Transportation costs had been a concern for Jamboree planners. The 1969 Jamboree in Idaho had been a success so for 1973 there were two Jamborees held simultaneously. One in the east at Moraine State Park, PA and the other in the west at Farragut State Park, Idaho. The official attendance of both is reported at 73,610, The Jamboree West daily paper states that 28,000 attended in the west. Leaving 45,610 to have camped in Moraine State Park. The two Jamborees were proclaimed a success, but it’s rumored that the multiple events caused some financial pain for the BSA. There would be no future split Jamboree’s. The weather at Jamboree East was good. Units moved in during the rain but generally, unlike 1977 there weren’t many storms, there were complaints of humidity. The weather in Idaho was perfect, cool nights and pleasant days, although some hiking trails had to be closed because of lack of rain and fire danger.

The Jamboree East location in rural Northwestern, PA. was not conducive to touring historic sights. The western Jamboree in Idaho gave scouts the opportunity to see the Rocky Mountains and the sights of the Pacific Northwest. Contingents selected which Jamboree they attended. Some east coast units went west and west coast units went east. Larger councils with multiple troops, decided which Jamboree to attend. Richard Nixon was President, but he missed the Jamboree. His administration was embroiled in what would become known as Watergate. Nixon had visited Jamborees in 1950 and 1951 missing 1969.

The Jamboree theme was Growing Together. In 1973 individual scout units were invited to attend the jamboree, as a unit. There were probably thousands of strong troops that might be able to handle the trip, but not many whole troops made it. Dave Pede of West Suburban Council and Roy More of Portage Trails Council report that they went with two patrols of their local troop in council wide provisional units. It would take a lot of organization, not to mention fund raising for whole units to attend.

1973 Jamboree Items
Scouts received two embroidered badges and neckerchiefs. Patches were again ordered in huge quantities and varieties exist. Each Scout received an I. D. card and luggage/baggage tags.
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree patches 2
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree Patches 2The two badges shown on this page are unique. Scout collectors often label anything different as a prototype, and these may be. The three patches shown above all have a black stitch in the border. This badge does not have the black stitch. I’ve looked at hundreds of 1973 Jamboree badges. This issue is scarce. It seems like a minor difference but advanced collectors want it.

The design of the 1973 badge is simple, differences are admittedly minor. Like in years past, badges were probably made by different manufacturers. Collectors can decide for themselves what they want to collect. With 70,000 Scouts and a 100,000+ visitors the number of badges made was huge. Today almost fifty years later, 1973 Jamboree badges usually sell for only a few dollars.
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree patches 3This fully embroidered patch is a mystery. There are people still active that attended 1973, but I haven’t got a definitive answer of what it is. Being fully embroidered would require a different design loom to fully embroider the yellow background.

Was it a prototype? Some of these fully embroidered badges were presented to subcamp “runners” and to other staff members. The fleur de leis isn’t as thickly outlined, the word Scout seems to be on an angle. Other pocket patches have a crossbar on the fleur de leis. It could be a prototype or even be a private issue.


No crossbar on Fleur de Leis, thin outline on FDL.
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree Paches 4





Howard Ang, Howardson 1980’s reproduction.
Fully embroidered original is not fully embroidered.
Oriental looking lettering 6 1/4” tall.
Neckerchiefs
 
1973 Blue Neckerchief1973white neckerchief





The white neckerchief or ladies scarf in tha past had been silk but this is cotton.
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree Unoffical Neckerchiefs
Unofficial made in the orient fully embroidered and screen print neckerchief. It’s believed a full set of screen print neckerchiefs were made. These items seemed to start in 1969 and would proliferate at future Jamborees. In theory the Security Staff was too police for things like this, but I suspect no one had anyway of identifying official versus private.
 
1973 Boy Scout Jamboree manuals1973 Boy Scout Jamboree Manuals
The Jamboree is a well planned and organized event. Manuals exist for all modern Jamborees.

By 1973 Jamborees didn’t need much promotional material on the national level. Everyone knew what a Jamboree was.
 
 
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Paul Myers Goshen, Indiana
gimogash@comcast.net