Hey, pennant guys

[Domer05]

Originally Posted by AstroJake09

I've thought that an old school pennant might be nice for my apartment at CU and wanted opinions on these two pennants. I think both have nice patina and are definetly a throwback to a bygone era but was wondering exactly how old they are... 20s or 30s? Perhaps older?

Jake:

The second pennant appears to be the older of the two. It features a really thin, micro-spine that was more common in the 1910s and 20s. Additionally, it features what manufacturers dubbed "Applied Felt Lettering." Typically, these letters were hand cut and sewed, one by one, to the pennant. This took a lot of time. To reduce this production cost, some makers began gluing these letters to the felt with rubber cement. It appears that's what this maker did. I've seen vintage ads from the late 1910s and 20s offering this type of lettering, so I'd feel comfortable assessing this second pennant to be from that era.

The first one's a tougher call. The spine and dimensions appear more contemporary. This one was screen printed, so it could be as old as the 1910s; but, I can't rule out the the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, either. It appears newer than the other. If the length exceeds 30", then you have a better case that it's older. Most likely it's from closer to the 1940s.