I've wondered about this for many years, and I hoped I would see a resolution in the Zelda FDS vs. NES thread. It didn't happen.
Anyway, the manual for the original Zelda has a screenshot showing the old man giving Link a boomerang instead of the wooden sword. I assumed this was a difference between the Jp. version and the US version. There are a number of instances of this sort of thing happening (screens of the underground bunkers in Rush n' Attack, in the Nintendo Player's Guide, etc.)
When I saw the FDS Zelda thread, I thought that would be the first thing pointed out. It wasn't.
Is there another version of Zelda in existence with the boomerang as the freebie weapon instead of the sword?