Privately Published

Between 1907 and 1916, several companies tried to capitalize on the popularity of the Scouting movement by branding their products with the name "Scout" and/or using graphic images of Boy Scouts to promote their merchandise.  Some of these images were drawn by artists (with or without signatures.)  Others originated as photographs.

In addition, images of Scouts were used incidentally on individual greetings cards, patriotic cards, comic cards, religious cards and others.

In 1916, the Boy Scouts of America received a congressional charter that granted the organization exclusive rights to the term “Boy Scout,” the uniforms, and the insignia.  The BSA protected this right by very aggressively pursuing all infringements.  As a result, any privately printed series of cards that were issued after 1916 were relatively short-lived.  In spite of this, there are several very attractive series of postcards published both before and after that date.

Be careful!  There are many attractive World War I military cards that show child-like soldiers.  These cards never mention Boy Scout, but dealers with an insufficient knowledge of Scouting, who see what looks like a child in uniform, often assume they are Scouts.  Only someone familiar with the details of uniforms from the period can tell the difference.

   

(Less than 250 postcards fall into the category of privately printed Boy Scout postcards.)