Saw this pennant listed in an estate sale post today. I was probably the 25th person in the door and I knew this pennant hung somewhere in the house by the photo. I found it and paid handsomely for it, but I love it. The pennant guide says it’s 1930’s and extremely rare. It’s got a few minor dings but the tip and tassels are intact. Anyone know anything about the manufacturer?

The metal grommets are interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. Pretty cool.

Ah, another "grommet pennant." We've discussed these before. They were made by some mystery maker--possibly with St. Louis origins--from the late 1910s to late 1930s.

For more, see: https://pennantfactory.weebly.com/bl...champs-pennant

Awesome pickup! So tough to find any from this series, and condition always seems to be an issue. Yours looks good… great find!

That Browns pennants is fantastic. Well done for that pickup. It's the first grommet pennant by that mystery maker that I've seen without the "Champions + <Date>" along the spine.

Very cool Browns pennant. I think I’ve seen one other in 25+ years of collecting. I suspect all of the “champions” pennants from this “grommet” maker date to the mid/late 30s. Here’s one that is likely not as old as yours but does not recognize a championship. .

My hypothesis is that all the dated Champions pennants were made for either the opening of the HOF or the ‘39 anniversary. Kind of wild guess but it makes sense.

Pretty good shape, all things considered. Great find!

Oriole Rug
 

Here’s an Oriole example.

Greg,

I know I'm not the only Tiger collector in the group but as for myself I try to collect all the different years and variations of the Tiger pennants. My 1934 cane pennant I have is the earliest year I own. I have several dated pennants from the 30's, 40's and 50's.

Steven that’s very cool. I think I can speak for others when I say … pics please!

Still sorting pennants
 

Here's a handful of PCL Spokane pennants.

Here's just a few of the dated pennant's I have.....

That '51 pennant is a real toughie. I have it with green felt. Great stuff!

Impressive.

Those are awesome. The pennant makers sure loved the Tigers.

If anyone knows a surviving fan of both the NFL Texans and the Boston Bruins, tell him I have the perfect gift for him.

Gorgeous! Not really. :p

But pretty damn cool.Wonder who made it?

I suspect WGN. I have a Bruins with that exact design that has all the signs of WGN (spine, tassels, etc.) This resembles the 1951-52 baseball series they made without tassels.

Pretty slim pickings lately, but I was able to upgrade a faded tassel-less pennant at a decent price.

Nice, Rob. Looks almost new.

But why so many green and yellow and white Giants pennants? I know that some of it comes down to the pennant makers not really caring all that much, but are there, say, a bunch of green and yellow Phillies pennants? Probably.

More green Giants...

The middle one is so cool, even with the Giant in gym shorts …

Another greenie

1913 Reproduction Co. sales catalog
 

Thanks to the wonderful staff of the Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History, I was able to obtain digital scans of all 51 pages from a 1913 sales catalog by The Reproduction Co. currently in their holdings.

I posted more excerpts over on Pennant Fever, but here's a few pages to pique your curiosity....

:skedaddlesovertopennantfever:

And returns disappointed. Clicking Kyle’s link got me a security risk message. Going through a google search got me “page unavailable.” :confused:

My computer blocked it, also. Was there an Amherst example, by any chance? Those are very cool, are there many known to exist?

Thanks for posting this, Kyle...

The Michigan example in the Catalog matches my oversized Washington Huskies Pennant to a tee. Cool to know it's a Reproduction Co example. :)

Beautiful!

Not an exact match, but close enough.

A dozen for only $12 no less....

Great stuff, Kyle. Other companies had to have catalogs too, right? There must be an Epstein catalog out there somewhere.

Trump promised to release it I believe.

I still can’t access Kyle’s site from ANY device. What’s going on????

I've been able to open the site I. Chrome. I got a message that the site is unsecured. That's probably because it doesn't have a security certificate. But when I clicked continue anyhow, all was good.

Love the Repco info Kyle. Thanks. Any chance that you can share more of the catalog pages?

I don’t think I have shared this one before, from Leadville CO.

Beautiful! That thing looks brand spanking new!

A few of my college pennants … Niagara is embroidered.

Nice!

Gorgeous early examples, Rob, Joe and Greg. All are incredibly detailed and simply beautiful!

My apologies for the technical issues. Not sure if that's a Weebly problem or a Chrome/Safari/Edge issue....

Gary, I'll email you the full catalog. Anyone else?

Love seeing all those beautiful Repco pennants!

The technical issues seem to be fixed.Phew!

I also would like to see the whole catalog. Might there be an Ohio U. example in there? Probably not….too far out on the western frontier.

edit: maybe so, on Ohio U. I see Michigan, Chicago and Cal.

I’d also like the full catalog. Thanks Kyle!

That’s a beautiful Huskies pennant Mark! For football they seemed to have kept with the brown/white color scheme, but for baseball they appear to mix up a bit...here is a red highlighted baseball.

Incredible, Joe... What a beauty!

Never seen another besides my Huskies with that particular design (and now I have!) Those graphics look so incredible against that deep red felt.

