The 2001 Boy Scout National Jamboree

I’ve continually commented that the “hill” had developed into the nearly perfect site for a Jamboree. The BSA was pouring funds into the facility to expand program opportunities. Part of the Jamboree experience is immersing Scouts in our American Heritage. With the close proximity to the historic sites in Washington and Civil War history in northern, Virginia, Ft .A P. Hill was the perfect location.

Attendance was about 42,000 which was an improvement from the past few Jamboree’s.The Jamboree theme was “Strong Values-Strong Leaders”. Official Jamboree pocket patches were made in three colors. Red for youth, Gold for adults and Silver for staff, presented at the end of the Jamboree. At the Jamboree an “on site” patch with a black border was available at the Trading Posts.

George W Bush was President and was scheduled to speak, but thunderstorms cancelled his appearance. He sent a taped message that was very complimentary of Scouting and it’s leaders.

(Above) - Participants received two embroidered 3” patches and one neckerchief, an official I D card, and a Scout Guide to the Jamboree. Luggage tags were discontinuted in 1997. Multiple patches and neckerchiefs could be ordered.

participant patches 2001 National BSA Jamboree

In the 2001 Leaders Guide it’s stated that each participant will get two badges. One upon registration and another when fees are paid. Extra patches could be ordered through the official catalog, but participant patches would not be sold at the trading Post. The black border patch was sold at the Trading Posts, it’s called an “on site” patch. The silver border staff patch was only available at the end of the Jamboree, it was not worn at the Jamboree. Some have suggested that the staff patch should be scarcer, but there were 7000 staff members.

Official Neckerchiefs

The colors of the border and inner circles on the 2 7/8” neckerchief patches correspond to the colors of the 3” patches.
1981 bsa jamboree neckerchiefs

Unique neckerchief with design of the patch embroidered into the neckerchief cloth. These surfaced in 2022, they had been manufactured for the 2001 Jamboree but apparently never issued. A new manager came into supply and told employees to “get rid” of them. Some were offered to a major dealer and a few made their way into the collecting community. It is unknown how many were made, or if any were actually destroyed, or if more will become available. Sold for $200 each 8/2022.

Getting "picky" with 2001 pocket patches

I’m not one to get too hung up on variations developed in the manufacturing process, but there are noticeable variations, that can be easily identified.

I believe these are caused by the style of the machine that applies the rolled edge border. I suspect all the inner borders are the same width, but some bordering machines apply a thicker outer border than others.

Others call this thick and thin outer borders but I find it’s easier to identify the inner border. It is believed that the silver Staff issue only exists with the thick inner, perhaps because it was made in smaller quantities, later.

Some have suggested that the thicker rolled edge patches are prototypes, but they seem to be widely distributed, and again I suspect it’s just a variety caused in applying the border. The evidence seems to indicate that the thick inner border was perhaps the earliest style.

They appeared in the pre-Jamboree sales catalogs. Each participant was given one badge upon signing up and others could be ordered. Looking at actual Jamboree uniforms, the thin inner border patches are often sewn. Again suggesting that once Scouts/Scouters registered the thin inner border patch might have been the one they received.

The images to the left are from the Official 2001 Jamboree catalog, distributed before the Jamboree. These patches have the thinner inner blue and red borders.

The red and gold border patches were sold only to registered participants who received the catalog.

The Jamboree Trading Posts sold the black “on site” version of the Jamboree patch. The silver border staff patches were not available from the pre-Jamboree catalog.

Silver Border Staff patches were distributed at the end of the Jamboree. After staff members turned in their final evaluations each staff person was given one silver border staff issue. I believe extra could be purchased.

2001 National Scout Jamboree 3" round "Unique" issues

I’m calling the patches above “unique issues”. There were no blue 2001 National Jamboree 3” patches, yet the Jamboree Day Pack, Hip Pack and Duffel Bag all have blue border patches, but not 3”. Most of these have thin inner borders which seems to indicate that they were early issues.

These are from the collection of the premier National Jamboree collector. Over several Jamboree's he’s developed sources for these type of patches. How many were made is unknown, but years after the Jamboree some may become available.

The point of making prototypes seems to be to shop them around to get impute for the best design. The border color differences make sense, people can chose which are the most attractive, I don’t know about the color of the inner circles.

When I saw the black issue it occurs to me that perhaps someone was “playing around” with an embroidery machine. The BSA was never going to issue a patch that people couldn’t read. Maybe the whole idea of these is to sell them to the most aggressive Jamboree collectors. No one knows how many were made and the set might amount to a nice bit of money. Just a thought.

Paul Myers Goshen, Indiana
gimogash@comcast.net

The 2001 Boy Scout National Jamboree Fort A.P. Hill in northern Virginia - Page 1