1930's Chicago White Sox Pennant?

[Kzoo]

Guys...........Hey, I picked this pennant up at an antique show this summer from an old lady (she had it tagged as a 'Socks' pennant) and I've been unable to find any information on it through completed auction sales. My guess is that it's from the 30's or earlier? It measures about 17" long, has stitched on dark navy blue letters, a couple staple holes near to tip, and minimal moth holes in the felt. The stitched on ribbon looks very old and is frayed in a few areas. The logo resembles a nice White Sox hat I saw at the National this summer (I think Perezfan said he bought it?) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...........Matt

[perezfan]

I did not buy the Chisox Hat, as I thought the dealer wanted far too much (as nice as it was). But I will say that your Pennant looks good. It would be nice if there was a tag stitched on the reverse... do you see any remnant of a cloth tag?

The materials and composition look to be authentic, and it could date to as early as the teens. Tough to pinpoint, as there is no date, and the "SOX" design is fairly generic in nature. If forced to guess, I'd say late teens/early twenties on this one. Of course most dealers would call it 1919, and then jack up the price accordingly

Great pickup, and a really attractive piece... congrats!

[Kzoo]

Mark......Thanks for the reply. There are no remnants of a tag, unfortunately. I was thinking if it were from the late teens/early twenties, the stitched on graphics/lettering would have been black, instead of dark blue.....but no complaints here in this case. Another question in my mind is why are the letters sewn on with chain stitching when most early baseball pennants I've seen have graphics screen printed on? Just wondering. Thanks again..........Matt

[steve B]

A long time ago I bought a bunch of pennants from the late teens-early 20's. No sports aside from the one oddball, a 50's braves pennant. But they were really great looking. I still have them.

Anyway, they're all stitiched like that. Very heavy felt too.

Steve B

[perezfan]

Correct... the embroidered grapics are not uncommon for that era. Screened graphics were the prevailing method, but plenty of embroidered examples have turned up as well. Early Red Sox, Tigers, Braves and Reds embroidered examples have surfaced with some regularity...

Here are some images of embroidered pennants from that era...

[batsballsbases]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Correct... the embroidered grapics are not uncommon for that era. Screened graphics were the prevailing method, but plenty of embroidered examples have turned up as well. Early Red Sox, Tigers, Braves and Reds embroidered examples have surfaced with some regularity...

Here are some images of embroidered pennants from that era...

Show off! LOL Lovem Mark always great to see!!

[perezfan]

Haha, Al... FWIW, those aren't all mine (just trying to be helpful )

[Duluth Eskimo]

I would agree with earlier and here is why. The ribbon piping is really the hint. The only time I have seen a sheer ribbon piping it was very early, teens at the latest. I have to admit that I have only seen college examples, but if that is what your piping appears to be, you have a nice pennant. I will also agree with Perezfan that you should generally expect to see a stitched label on the back for a pennant from this period, but not always on smaller examples like this. I am a little concerned at how nice the condition is, but from the photo it does appear to be authentic. You got a great pick up, congrats. Jason

[Kzoo]

Originally Posted by Duluth Eskimo

I would agree with earlier and here is why. The ribbon piping is really the hint. The only time I have seen a sheer ribbon piping it was very early, teens at the latest. I have to admit that I have only seen college examples, but if that is what your piping appears to be, you have a nice pennant. I will also agree with Perezfan that you should generally expect to see a stitched label on the back for a pennant from this period, but not always on smaller examples like this. I am a little concerned at how nice the condition is, but from the photo it does appear to be authentic. You got a great pick up, congrats. Jason

Thanks, Jason. I was a little skeptical of it's age at first due to the condition, thinking it might not be that old, but I kept wondering about that ribbon and the fact it looked 100 years old. So, that along with it passing the 'smell test' and the fact they're not mass produced on ebay, I felt pretty confident after taking a huge risk and spending very little on it this past May. This would qualify as my 'find' for the summer. Thanks again for everyone's comments.

Matt