Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree Collection, PC.5315
Abstract
The Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree was held on the coast of Dare County, North Carolina, from 1955 to 1964. The event was designed to extend the region's tourism season by attracting visitors to the Outer Banks in the spring months. This collection, created from materials originally loaned for exhibition, contains photographs, clippings, and realia documenting the annual Pirates Jamboree.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree Collection
- Call Number
- PC.5315
- Creator
- Outer Banks History Center
- Date
- circa 1955-1964
- Extent
- 0.300 cubic feet
- Language
- English
- Repository
- Outer Banks History Center
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by the United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying these materials.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], PC.5315, Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree Collection, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.
Collection Overview
The Dare Coast Pirates Jamboree Collection, circa 1955-1964, primarily consists of materials originally loaned to the Outer Banks History Center for exhibition and subsequently donated. The collection includes photographs, news clippings, and realia, including a medallion and a flag from the Pirates Jamboree. Photographs depict members of Vickie Smith's family (mostly children) dressed in pirate costumes at the event; promotional photographs of event organizers in costume; performances of skits and a cancan dance; frog jumping contests; costume contests; musical performances; a beauty contest; Ras Wescott at the Nags Head Casino; and caravan members visiting North Carolina governors on promotional trips.
Biographical/Historical
At its December 1954 meeting, the Dare County Tourist Bureau's board of directors
voted to plan an event to extend the tourist season on the Outer Banks by one month.
This event, which came to be known as the Pirates Jamboree, would be held annually
for the next 10 years and became one of the biggest attractions on the Outer Banks.
Jamboree events were split between Hatteras Island and the northern beaches and always
included several costumed dances, a beard growing contest, a mock pirate battle, and
the "world's biggest saltwater fish fry." Other events sometimes featured included
a frog jumping contest, beach buggy races, Ocracoke pony exhibitions by the "world's
only banker-pony mounted boy scout troop," a lantern-bearing Nags race, and a Sunday
church service. A pirate king and queen were crowned and presided over the main event,
the Grand Pirate's Ball at the Nags Head Casino.
The Pirates Jamboree received national attention thanks to efforts by the Dare County
Tourist Bureau to promote it, such as mailing brochures to potential visitors across
the country and sending caravans of pirates across North Carolina and the surrounding
states to make television appearances. It was usually attended by the governor of
North Carolina and other visiting dignitaries, as well as thousands of visitors. By
1964, the event was deemed to have achieved its goal of extending the tourist season,
and the 1964 Pirates Jamboree was the last.
Contents of the Collection
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Most materials donated by Willard Jones and Vickie Smith, 2001. "Welcome Visitors" banner donated by Bruce Bortz, May 2022.