Jamboree Origin Story

“When I arrived at the Gate of Heaven, Saint Peter had a friendly chat with me and, after questioning me a good deal about my doings on earth asked:

‘And how did you like Japan?’
‘Japan!’ I replied. ‘I was never in Japan’
‘But my dear man’, said Saint Peter, ‘what were you doing all your life? Do you suppose you were put into that world, with all its beauties and wonderful countries, merely to sit down in one corner of it and not go abroad and see what God set out for you? Go back, man, and see all you can while you yet have time.’

and I awoke!

I lost little time in carrying out Saint Peter’s timely hint.”

Spoiler alert, that’s precisely what happened. But what started the spread of scouting in the first place? Only 5 years after B-P started the scouts in the UK, he was already being greeted by scouts in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Baden-Powell did make some early efforts to share his scouting scheme abroad but the spread is mostly due to the universal appeal of scouting itself. Scouts first started appearing in overseas British colonies such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in 1908 and India in 1909. This was no surprise to B-P; he figured scouting would appeal to all British boys including those in the then British colonies. What surprised him was the fast adoption of scouting outside of the British sphere. Chile was the first non-British country to have scouts in 1909 after several Chilean educators heard Baden-Powell speak about the program. Brazil, Argentina, and the United States of America adopted a scouting program the next year, followed by Belgium, Holland, France and others.

In many cases, Baden-Powell had no direct influence on the creation of new scout associations. The story of Chicago newspaper editor W. D. Boyce’s trip to London which sparked the creation of the Boy Scouts of America is well known to US scouts. Hillcourt describes some equally lucky origin stories of other national scout associations: “A Danish professor, after a trip to England, gave a lecture on scouting to the boys of a Danish school and the next day eight boys asked the headmasters permission to start a patrol of Spejdere. A young Swedish officer, on a stormy trip on a steamer along the west coast of Sweden, picked up a copy of B-Ps Scouting for Boys, left by a fellow-passenger, decided to translate it into Swedish and became Sweden’s first Chief Scout. A British Scout patrol on a walking tour in Germany created an interest among German boys to become Pfadfinders. In Russia, the Ministry of Education prepared a translation of Baden-Powell’s book for use by the boys of the Russian Empire.”

Just like that, Baden-Powell’s scouting movement started spreading across the globe because, as we know today, the appeal of scouting is universal.

In 1909, Baden-Powell organized the first of several “rallies” and “exhibitions.” The Crystal Palace rally, held on September 4, 1909, at the Crystal Palace in London saw 11,000 scouts from across the UK compete in scoutcraft competitions. It was at that rally that Baden-Powell came across a patrol of seven girls who announced themselves as the Girl Scouts, inspiring Baden-Powell to look into creating a scouting program for girls which became the Girl Guides (and the Girl Scouts in the US).

On July 4, 1911, B-P organized another rally at Windsor Park. That day 30,000 scouts performed different drills and feats of scoutcraft in front of King George V and a collection of princes, princesses, dukes, and duchesses.

B-P wanted to continue having big scout gatherings every two years and he wanted to continue making them larger and larger affairs. In 1913, he gathered scouts for a week, from July 2 to July 9, rather than the day-long rallies he had had earlier. This Imperial Scout Exhibition was held outside Birmingham, England and brought scouts from across the UK as well as delegations from the now numerous foreign scout associations. “Mingling with the British Scouts from every part of the United Kingdom and from Canada, Australia, South Africa, India and Gibraltar,” Green Bar Bill Hillcourt describes in his biography of Baden-Powell, “were patrols or representatives from an even dozen foreign countries: France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria (with Scouts from Bohemia and Austrian Poland), Hungary, China, and the United States.” This gave Baden-Powell an idea…

B-P’s next exhibition would have fallen in 1915 had it not been for the First World War. Instead, he and his team started planing a 1917 exhibition, hoping the war would be over by then. In this time, Baden-Powell decided the exhibitions needed a new name: a Jamboree. As with many changes to scouting, this came with some level of controversy. Hillcourt describes: “‘But you can’t possibly use that word for a Boy Scout event!’ Someone told him. ‘And why not?’ Baden-Powell wanted to know. ‘Have you looked it up in the dictionary?’ B-P hadn’t. Now he did:

jamboree (n.) [A stand word, prob. arbitrary.] A carousal; a noisy drinking bout; a spree; hence any noisy merrymaking. [Slang].”

Unfortunately, Baden-Powell would have to wait to create the first Jamboree. By November 1917, the war was still ravaging Europe. It wouldn’t be for another year, in November 1918, that the war would finally end and Baden-Powell’s Jamboree plans could be laid. The date for the first Jamboree was set for 1920.

Organizing the Jamboree was a monumental task. A.G. Wade worked so closely and for so long with Baden-Powell’s secretary Eileen Nugent that, at the end of the Jamboree, he got engaged to her. Theirs was probably the first of what would become many matches made at a Jamboree. Eileen Wade would go on to write her own biography of Baden-Powell that, with Hillcourt’s biography, is considered one of the most authoritative.

The Olympia Jamboree may have been the first Jamboree and it was quite the spectacle, but it was still rather different than Jamborees these days. One of the major events of the Jamboree on 30 July was held in the center of the arena with over 10,000 spectators watching the scouts perform. At 2:30 a giant curtain spanning half of the giant building fell revealing a scouting spectacle. Hillcourt describes: “Far to the left an old three-decked pirate ship out of Treasure Island was set against a tropical forest out of The Jungle Book, with primitive huts and log-houses; and in the middle was a rocky mountain pass leading up into the rafters of Olympia.” Events of the afternoon included a parade of nations lead by the American Scout Orchestra from Denver, Colorado, and a Native American show by the BSA.

The Jamboree ended with a similarly spectacular closing ceremony on 7 August 1920. The highlight of that night was when the scouts, unbeknownst to Baden-Powell, led B-P from his spot in the crowd into center stage calling on him for an impromptu speech.

“‘Brother Scouts,’” he said, according to Hillcourt’s biography, “‘I asked you to make a solemn choice. Differences exist between the peoples of the world in thought and sentiment, just as they do in language and physique. The war has taught us that if one nation tries to impose it’s particular will upon others, cruel reaction is bound to follow. The Jamboree has taught us that if we exercise mutual forbearance and give-and-take, then there is sympathy and harmony. If it be your will, let us go forth from here determined that we will develop among ourselves and our boys that comradeship, through the world-wide spirit of the Scout brotherhood, so that we may help to develop peace and happiness in the world and goodwill among men. Brother Scouts, answer me—will you join me in this endeavor?’ A resounding shout answered him: ‘Yes!’”

Notable Jamborees include the 1987-1988 Jamboree in Australia and the 1998-1999 Jamboree in Chile, both held over New Years which falls in the summer in those Southern Hemisphere countries. The UK hosted the World Jamboree two more times, once in 1957 for the 50th anniversary of Scouting and once in 2007 for the 100th anniversary. Until next year, the US has only hosted one World Scout Jamboree in Idaho in 1967. 1983 was the last North American World Scout Jamboree held in Canada. The only other World Jamboree with more than one host country was the 14th World Scout Jamboree in Lillehammer, Norway, hosted by five nordic countries. The 25th World Scout Jamboree host was announced last summer when the World Scout Conference voted to award it to the Korean Scout Association over the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association. The 24th World Scout Jamboree at the Summit will be held exactly 99 years after the Olympia Jamboree. Those who attend will be a part of World Scouting history. We can’t wait to see you there.