# 2161 - 1985 22c International Youth Year: Boy Scouts

U.S. #2161
1985 22¢ Boy Scouts
International Youth Year

• Issued to coincide with the UN’s International Youth Year
• Stamp marks 75th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  International Youth Year
Value:  22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue:  October 7, 1985
First Day City:  Chicago, Illinois
Quantity Issued:  32,500,000
Printed by:  American Bank Note Company
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

Why the stamp was issued:  To coincide with International Youth Year and to mark the 75th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

About the stamp design:  All four International Youth Year stamps were designed by Dennis Luzak.  The stamps each picture young people in the outdoors with a similar color palette. The Boy Scouts stamp pictures two scouts in the wilderness.  This was the third US stamp to honor the Boy Scouts, after US #995 and #1145.

First Day City:  The First Day ceremony for this set was held at the Chicago International Youth Services Conference in Illinois.

About the International Youth Year Set:  Initially, the USPS planned to issue two separate stamps honoring the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and the 75^th anniversary of the Boy Scouts.  They eventually decided to add stamps honoring the Camp Fire Girls and YMCA Youth Camping to tie the stamps into the United Nations’ proclamation of 1985 as International Youth Year.  1985 also marked the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the first residential summer camp at Lake Orange near Newburgh, New York by the YMCA.

History the stamp represents:  In 1979, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1985 as the International Youth Year in order to “Draw attention to the situation, needs, and aspirations of youth.”  The theme was “Participation, Development, and Peace.”  The goals were to stimulate public awareness of the needs of young people and to encourage youth to participate in economic and social development.

At the time of the 1985 International Youth Year, about one fifth of the population was in this age group.  The special year emphasized the importance of preparing the youth to be the leaders of tomorrow and the stewards of our planet.  In 2010, the U.N. celebrated the 25th anniversary of the International Year of Youth.  At the time, the Secretary-General said, “Youth should be given a chance to take an active part in the decision-making of local, national, and global levels.”  

The Boy Scouts of America

The world’s largest youth organization, the Boy Scouts, has grown from a British youth group to a worldwide movement with members in almost every country around the globe.

Robert Baden-Powell first founded the Boy Scouts in England. One of the well-known Boy Scout traditions is doing good deeds. It was a good deed, done by an unknown English Scout, which was responsible for bringing scouting to the U.S.A.

As the story goes, Chicago publisher William D. Boyce lost his way in London in 1909. Seeing his dilemma, a young boy approached Mr. Boyce, saluted smartly, and offered his services. When the American tried to give the boy money as a reward, the boy refused, explaining that it was his duty as a Scout to help. Mr. Boyce didn’t know what a Scout was, but he wanted to know more. Boyce obtained information from the Scouting office in London, and brought it home to America.

Even before this, however, there were similar youth programs in America, most notably the Woodcraft Indians, founded by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902 and the Sons of Daniel Boone, founded by Daniel Carter Bear in 1905. In fact, Robert Baden-Powell included aspects of Seton’s organization in his founding of the Boy Scouts.

On February 8, 1910, Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America. In the coming months he worked with other youth group leaders including Seton, Beard, and Charles Eastman, and agreed to let the YMCA help him develop the Boy Scouts of America. During this time, former President Theodore Roosevelt learned of the group and offered his full support. Also during that first year, James E. West was made Chief Scout Executive and began expanding scouting across the U.S. Many other youth movements eventually merged with the Boy Scouts of America.

A year after its founding, the Boy Scout Headquarters opened on 5th Avenue in New York, NY. Later that year a meeting was held at the White House, where it was decided that each President of the United States would be the Boy Scouts’ honorary president. That tradition continues today. During Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 inauguration, Boy Scouts were used for crowd control, and they have served in some part of the ceremony in every inauguration since then.

During World War I, American scouts served as message runners and coast watchers. They also inventoried black walnut trees needed for airplane propellers. Their most monumental contribution, however, was the sale of Liberty bonds used to help finance the war, selling over $352 million worth.

Continuing their service to others, Scouts assisted relief agencies during the Great Depression, collecting almost 2 million articles of clothing and household items for the needy. During the 1939 New York World’s Fair, almost 4,000 Scouts served as ushers, guides, and honor guards.

World War II found the scouts still obeying their oath of service to others. They collected nearly $2 million in war bonds and stamps, planted victory gardens, and collected so much scrap rubber, paper, and aluminum, it is hard to imagine how we would have won the war without them. After the war, they collected 7,000 pieces of clothing for Europe and China’s refugees. Since World War II, Scouts have organized food drives for the hungry, helped get out the vote, and supported conservation projects.