1922 Giants Pennant

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

Just a late warning on a 1922 New York Giants Pennant, closing on Ebay today... The seller has now answered 2 questions in misleading fashion. He is stating that the pennant is its natural state, and that the "fishtail" tip is original to the pennant.

This is completely incorrect. The Halper Auction featured this same pennant with a single pointed tip, and the year "1922" boldly printed towards the end. The "1922" has been cut away from the Ebay example and this particular pennant is severely altered.

I emailed the seller twice, but he only sees fit to post the questions that benefit his misleading position. Please be aware of this, if you had intended to bid on this pennant. The Ebay Item # is 170173301481.

Hope this is helpful.

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Posted By: Mike H

I emailed him a similar statement and went so far as to say, I'm sure you will want to do the right thing and disclose the trimming performed to this pennant.

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Guys, the pennant was indeed cut, but that's actually the way these pennants were issued to the public in 1923.

If you'll note item #698 in the Halper auction, the distributors of this spectacular pennant simply took their surplus 1922 NY Giants pennants and cut off the dated tip section and released it during the 1923 World Series (along with a companion Yankees pennant).

This is simply one of the greatest pennants ever designed and released (during that period or since) and while it would have been great to get the full 1922 version, I would descibe getting the cut 1923 version as a "one-in-a-lifetime" find. May max bid was nearly two and a half times what I won it for.

Other than the examples sold during the Halper auction, I have never seen this pennant publicly offered. The 1923 Giants and Yankees "cut" pennats sold together for $8,000 during the Halper auction.

Wow.

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Posted By: Mark

Aaron:

Congrats on a great pickup. I had never heard about the pennants being cut, to be sold in 1923 (but it sure seems to make sense...) Where did you hear that, anyway? I could research this pennant for 5 years, and never come up with that piece of information.

I wanted to bid very badly, but did not know about this "acceptable cutting" circumstance. I do agree that the graphics are simply amazing, and as far as pennants go, it ranks right up there among the best ever produced. It's a stunner... now you just need the Yankees to complete the set (tall task!)

Thanks again for explaining the cause of the "alteration". The seller simply seemed to deny the fact that it was ever altered, and tried to indicate the pennant was originally made with the "fishtail" tip.

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Mark, I just put two and two together by reading the Halper auction lot listing for the clipped pennant (which describes the two pennants as from 1923), noting that the Giants went back to the World Series in 1923 (hence they were "pennant winners" again), and then using common sense: If the clipped version existed in 1923, it's likely that it was done with surplus 1922 pennants because why else would that particular section be cut? Answer: to get rid of the previous year's date so it could be sold again in 1923.

I would also note that the seller was accurate in his description, and I believe this was how the pennant was originally issued in the 1920's (in 1923 to be specific).

In the end, I really don't care if the pennant was cut in 1923 or the seller himself cut it (for whatever reason) last week. That is both an incredibly rare and visually stunning pennant in its current form. I would have paid more than $2,000 without batting an eyelash. At a major auction I would expect it to bring between $3,000 and $5,000.

This is one of the countless items from the Halper auction that I would have never dreamed I would be able to own -- I'm still stunned I won it (I only found the pennant an hour and a half before the auction ended when I read your post) and cannot wait to frame it and hang it.

This sure makes up for coming up empty in the spectacular Lelands auction!

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Posted By: Mark

Aaron....

If you only discovered this pennant on ebay by reading my "last minute" Net54 post, then I am certainly due a comisssion of some sort... right?

You grossly underpaid for this one, and it came in at a mere fraction of your ceiling bid. Therefore, I am open to accepting either the difference in cash, or your Victorian Trophy which resides in "The Aaron Room" (you pick!)

My guess is that's not going to happen, and I suppose I don't have much leverage in this matter. But do let us know if you'll be keeping or consigning/re-selling this one. If it goes in The Aaron Room, please be sure to post some pics... thanks!

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Posted By: Aaron M.

Mark, no way am I re-selling this one! And I will definitely post pics of the Aaron Room as soon as I hang the frame.

And yes, I would say a gift of some sort is in order for you!