Scouts Merit Badge For Stamps Circa 1974

i read just about anything about stamps..looking through the quarter ton of "stuff" I have in my stamp room I found a small book Stamp Collecting for the Boy Scouts of America merit badge..it was an interesting read...i am impressed that to earn the merit badge..the scout would big up a pretty general knowledge of stamps and stamp collecting...in the section how to use a stamp catalog mentioned the two main catalogs the Scott and the Minkus..i have to honestly say that in the long time I have been around I have no recollection of the Minkus catalog...it could be old age..because I was around long before 1974 when this book was published..i may have once seen a minkus catalog for United States stamps but never a worldwide !!

I had the Minkus catalog. Believe it was the 1967 edition. It was in two big volumes and I remember even trying to use the numbers but it was an uphill battle because almost no one else did. I even belonged to the NPS at the time, guess it was the National League of stamp societies. Doubt it's still around. Choosing the less popular route is something I've done a lot.

How old is the merit badge book, Phil?

Phil:

When I was a Commissioner with the BSA (Boy Scouts of America), I was the Stamp Collecting Merit Badge Counsellor, amung a host of other duties.

It's not an easy badge to earn.

David

Larry, the booklet is circa 1974...

David, I see that its not an easy one..the scout would darn well be a stamp collector by the time he earned the badge !!

This was one of my first badges on the way to Eagle Scout.

I also was a scout and the Stamp collecting and Coin collection merit badges were a cake walk for me. I had been collecting for at least 5 years by the time I had graduated from Cub/Webelo scouts to Boy Scouts. Some of the other merit badges though were not as easy for me. Unfortunately, due to an interest in girls & other things I did not make it to Eagle, only Life the rung below Eagle. I really enjoyed scouting, especially when I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow. I hope my son will have an interest in scouts, it taught me a lot.