Hey, pennant guys

[Fballguy]

Just curious...Does anyone know what the oldest baseball pennant known to exist is? Anyone here have it?

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Just curious...Does anyone know what the oldest baseball pennant known to exist is? Anyone here have it?

I think I had read that the earliest known one is a Knickerbockers Pennant. I forget all of the pertinent details, but there was a discussion about it here on net54 about 12-14 years ago.

If you are really good with the search function, you might find it. There was a pretty lengthy ongoing Pennant thread until this one displaced it. The info is probably contained somewhere within that other pennant thread (if you have the patience and desire to search for it).

[thetahat]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I think I had read that the earliest known one is a Knickerbockers Pennant. I forget all of the pertinent details, but there was a discussion about it here on net54 about 12-14 years ago.

If you are really good with the search function, you might find it. There was a pretty lengthy ongoing Pennant thread until this one displaced it. The info is probably contained somewhere within that other pennant thread (if you have the patience and desire to search for it).

I think I found the thread but the pics are gone ...

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=67606

[thetahat]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Just curious...Does anyone know what the oldest baseball pennant known to exist is? Anyone here have it?

If the question is: what is the oldest *series* of pennants ... maybe it’s these. My rudimentary research puts the creation of silk screening around 1911-13. These pennants have sewn on letters, and reinforced edges. Most unique is the leather batter graphic. I have seen four teams: Cubs, White Sox, Red Sox, and Tigers. The Tigers is the best of the lot because it has a leather tiger head instead of the batter. I think Mark has it? Also I’ve seen the Cubs pennant with opposite colors as the one pictured. ... I have the Cubs and Sox, strangely the Sox is a little smaller yet still oversized. Couldn’t have been trimmed because of the way the edges were made.

Also I can think of those “B.B.C.” pennants as one of the oldest series.

[Fballguy]

Interesting read about the Knickerbockers pennant. Is this it?

Knickerbocker Pennant.jpg

[perezfan]

That's it... Boy, you guys are good!!

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by perezfan

That's it... Boy, you guys are good!!

I don't know man...I'd need some photo provenance to kick it up a little. It's not much to look at.

[perezfan]

Pretty sure the one pictured is the reproduced version.

Obviously it's more about the age, history, story, importance and rarity than the aesthetics. I'd probably clear a spot on the wall for it.

[Fballguy]

It's funny. The question was asked about the origin of the term "Pennant race" and the explanation was that the pennant was the traditional sign of a war ship and to capture a pennant would mean you were the victor. The first thing I thought of when I saw the Knickerbocker pennant was that it looked like a nautical flag.