I don’t pay much attention to them, but occasionally, I will see an Indian motorcycle pennant in auction and they seem to be in high demand …

I came upon this one Motorcycle pennant today...I don't know the auctioneer but thought it might be of interest:

https://hibid.com/lot/260003396/misc...a?ref=lot-list

Nice!

While Rob and Greg are snagging museum quality pieces, I picked up this non-museum quality rare mini-pennant.

I'm snagging crap, too! My 27th Giants LH batter and bridge. This one in aqua. Three tassels on top, two on the bottom with no evidence of ever having a third. I don't think this is unheard of.

edit: got this from Clean Sweep. Didn't love the BP and the shipping was a tad high (but not outrageous). Considering I paid by check, the turnaround time was excellent.

Very nice. Aqua should have been an alternate color for the Giants …

Note to self: need Giant on bridge in aqua. Great. :rolleyes:

Often the reverse side of aqua pennants is a deep blue. It's cool when you find one that was aqua to begin with!

Not unheard of at all. I see polydactyl pennants quite often. I consider it a bonus... like getting a fortune cookie with two fortunes in it....or an egg with two yolks.

I have a bunch of them too. Including one that just arrived last month. Fortunately, my OCD is not so severe that I feel the need to cut the third tassel, just to make it symmetrical. Close, but no cigar. ;)

Symmetry

Nice to learn something new...

"Polydactyl" (adjective) or "polydactyly" (noun) refers to a condition of having an extra finger or toe,

:p

Or tassel. ;)

Hopefully without outting a current auction, is that grey tag-looking thing indicative of a repop pennant? Never seen that before. Am I mistaking what it is?

I don’t think so. The picture doesn’t reveal too much but there’s nothing here that screams “repro” or “modern” pennant.

Thank you. It looks like some kind of manufacturers tag that I had never seen before so I was wondering.

Not modern or reproduction. Be sure to post the front after it closes (or if you win it!)

Race of the Gentleman in California and New Jersey offer current examples

This is a recent acquisition, a fairly common pennant with two exceptions (a) purple felt and (b) extremely vivid paint colors. It was the latter that particularly jumped at me. Seems pretty clear now that some of Trench’s paint colors - mainly green - faded very quickly, which is why some stadium pennants that are otherwise pristine have yellow grass in the outfield.

I’ll note that you do see White Sox and Cardinals stadium pennants with bluish-green grass. Never have seen an Ebbets or Polo Grounds version that wasn’t a dull yellow. I’m sure Kyle knows way more about the process, in fact we may have discussed this in the past.

I too am drawn to finding pennants with unfaded paint. Then I worry that the paint will fade unless I keep them buried in the dark. I was a bit baffled by this pennant that I posted last month, with clearly faded felt and seemingly unfaded pink under the seal. I guess the half-life for pink is much longer than green.

That is interesting … I too have seen badly faded felt with bright paint colors.

Great pennant by the way … also clearly Trench.

Unfortunately, we're dealing with three different mediums here: (1) there's the dye used to color the felt; (2) there's the secondary coloring that is paint; however, it's not screen printer's ink; nor is it applied via the screen printing method. It's airbrushed on top of (3) the white underbase, which is the only part of the pennant made from ink and screened on.

These dyes were never intended to last more than a year or two. By the 1950s, most makers were no longer using wool in their felt. (Most we're going with cotton felt; and others were experimenting with woven fabrics like brushed flannel.) I'm not sure whether the felt composition affected the dye's hardiness, but the point is: pennant makers were using the cheapest fabrics available. They were never intended to hold up against UV light exposure.

The paint was applied to the pennant rather hastily, post-printing. We've talked about this before, but this was probably the biggest variable in the entire manufacturing process--more so than printing, cutting, and sewing. Sometimes the paint went where it was intended. Other times, not so much.

Greg, your point about the green fields tending to fade is valid. I don't know why green would perform poorer than others.... Maybe because the green field areas were the biggest swath to be painted, and so the ink was thinnest on such spots?

