I've been collecting Scouting memorabilia since I was a 13 year old Scout who just got tapped for the Order of the Arrow. Now after a lifetime of enjoying this hobby and being an active Scouter I have been blessed to turn this into a full time job. In Charlotte, NC I have a 2,000 square foot warehouse where I...Read More
I got a call from someone in the Lone Star State that had purchased a vintage trunk at a sale. After cutting the lock off he found that in the bottom there was a bunch of old Scout stuff. Most of it was from New York but it included some interesting old pieces as old as a 1935 Jamboree patch....Read More
When I got the phone call on this collection my ears lit up. On the other side of the line was an 86 year old gentleman who joined the Cub Scouts in 1944 went through the Boy Scout program in the years after the war and became an Explorer in 1950. This experience in Scouting included a 45 day trip...Read More
For going on 25 years I have been toying with a collection of Order of the Arrow flaps. Since the 1997 National Scout Jamboree I've been keeping a list and trying to add new pieces. But in the last 6 months I've gotten much more serious and made a lot of progress developing a master spreadsheet tracking every lodge that...Read More
This collection was a home run. Two giant boxes filled with patches, neckerchiefs, and all manner of Scouting memorabilia going back over 40+ years. The Scouter that I purchased this collection from lives in Nebraska now but did a lot of his Scouting In New Jersey. He also attended some Jamborees and did a lot of trading. I was blown...Read More
Order of the Arrow cataloging going back 50 years is the topic of this month's Scouting Hot Finds Insiders Round Table. Bill Mulrenin served as the New York State Editor on the Blue Book project for the last 3 editions. So in the discussion we take it all the way back to Bill Price books of the 1970s to describe...Read More
If I had a nickel for every time in this video I said wow that patch from Hawaii was beautiful! I hope you will agree when you watch the unboxing. This collection comes from a military brat (hey I was one too!). His dad was a Lt. Colonel in the USAF and the family was stationed in Hawaii during most...Read More
When I first got the email about this collection my interest spiked because one of my favorite patches was in the pictures. Turns out I was buying the collection of a Scouter who must have done a good bit of swapping in the 1970s based in the Baltimore Area Council of Maryland. It looks like the Scouter attended the 1977...Read More
I often say that when unboxing a Scouting collection it's like opening a time capsule. Both of the collections featured in today's video are similar. One guy was an Eagle Scout from Indiana Hoosier Trails Council and OA Lodge 212. The second Scouter was from the Viking Council in Minnesota. But they both held onto their stuff for decades before...Read More
Let's talk about Boy Scout patches! In the first episode of this monthly series the Round Table welcomes Bill Mulrenin the NY State OA Trader. This new project comes out of my Patreon Group called the Scouting Hot Finds Insiders. Bill is a veteran collector who serves on the board of the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation Museum. For...Read More
This Texas collection was a treat for me to unbox as it contained several dozen OA flaps that are my favorite piece of Scouting memorabilia. There are actually 2 unboxings in this video. I actually figured out later that they all belonged to the same guy! He had just found more and sent it to me as a 2nd round...Read More
For over a decade the Scouting Hot Finds has delivered you content to help preserve and share the tradition of collecting Scouting memorabilia. The signature email newsletter was first published in 2010 followed by our Podcast the next year. Over on YouTube we have published dozens of videos to keep the excitement going for Scout patch collectors. Our fans, like...Read More
This collection might be a first! The guy who agreed to send it to me has actually watched many of my unboxing videos. In fact we talked a little about how I would present it here and I think the way he packaged it showed an extra level of care. Turns out his dad actually earned the rank of Eagle...Read More
After the founding of the Order of the Arrow in 1915, some of the original lodges issued patches as early as the 1920s. By the 1950s most lodges had produced one or more of these “odd shapes” for wear on the OA sash or uniform pocket. In the mid-1940s, Ajapeu Lodge 33 in Doylestown PA produced the first "odd shape"...Read More
Once again I was contacted by a Scouter that was looking for someone who would appreciate and find a new home for his Scouting collection. This collection came in 3 boxes and weighed more than 40 pounds. He sent it to me on preview so that I could evaluate what he had and make him a fair offer. Since filming...Read More