Early Press Pin questions

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
First, thank you very much to everyone who has helped me in the past with the questions I have asked. I always appreciate the help.
I recently acquired the "press pin" scanned below as part of a scrapbook of a newspaper editor for the Springfield (MA) Republican at the turn of the century. I purchased the book for its nonsports content, so it was not until I got home that the pin fell out as I began to go through the book. The pin is yellow/gold in color and has the word Reporter in grey/silver on the front. On the back it says Harvard vs Penn in ink, plus there is a metal pin attached at the top. I was hoping some folks on this board might be able to help steer me in the right direction concerning the following:
1. Any way of narrowing down what sport this might be referring to? I am guessing football, but I am not sure.
2. Any way of narrowing down the year? Most of the material in the scrapbook (98%) is from 1895-1900, so that is my best guess but I am not sure.
3. Has anyone seen an earlier "press pin" or similar badge?
I am still perusing the scrapbook, so there is a chance the editor referred to the game in one of the correspondences or articles. There is a chance that the editor went to this game at Penn, as there is correspondence between the subject and a Pennsylvania editor about a trip to the state.
I will post more information as I uncover it, but I figured I would see if anyone has seen one or can help in any way.
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

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Posted By: davidcycleback

1895-1900 would be early for a press pin or other press pass. Off the top of my head, I can't recall any from before then, though some may exist.

It's got a pin in the back, so there's nothing errant with it a press pin. You could also call it a press ribbon and press badge.

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Posted By: Alan Elefson

Hi-
Thanks for the help David! I dug through the scrapbook a little bit more, and I discovered that this man (Walter Seeley) was hired in part to be a football expert for the newspaper. In the scrapbook there is a newspaper cutout showing coming features in that week's Sunday edition. The date of September 20th 1895 is written on the cutout, and the section on college football is underlined where it refers to an expert, and he wrote, "that's me" next to it. Harvard played U Penn that year on November 16th. He was only an editor at the Springfield Republican for about a year (before he went to another newspaper), so I believe this press pin was issued for that game.
Does anyone know of any earlier press identifiers issued solely for a sporting event? I would assume there was some form of press pass for major league baseball writers before 1895, and if anyone has any examples to share I would love to see them. To further narrow the field, has anyone ever seen an earlier football press identifier issued for a specific game?
Thanks in advance,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

Penn was undefeated national champs in football in 1895.

I assume they used sports press pins/badges/tags before then, but I don't recall seeing any for sale. You see earlier tickets and passes, but press items are rare.

An 1895 Harvard Penn game would have included players from the 1895 Mayo Cut Plug set.