1 August 1957 Scout JamboreeRobert Baden-Powell was born on 22 February 1857. An officer in the British Army in Africa, he wrote "Aids to Scouting." The book was a summary of lectures he had given about military scouting. When he returned to England, he found the book was being used by teachers and youth organisations and decided to re-write Aids to Scouting to suit a youth readership. Encouraged by a friend, Baden-Powell conceived the idea for a book "Scouting for Boys" aimed at boys. From 1 to 8 August 1907, he held a camp for boys on Brownsea Island to test out his ideas. "Scouting for Boys," published in 1908, started the scouting movement.
Already in 1955, the Boy Scout Association contacted the Post Office to issue a stamp marking the centenary of the birth of Robert Baden-Powell, on 22 February 1957. The Post Office declined the request. It was its policy to restrict the issue of special stamps to events of greatest importance to the nation or major postal significance.
The Boy Scout Association did not give up on the idea. From 1 to 12 August 1957, the World Organization of the Scout Movement organised the 9th. World Jamboree in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield. The Jubilee Jamboree marked both the centenary of the birth of Robert Baden-Powell and the 50th. anniversary of the camp he held on Brownsea Island. Still in 1955, the Boy Scout Association suggested the Post Office to issue a stamp to mark the jamboree that would take place in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, in 1957. The Post Office, again, rejected the idea.
The Boy Scout Association continued its campaign and found support with Collectors Magazine that urged its readers to write to their Members of Parliament. In the spring of 1956, the Post Office gave in to the pressure to issue special stamps to mark the World Jamboree and the British Empire Games. It invited several artists to submit designs symbolising the jamboree. The artist's brief instructed the artists the design should not bear the effigy of Robert Baden-Powell or any other person. It should, however, include a photograph of the Queen's head.
On 1 August 1957, the GPO issued three stamps to mark the Jubilee Jamboree. The stamps have a horizontal format twice the size of a definitive stamp. They were printed in photogravure by Harrison and Sons Ltd. in double-pane reel-fed sheets. The counter sheets had 20 rows of six stamps. Stamps are perforated 15x14 and have the multiple St. Edward's Crown over the Royal Cipher watermark.
Multiple St. Edward's Crown watermarkIn 1955, a new dandy roll to watermark the paper used for printing of stamps had to replace the worn-down old one. The St. Edward's Crown replaced the Tudor Crown in the watermarks used for stamps printed from the reign of King George V. The Tudor Crown. The St. Edward's Crown was made in the 11th. century for King Edward the Confessor. The existing crown was made in 1661 for King Charles II. It, traditionally, is used for the coronation of the Monarch. The crown was used for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who had chosen it as symbol for her Royal Authority.
From 1902 until 1953, the Tudor Crown symbolised the British Monarch and the Crown as institution. It was a heraldic symbol, as the Tudor Crown itself had been broken up and sold in pieces by the republicans in 1649. The oldest record of the Tudor Crown dates to 1521 as the crown of Henry VIII. It was either commissioned by Tudor King Henry VII, or King Henry VIII.
The stamps feature a three-quarter face, leftward-looking portrait of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II based on a photograph taken by Dorothy Wilding.
1 August 1957, Jubilee Jamboree special stamp set (SG 557-559)In addition to sheets, rolls of 4,800 stamps were ordered for use in machines that affixed the stamps to first day covers. The machines were developed for this purpose. The rolls were placed on sale at the London Chief Office. To make them more attractive to collectors, from 2 September 1957, some were rewound into smaller rolls of 480 stamps (2½d and 4d), or of 240 stamps (1/3). The issue was withdrawn from sale at post offices on 11 September 1957.
2½d – Basic inland and Empire letter rate (1 oz.)Design: Mary Adshead.
The design shows a rope coiled to make a 'rolling hitch' knot, enclosing the Boy Scout badge in one loop and the Queen's portrait in the other. The stamp design includes the years 1907 and 1957 and the inscription "Jubilee Jamboree."
Printing: 195,729,600 (58,009,463 unsold).
Colour: carmine-red.
4d – Basic overseas surface-mail letter rate (1 oz.)Design: Pat Keely.
The design shows swallows flying towards the portrait of the Queen in the centre of the stamp, symbolising the gathering of Boy Scouts in Britain as the home of the movement. The Queen's head was framed in a light ornamental oval to suggest a cameo locket. The stamp design includes the year 1957, the arrowhead from the Boy Scout badge, and the inscription "Jubilee Jamboree."
Printing: 34,932,000 (25,128,672 unsold).
Colour: ultramarine.
1/3 – Basic overseas airmail letter rate to zone B (½ oz.) and second weight-step to zone A (1 oz.) Design: William Henry Brown.
The design shows the world encircled by a compass and a ribbon with the dates '1907-1957.' It represented the Scout movement, as one of the greatest international organisations in the world, reaching to all points of the compass; the arrowhead at the tip of the compass needle was the symbol first adopted for the movement by Lord Baden-Powell to signify 'pointing the way.' The stamp design includes the Boy Scout badge and the inscription "Jubilee Jamboree."
Printing: 35,757,600 (31,468,749 unsold).
Colour: deep yellow-green.
The number of stamps that remained unsold – this includes stamps overprinted for use at British Post Office Agencies in the Arabian Peninsula – shows the sales forecast had been extremely over-optimistic. In 1958, the Post Office investigated the costs of producing special issues. It concluded the Jubilee Jamboree issue had cost about £19,000. The sales figures imply the issue generated just under 100 times that amount.
Part of the printings was overprinted for British Post Office Agencies in Eastern Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The post office in Tangier had closed.
1 August 1957, Jubilee Jamboree special stamp set overprinted for use at foreign postal agencies