I believe it’s the same company that made the Athletics pennant that you nicely reproduced and featured on your blog. Also pictured a left handed pitcher. I used to own that, many years ago, it also had the continuous loops for tassels.

The BBCs are in a class of their own …

Wowza! I'd love to know the story, but then you'd have to kill me. I'll trust your expertise in adjudging this genuine, but color me at least a little skeptical from a distance. Strange they wouldn't have made the player a righty for WaJo in his greatest season and following his second greatest the year before. Overall, a mind-boggling acquisition. Congrats!

I need to find friends like yours. That's an amazing pennant.

It’s definitely authentic and of the time, the construction and feel of the pennant all point to that. My guess is that this was a generic graphic that may have been used for other teams.

The hits have been few and far between lately but what nicer way to break out of a slump than with a home run.

Wow! That's fantastic.

Or more appropriately, a touchdown!

With a two point conversion! 👍

Powerboat or Motorcycle
 

I know this is off the reservation...but does anyone have a vintage powerboat or motorcycle pennant for sale...pm me if so...or even not for sale please send photo anyway....thanks

As you know, those pennants do exist. Mecum has sold some old motorcycle pennants. I only search Giants pennants but some guys in this thread are constantly searching pennants in general. I wouldn’t doubt someone will give you a lead.

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.