Rare South Dakota Cub state strip surfaces

Posted on September 29th, 2007 in KRS and others by bshelley

Nearly two years ago Don DeYoung took a poll of state strip collectors and identified five Cub strips unknown in any collection: DEL HAWAII MISS SDAK and WYO (one collector said he had seen a WYO Cub but could not identify the owner). Note that Hawaii and Alaska were not states when these strips were used, but full ALASKA state strips exist in both khaki & red and Explorer colors. The two known Alaska Cub strips say ALAS. I am not aware of full HAWAII state strips existing in any colors but red & white, althought there is a TH khaki & red strip (Territory of Hawaii).

We were able to locate a South Dakota Cub strip and get an image of it, but it was not owned by a national state strip collector. Then in March of 2006 a WYO Cub strip was discovered for sale on eBay in a large frame with other Scout and Cub insignia. The entire frame sold for over $500 and the last bidders were after the state strip only. In May of 2006 a South Dakota Cub strip appeared on eBay with a Sturgis town strip, and this lot sold for over $460. The remaing three unknown Cub strips have not been found to my knowledge. A third South Dakota Cub strip was offered on eBay just recently in August and brought a high bid of $405.South Dakota Cub state strip

 A gauze back PA Explorer strip was sold by TSPA in September of 2007 for over $134. We think gauze back strips of any kind were locally made in small numbers to meet limited demand. It seems strange that there would be a need somewhere for PA Explorer strips, which are not otherwise rare. There is one other PA Explorer gauze back known to me and one IOWA Explorer gauze back known.

State strips are a different animal to collect when you consider that no one yet has completed a set of states in any non-red & white color, unless you accept the TH for Hawaii in khaki & red. There are several unknowns in Explorer (at least DEL and HI), and about half the states are unknown in Sea and Air Scout colors. Several of the known Air Scout strips are unique (one known to exist), including IOWA KY RI VA. The only known Virginia Air Scout strip has a rolled edge, which also is unique.

Part of the fun of state strips is coming across ones previously unknown, but that has gotten harder over the last two decades. EBay has revealed several previously unknown. Two others that have popped up in the last few years that were unkown to me include IOWA Sea Scout (winter) and SC Sea Scout (summer). Some believe they exist in every variety for every state, I am very skeptical.

Bruce Shelley

Where have all the ‘odd-color’ state strips gone?

Posted on June 8th, 2007 in KRS and others, RWS by Roy

We recently have had several conversations started by different collectors asking where have the ‘odd-color’ state strips gone? First, the frequency of the calls, basically out of the blue, make us realize that this is a more common collecting theme than we realized. As we got into it, there is some real challenge in this area and it isn’t getting any easier.

Some background

From 1952 to 1978 Scout uniforms used either red and white council strips (RWS) to denote location or a similarly colored one-line community strip with a separate small state strip underneath. These are the ones most well known by current collectors because we remember having these as boys. From 1929 to 1952 though the same style of strips existed but they were embroidered on cloth to match the uniform. Thus there were khaki and red strips (KRS) for Boy Scouts. We do even identify a Scout version that matches the pre-WW2 tan khaki uniforms as opposed to the green khaki post-WW2. These are called tan and red strips (TRS) for those who make the distinction.

Blue and yellow strips (BYS) were used for Cub Scouts. Green and brown strips (GBS) for Explorers. There were also strips to match the two types of Sea Scout uniforms - white and blue strips (WBS, the background color is always listed first) and blue and white strips (BWS) which were often felt. The hardest and rarest of all are the blue and blue strips (BBS) for Air Scout uniforms. Just think of the inventory challenge around these? Obviously this had to be the reason for the change to a single style, RWS, in a color that did not match the uniform.

On with current conversations

Well one of the collectors we talked to was pointing out a recent acquisition that he had made. He told us that previously none of the major collections had it and was thus listed as unconfirmed. It was the KY. (Kentucky) strip in Air Scout blue. It had been in Bob Cylkowski’s collection for, I am going to say, two decades at least. It surfaced at auction and this collector won it at $700.

The second call, actually the same day, was a collector who is again trying to put a collection together for all of the states and all of the colors. This collector has been collecting for nearly forty (40) years. He said this is the third time he has worked to collect these and it has gotten significantly harder. He said you used to see these at TORs or you could write folks and find them in their dupes. Not any more.

… and current ruminations

In our office Destry and I got to talking about these different contacts and raised the question - is there any community that has all seven colors? At first we could not think of one. I have a collection from Battle Creek, Michigan that has five of the seven. They certainly could have a white and blue and a blue and blue but I have not seen them.

Boy Scout odd-color community strips

In checking with collector Bruce Shelley, he said that all colors exist for Baltimore so there is at least one city but he went on to say that he is not aware of anyone who has all seven. Also, there are a couple of New York borroughs that have all seven but not all of the borroughs.

All states exist in red and white and there is a red and white “T.H.” for Territory of Hawaii. There is rumored to be a ‘T.A.’ for Territory of Alaska. There is also a KRS TA but I am not sure if there is a KRS TH.

We believe that all states exist in GBS and BYS but even some of these are still unconfirmed. Recently a WYO BYS surfaced on eBay and went for a significant amount of money. In the KRS, NEV. and S.C. are a couple of the hardest as well as the territories.

Now on to the Sea Scout colors. Actually, these were used later than the others and I think went into the late 1950s and maybe even 1960s. Even so, they do not exist for all states. A major collection might have 8 to 10. An extremely advanced collection might have 15 different. Both colors are considered equally rare although I would say the white ones are slightly harder.

That leaves the Air Scout blues. These are the hardest. Having three different would be a major collection. There may be at most 15 different. These could bring, when they surface, $300 - $1,200 a piece. I have had a MICH. and sold it to a friend thinking I’d replace it and never have. Live and learn.

They are fun. There are new discoveries or ‘re-discoveries’ in this area of collecting. It can be started very easily and in expensively with the red and whites and then advance to the early, ‘odd-colors’, for continued challenge.