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Phyllis Raines has amassed the nation’s most comprehensive collection of Camp Fire memorabilia.
Phyllis Raines began collecting Camp Fire items while in recovery from breast cancer surgery six years ago. She says she could not use her arms to their full extent, so she began using her computer to find items online.
Phyllis Raines never expected to become a historian.
Then she discovered eBay.
For four decades and counting, Raines has been one of the Green Country Council of Camp Fire’s most dedicated volunteers. She has served as a club leader, camp director, board member and now unofficial historian.
On the second floor of her south Tulsa home, Raines houses a treasure trove of Camp Fire memorabilia. It fills her upstairs hallway and nearly two bedrooms. Collected over the last six years, every item is meticulously cared for and displayed — various examples of the characteristic red, white and blue uniforms hang on walls; a variety of books placed in plastic covers are displayed on rotating racks; items ranging from board games to lapel pins to candy boxes lie in display cases; and dozens of badges are pinned to wall-mounted banners.
But make no mistake: This is no typical household collection. Raines has arranged the items chronologically, beginning with the earliest artifacts from the 1910s and ’20s to the most recent items, dating until the late 1980s. Some items are personal, some have come from local Camp Fire supporters and others have been mailed to her from members around the world. As her collection grew, she also began visiting eBay regularly to track down some of the harder-to-find memorabilia. Raines has an album full of vintage Camp Fire catalogs to help her identify the items she needs, and she keeps a log of more than 10,000 entries on her computer tracking each item, its origin and its description.
“I hope that when I die, someone will appreciate this and continue it,” she says.
Raines’ collection is so impressive — and immense — that representatives from the national Camp Fire organization, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this month, visited her home and designated her the national Camp Fire historian.
Also this month, the Tulsa Historical Society will display a few select items as part of a centennial exhibition starting July 23. On July 22, Camp Fire will also host an opening party and exhibition preview, the Benches and S’more Gala. Among other festivities, the celebration will feature benches painted by local artists and other outdoor art and items to be auctioned off to patrons.
In honor of Camp Fire’s centennial celebration, TulsaPeople selected a few examples from Raines’ collection to chronicle the history and evolution of the Camp Fire program.
