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Originally Posted by Domer05
Gary, (and Greg) solid theory! I think the Bees/1914 discrepancy does suggest this pennant was made closer to 1939 than 1914. Good catch. (I would have just assumed they were known as the Bees in 1914....)
But actually I think your best evidence is the mere fact that it's unlikely a pennant maker would maintain the exact same design + construction over a 25 year period. Five, maybe 10 years, okay. But 25? Most pennant makers would have folded or transitioned to a new look by then.
Two questions for the group: (1) Has anyone found an image of the elusive '15 Phillies and '18 Red Sox grommet pennants they can share? (2) What made us zero in on the HoF opening as the source/inspiration for these?
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It was Greg who first proposed the idea that these were from the HoF.
But the more I've looked at these pennants, the more that makes sense.
- Both the Dodgers and the Bees were not known by those names in 1920 and 1914, respectively.
I've started looking online for HoF photos from 1939.
- The 25 year span of these pennants
- The last known year for the Champions Grommet pennants is 1936.
- The Braves were only known as the Bees from 1936-40
- The player images on the pennants align with known photographs of the players in the HoF at the time of the museum opening
- The HoF museum opened on June 12th, 1939
- The fact that they have grommets would make them suited to hanging in a display such as in the HoF).
My working theory was that the dates relate to the last time each team was in the world series. That works for all of the teams except the Yankees and Giants. The Yankees and Giants were also in the WS in 1937 and Yankees were there in 1938.
With regards to the 1939 Grommet Pennants for the Cardinals and the Browns. These don't have the word "Champions" on the spine. I'm not sure if that's because these were issued separately from the HoF ceremony or something else. But I suspect that's why Greg mentioned it might be a St. Louis manufacturer.
Maybe these were issued to celebrate the HoF inductions each year in 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939. That would explain why the Yankees and Giants have 1936 as Ruth and Mathewson were inducted in 1936.
In post #8993, Greg said that he had photos of the Red Sox and Phillies pennants but the owner ask for it not to be shared. I respect that but is that because they don't want to show other items in their collection that are around it? If that's the case, maybe you could crop the photos to just show the pennants?
I'd also love to see photos of the Athletics and the Pirates Championship Grommet pennants.
I've started to search for photos of the HoF in 1939. If anyone has an upcoming trip to Cooperstown, maybe it's something the museum would be willing to let you look through some photo archives of the opening ceremony and museum?