50 Years of Scouts on US Stamps

Celebrate the Century
U.S. Boy and Girl Scouting Begin

The first 30 postage stamps unveiled in 1998 as part of the Celebrate the Century program include a Boy and Girl Scout stamp. This commemorative honors the most memorable and significant people, places, events and trends of the 20th century. The Boy and Girl Scouts are the largest youth organizations in the U.S. The Scout stamp is issued only on a sheet of 15 commemorative stamps honoring the 1910 decade.

The design on the selvage of the pane pictures a photograph from about 1917 of Boy Scouts parading on New York City's Fifth Avenue in a "Wake Up America" rally. The rally encouraged people to buy Liberty Loan bonds to support the troops in World War I. The reverse of the sheet includes descriptive text related to the design of each stamp. The text for the Scout issue reads:

The Boy Scouts of America
was formed in 1910, and the
Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (at
first known as Girl Guides)
in 1912. Both groups
introduce youth to a variety
of outdoor activities and
promote self-reliance and
resourcefulness.
CELEBRATE THE CENTURY - 1910s