Lastly, the ink. In the 1950s, the white underbase was made from lead. Lead was added to improve the opacity of the ink. As a result, the ink/underbase seems to be the most durable part of the pennant. That's good for us collectors today; but, bad or those kids that took these souvenirs home, waved them in their brothers' faces, giving lil' Johnny lead poisoning. :eek:

Great pennant, Greg. Now, make sure you display that one behind some UV-coated glass!

Here is the pennant with the odd grey tag that I mentioned last week. I did not bid on it because as usual, people bid it up over the course of a week. Drives me insane when people do that.

pickup
 

Guys..........I picked up this old White Sox pennant yesterday at a local antique show. It's very soft, is full size, is faded, and has 3 corner holes, but it's not in Mike Egner's pennant book. I'm guessing 1930's era? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

Matt,

1940s era, vintage, pretty rare, likely made by a company called WGN, in this condition probably $50-85 in auction. A near pristine version could almost double that. Just an educated guess. It is a rather cool design.

I have this one cataloged as 1960s but I'm not 100% certain of that so it could well be 1940s.

There were 2 version of this pennant (neither of these photos are mine). As per Kyle's post yesterday, I think the colors on the multicolor version were paint added post-printing.

And I’ll split the difference and go with 1950s. :p

I have both versions, and that more detailed one on the right is actually a photo of mine that I took long ago. I would definitely say 1940s for both versions. Perhaps it just barely sneaks into the 50s, but not much more recent than that.

The gurus have spoken. 1940’s.

Thought I recognized a Steinberg tub. :p

Someone posted this group of pennants on facebook a few days ago. Thought it might be of interest. Lots of labels.

The labels are cool. The pennants, not so much.

The latest TSOG episode finally gets back to where it belongs.... VINTAGE PENNANTS!

We will do these episodes periodically, as it's a crime to have these pennants just stashed away in bins. It's far better to share!

Here's a link to the current episode.... hope you enjoy....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTnv2XZDsCs

Nice, Mark! The Boston Braves pennant is especially great.

The SF Giants also have a newspaper style pennant from 1962. Maybe Oooribay can post a pic of his. I've never seen one for sale, although I see the Pirates from time to time.

Ask and ye shall receive.

MORE, MORE, MORE! Please?

Awesome episode!!!

Hey, that's cool!

Love it... presumably made by the same company. Since my Pirates version is from 1960 and Rob's Giants is from '62, perhaps there is one from 1961. Anyone ever seen a Reds or Yankees version? Probably a very limited production window for any/all of this type!

Reminds me of the "headline" ashtrays and glasses from the period, and makes me wonder if there is any connection?

Pirates
 

Here's the World Series version...

Great episode Mark. Let's see more of the pennants in those other bins please.

C'mon Mark ... you have a bit more than 400 pennants, don't'ya?

Gotta be, although the ashtray (and another mug I have) is a SF Chronicle headline- Gianrs Win - “Miracle”

There are at least two football pennants as well.

These are from the 1959 season.

Those are awesome! 9,800 posts into this thread and we find an entirely new and different category of pennants to discuss. That's why vintage Pennants are the King of sports memorabilia!

For sure! Colts and Pirates have the same slant; Giants do not.

Saw this on ebay and thought I'd share it here. Pennants in the wild. I think they might be from 1951.

Very cool that this dates the Trench Yankees to ‘51. Those are great pennants.

Okay hear me out. The Sioux City (IA) Indians played in the Western League from 1914-19. This is certainly from that era, with embroidered letter and a heavy army-blanket like felt.

Could this be a baseball pennant?

Ah, we will never know of course … A city named after a tribe would naturally use an Indian graphic. Either way it was cheap and the detail on the Indian is amazing. So many colors when screen printing was in its infancy. Had to get.

I have the Yankees mini!

That’s a beautiful pennant, Greg! What do you “make of” the label? :confused:

Thanks, Rob. Interestingly, among the non-sports pennants that were shared by Marc a week or so ago, the ones either all the Repco labels … the one at bottom has the same label as the Sioux City …

Kyle?

A & Co. NY

Yes, calling Kyle…

A & Co. N.Y. = Annin Flag Co., New York, NY.

By 1915, they were the largest maker of collegiate pennants in the nation.

