1937 World Jamboree 1939 UPU presentation card By Hallvard Slettebø

The 11th congress of the World Postal Union (Union Postale Universelle - U.P.U.) was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina 1 April to 23 May 1939. There were 141 delegates, 33 experts and 174 participants from 81 member countries, and 1,108 motions were discussed at the congress.

The delegation from the Netherlands had prepared a set of presentation cards with Dutch stamps issued in the late 1930s. 16 different cards in a specially printed cover or folder were handed out to the conference delegates. The three stamps of the 1937 World Jamboree set were affixed to card no. 14 in the set. The cover and the jamboree stamp card are shown below. The printed text on the cover and cards is in French, the official U.P.U. language.

The cover text reads: "Souvenir of the UPU congress in Buenos Aires, presented to congress members by the delegation from the Netherlands, April-May 1939". The card with the jamboree stamps has the text: "Stamps issued on the occasion of the World Jamboree in Vogelenzang (the Netherlands). Sheet 14". The card dimensions are 107 mm by 148 mm.

This elusive scout item was offered for sale by one of the dealers at The Stamp Show 2000, the international stamp exhibition in London in May 2000. To my knowledge, this item has not been mentioned in the scout philatelic literature before. It is not described in the 1937 World Jamboree monograph that was printed in SOSSI Journal in 1972-1973.