some of our scarcest insignia pieces are for the lowest offices. What brings this to mind are a couple of  collar pins we have up for auction. They are so obscure that we had to look one of them up, using Scouting History Through Memorabilia, to be sure we had them titled correctly.

They are for Council Employee and Layman:

Why are they obscure? Because most of the folks holding these positions did not wear uniforms (think now, how many of your council office staff or Scout Shop employees wear uniforms? How many of your Pack Committee or Troop Committee wear uniforms?)

Now when identifying pins, and the corresponding badges there are some basics to remember. Red = professional position and blue = volunteer, except when they’re green for troop leaders. So that starts to give one a clue. The next thing to look for is to remember that  commissioned positions have a wreath behind them. Commissioners are “commissioned.” Scout field staff are commissioned. Council officers and above take an oath of office so you will see a wreath behind their badges. Since neither of these pins had a wreath, we knew they were the lower positions.

We see Council Employee pins from time to time, although cloth badges much less so unless they were say certain camp staff positions. Layman pins very rarely turn up unless in collections. Some of the cloth badges from the 1920s-1930s on square khaki cloth are quite obscure and rare.

This is the more common Layman patch from the 1940s and it is still harder to find than many Council positions of that era:

A couple of California patches of interest

Posted on December 10th, 2013 in Camps,Hobby Trends by ramore

My team has handled a LOT of patches over the years so I always enjoy seeing new mainline collectibles I’ve not seen before such as this council patch. Not sure the value (min bid is $300 with a buy-it-now of $400) but the seller is a VERY knowledgeable CA collector so he probably has a good feel for it. (P.S. I call it “mainline” as it is a collecting theme that has been around for decades. Now I’ve also been saying that CP/council patch collecting is WAY over due for an update to its collector list. Someone? Anyone? up to it? It will be fun, but a lot of work.)

From the seller’s description:

This is an old rare council patch (CP) which was worn on the Scout jacket as a jacket patch.  The patch was issued by the old Tahoe Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, headquartered in Auburn, California (now part of Golden Empire Council).  The patch is silk screen on light canvas and is 6 1/2 inches across and 4 1/2 inches high.

And I mentioned ‘patches’ – here’s a nice price realized for a felt Camp Pahatsi, again Tahoe Area Council, that closed at $177.51

Used but in nice shape, seller says its from the 1940s which seems about right. As I’ve said before not every, actually most, felt camp patch is worth $100 but many are given their scarcity and demand.

 


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