And today, they're the biggest (domestic) manufacturer of US flags.

It's unclear when they stopped making felt pennants, but I've seen catalogs from them offering felt novelties as late as the 1950s.

No professional teams that you’ve been able to find?

Only the 1915 or 1916 Boston Red Sox World Series champions pennant we've discussed before....

They made some ca. 1939 souvenir pennants for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as well.

There’s no rhyme or reason to that. But Greg, is your Sioux City a professional pennant? “There’s a chance.” :p

I’d feel it would be a good chance if the town wasn’t named after a tribe (or more accurately a group of tribes) …. But still possible!

A few AFL pennants...
 

...dad asked me if I wanted them. He said they were stored in a smaller box, so creased. He then said he'd iron them. I told him not to do that. I wonder if the pennant he has for the New York team is Titans or Jets?

Will be interesting to see what you get. You CAN iron them but they are likely to be synthetic (not actual wool/felt), so go with a low heat and cover the pennants with a towel.

Maybe I have a lousy iron or something but I’ve done it with mid and even high heat directly to surface, although always just the back and yes the older ones, not 1970s stiffies. Never any issues. Cloth pennants with creases that are 50+ years old seem to require it. Can’t touch the paint of course.

Agree. Me, too. The “low heat with towel” was just to protect myself from any personal liability. :p

My bad...there is an ashtray that matches that pennant...it was hiding in plain sight on the wall.

Confession time
 

I bought a Giants pennant (I guess)....

Always been a sucker for pennants with stadiums on them.

I was there. Kevin F’ing Elster. :mad:

Here’s a minor league addition, seems to be 1950s.

Happy to add this. I was at the right place at the right time. I have 28 of these "LH batter and bridge" pennants in different colors and font variations but only four of them are like this one with the horizontal (as opposed to vertical) bat. I believe the horizontal bats pre-date the verticals. Probably late 1950s to early 1960s.

Nice pickup Rob! That's a toughie, and yours is a beauty. Condition looks great and I love the colorful spine and tassels. Awesome example!

Thanks, Mark!

Q: other teams got the LH batter, correct? Maybe in stadiums, etc. rather than with the bridge? Did these other teams also get the horizontal bat variety?

The Astros is the only other team I have seen, Rob.

I thought multiple teams had pennants similar to this. No? :confused:

I thought you were asking about other teams with the horizontal bat.

I guess maybe I was. Do the other experts agree, only the Giants and Astros with the horizontal bat? I had always thought the Giants horizontal bats were probably 1958 to the early 1960s but the Astros weren’t Astros until 1965. What’s your theory?

BTW, pennant guys, there are almost as many PM-10 mysteries as pennant mysteries. Almost.

The Astros version of this pennant is very poorly made. The materials are stiff and brittle. The font/letter spacing appears uneven. Both of my copies are damaged. I'll post my second copy below. This Astros pennant is, however, quite rare and I'm not sure I've ever seen an undamaged one. I think maybe Greg has a nicer copy?

There are also versions of the Giants pennant that are poorly made (although not as poorly made as the Astros). Very brittle tassels. Stiff felt material that can crack. See the first Giants below. I think these lesser quality Giants pennants were probably made around the time as the Astros. Mid to late 1960s. Maybe even 1970s. They remind me of some of the bootleg football pennants from the early 1970s with very brittle tassels. But there are also what seem to be earlier versions of the Giants pennant, made of all softer material. Often with colorful felt/cloth like yours. I've added a pic of one of my colored felt/cloth versions. I also have red.

Here are a couple mid to late 60s LH batters sans bridge...

Love the “TWA Salutes”!

But we’re trying to find horizontal bat varieties of the LH batter, Rob. :cool:

My recent Detroit Tigers Pennant / Banner purchase
 

I was fortunate to purchase this in my local area. Glad to add it to my collection. https://i.postimg.cc/ZYHMTdkj/IMG-7388.jpg

Wow! :eek:

Awesome find! That's a jaw-dropper, and condition looks amazing as well. Great pickup!

Not a horizontal bat version, but a pretty scarce example, none-the-less...