Hey, pennant guys

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by bocca001

Yeah, it would be interesting to see the process of these being made. I had a firend with a t-shirt business years ago (late 1980s) and the process involved dragging a blob of paint across somethng like a template that was over the shirt (series of templates, series of different color blobs). Went pretty quickly, but each involved a single person doing each color by hand. I wonder if the process is/was similar.

You are describing silk screening. We did it in high school shop class. I made the image of a flat track motorcycle racer . You “drag” the “blob” with a rubber squeegee, over a thin film with a silk like backing. You cut and peel the film from the porous portion where you want the paint to transfer. This is how I always assumed older pennants were made. Maybe on some I showed, the “color guy” called in sick.

Domer? Paging Domer!

[Domer05]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

You are describing silk screening. We did it in high school shop class. I made the image of a flat track motorcycle racer . You “drag” the “blob” with a rubber squeegee, over a thin film with a silk like backing. You cut and peel the film from the porous portion where you want the paint to transfer. This is how I always assumed older pennants were made. Maybe on some I showed, the “color guy” called in sick.

Domer? Paging Domer!

PRESENT!

Yeah, no question about the manufacturing process here: by the 1960s, most pennant makers were silk screening their artwork and texts. And, yes, the process involved silk screen mesh, stretched tight over a wooden frame. The maker would then transfer the artwork from a sheet of paper to a photo positive--which in turn was applied to the mesh, kind of like a stencil. For a monochrome design, they'd squeegee the single color "blob" of ink over the stencil + mesh until the desired graphics and texts emerged from the openings and on to the felt beneath it. After drying, they'd hand cut the triangular pennants out, sew in the spine and tassels, then call it a day.

For polychrome designs, which Trench was always the industry leader on, they'd use like 3-4 colors per pennant. And, yes, this significantly lengthens the process; and, the manufacturing costs.

With Trench, I too have noticed slight color variations in the same pennant made over several years. Some are really bright; while others look more dull. I don't know if this is a difference in the inks used during the manufacturing process between the years; or, the effects of time itself, e.g., sun damage. Who knows? But many of their stadium pennants were sold for 10 years or more; so, it makes sense that they may have altered a color once or twice, for whatever reason.

Both Trench and ADFLAG offered their customers a polychromatic and monochromatic version of their stadium pennants. If you look at my blog posts on these two companies, you'll see exactly what I mean. (See the Dodger and Giant pennants at the end of this piece: https://pennantfever.weebly.com/blog...tising-flag-co ) I suspect they simply wanted to offer their retailers two different price points to market their products at.

Finally, I've noticed that many of the NL/AL champions pennants that would have been sold at a world series game were monochrome. That's probably because manufacturers didn't have a lot of time to make these; and, the multi-colored variant would have taken too long to produce.

[ooo-ribay]

^^^^^ So, you believe the monochromes were intentional? You’re probably right. I had always considered them mistakes. I’d love to know if your “different price points” theory is correct as well.

[bocca001]

I had wondered about price/cost point being a factor as well.

One interesting thing about the pennants Rob posted is how rare they are. I've been collecting Giants pennants for 5+ years and have never seen even one of the pennant(s) Rob posted (with the batter in the stadium) for sale during that time. I'd expect to see variations for a design that was very common, because it sold for a long time, had multiple production runs, etc. Why so many variations of such a rare pennant?

[Domer05]

Here's some more examples of the color variations Trench offered. The below pennant was sold at Dodger Stadium and through the team's mail order catalog from the 1960s through the early 1980s. The first is their simple, two-color variation. White and green, that's it.

Next is the polychrome variant, with at least five different shades of color.

Finally, here's the same polychrome pennant; but, the colors have faded, probably due to sun exposure. From a distance, it almost appears monochrome.

Same design. Different color options.

[Jersey City Giants]

Anyone have a Syracuse University Baseball Pennant?

[thetahat]

How about the pennants from the late 40s/early 50s that seem to have spray-painted colors? This style is a fairly thick felt, wide spine, single stitch, and thin tassels that are further from the corners. The dated Tigers pennants from early 50s seem to fit this mold.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by thetahat

How about the pennants from the late 40s/early 50s that seem to have spray-painted colors? This style is a fairly thick felt, wide spine, single stitch, and thin tassels that are further from the corners. The dated Tigers pennants from early 50s seem to fit this mold.

Agree....that kind of effect couldn’t be done with silk screen.

[Domer05]

I hear you guys, but even that Cleveland pennant was silk screened. The base layer in white would have been the first layer applied; and, it would have been screened on. No question. It had to be. Otherwise, the red felt would show through the white lettering, making it look pinkish.

On the other hand, the secondary color applications may not have been screened on.... I'm still trying to figure that out because I think that look is really cool. I believe they called that a "color gradient" because, well, the color goes from dark to light to nothing. Typically, this mystery maker applied this effect to the text (which was white) that ran across the pennant, moving in a horizontal line, from top to bottom or bottom to top.

Here's some White Sox and Yankees pennants that feature a two-color gradient. Both were made by the same unknown manufacturer as part of a whole series of mostly monochrome pennants featuring a ball running through the team's name. This "ball through the name" series was made throughout the 1950s and includes a dated 1951 Tigers pennant as well as a ca. 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers pennant.

It's possible they created this gradient by air brushing the colors atop the white base layer. It's also possible they screened it on, using the squeegee like a brush, applying a quick burst of pressure while gradually letting that pressure diminish. Or maybe they rolled the ink on with a roller? Who knows? But it is a very cool look.

I don't believe ADFLAG made either the Cleveland or this Sox or Yankees pennants; but, ADFLAG did make a San Francisco Giants pennant using the same technique.

[I know Rob will happily post it soon enough....]

[Fballguy]

Interestingly...or not...I've always wondered about this Niners pennant. It looks like someone took spray paint to it...Not really accomplishing the gradient look with the green across forty niners, but some success with the red across San Francisco. Maybe an early attempt at a competitor trying to copy the technique.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Domer05

I hear you guys, but even that Cleveland pennant was silk screened. The base layer in white would have been the first layer applied; and, it would have been screened on. No question. It had to be. Otherwise, the red felt would show through the white lettering, making it look pinkish.

On the other hand, the secondary color applications may not have been screened on.... I'm still trying to figure that out because I think that look is really cool.

No doubt, the white was silk screened. I'm 99.9% certain the "secondary color applications" had to be airbrushed. The airbrush was invented in the late 1800's and custom car culture made the technique very popular in the 1950's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbrush

Originally Posted by Domer05

ADFLAG did make a San Francisco Giants pennant using the same technique.

[I know Rob will happily post it soon enough....]