That image is actually not mine (I have one of these pennants with that design too, but not as in great condition), but posted this one because, like you said, it's a beautiful example.

Joe and Greg those are some beautiful pennants.

Based on the RepCo catalog that Kyle found, can we say that these pennants are RepCo issues? (N.B. They're not my pennants)

I kinda thought we already could/did. :p :confused:

Gary, as far as the Chicago pennant, I’d say probably not. There is a “series” of pennants with that leather graphic, I’ve seen at least four of five others. There’s also a Tigers with a leather Tiger head. They have the same construction, two color felt with reinforced edges. These three are mine. There is a White Sox pennant currently on eBay with a screened graphic but otherwise the same construction. And it has a tag on the back from Geo. Lauterer. So that’s my guess.

Also, the batter graphic is identical to that of a screened 1919 Reds Champions pennant.

Just a gut feeling, but I don't think any of these were by Repco. The artwork just ... doesn't resemble the same degree of detail that Repco's were known for, in my view. Additionally, none of these feature a no-contrast spine or an Old English or Collegiate Block letter font that seemed to typify Repco's look.

One thing I learned while researching Repco: they had a monopoly on "process" (screen printed) pennants from about 1908-1911. But by the summer of 1911, at least one rival pennant maker named Langrock Bros., also of New York City, had begun making screen printed pennants. By about 1915, several more had joined the club, including Annin, yet another New York-based pennant maker.

Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), 1915 is about when it appears Repco may have left the pennant market entirely. I have long suspected this was due to this influx in competitors who had entered the marketplace and perhaps even perfected Repco's patented "process" (also known as the Udall Process) into something even better. To this point, I cannot think of a single Repco pennant we can definitively source to them and made after 1914.

I suspect this is when they transitioned to other commercial applications for their process, like indoor advertising.

So although it's tempting to label that beautiful 1915 Red Sox pennant as being by Repco, I think it's more likely someone else made it.

x

I need to pay closer attention!

Kyle: next up; George Lauterer Badges, buttons, banners, flags.

Kyle, thanks for the full catalog. What an incredibly impressive, extensive, array of art work and designs. I find it remarkable how few of these designs and art have ever been found, from my experience. I image that is because since they were so short lived, much of this was created in such small numbers, if ever at all.

Do you think Langrock and Annin adopted the same or very similar artwork as Repco? I had thought this Bear Pennant was possibly Repco, since it’s their artwork - but since Cornell did not introduce the Bear as mascot until 1915, (no existence of a Bear before that), and realizing Repco ended in 1914, it’s more likely this is Langrock or Annin.

Anyone recognize the Maker mark?
 

I shared this pennant many years ago, but circling back again to see if anyone now recognizes the maker mark? It’s probably the most unusual and unique pennant I have. I haven’t seen another. Some may think this young lady basketball player may not be the easiest on the eyes :), but I found her to me remarkably detailed and beautiful. The pennant is 35”. Looks like initials N.P. Co. Any thoughts?

Agree... NONE of those pennants shown were made by Repco. The artwork and composition are different on each of the examples.

Looks like Jim Scott is the inspiration for the Dartmouth Pennant (seen in Post 9384). I used to have this same exact Pitcher image on an early teens Boston Braves Pennant, which I sold years ago.

Pretty cool to know the origin of this one, and makes you wonder how many others are based on actual Player images. Link below...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/40489708449...item5e45bf344a

Found an image of my old Boston Braves, with Jim Scott as the subject...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/40489708449...item5e45bf344a

Love that Wisconsin pennant. I've never seen that one before.

John, if you like that one, you should check this Repco one out on ebay. It’s not mine. I don’t think I’m outing anything since it’s a BIN and clearly listed. Healthy asking price, but offers accepted. No Repco tag, so I think that is just a best guess. Could be another maker. I haven’t seen that catcher art work in their catalog. (Edit myself - I do see now that artwork is on Kyle’s site, so I assume then that this is a Repco.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226588838356

Thanks Kyle. That's great info.

Greg and Mark thanks for the insight about the graphics.

I just checked my pennant catalog that I've been building and I had a note that the Pirates version of the "Leather Batter" was made by the Chicago Pennant Company. I could have recorded that wrong or maybe both CPC and Lauterer made similar pennants in a cross-Chicago rivalry.

Any guesses?

My only RepCo pennant is a sewn letter model. This is the equivalent of owning a classic Mustang, but it’s a 1970’s Mustang II! :D

https://i.etsystatic.com/41620787/r/...74907_4fl6.jpg

https://i.etsystatic.com/41620787/r/...74939_17fg.jpg

Joe, I'm convinced your Cornell pennant is indeed by Repco. No-contrast spine + collegiate block letter outline font would be enough for me; but, additionally this bear artwork is awfully similar to "Brown bear," which was copyrighted in 1909 by Repco. See below. They used it (and several other bear/bruin/cub depictions) on many collegiate mascot pennants, so they probably just updated it a bit and used this variant on yours (in 1915, as you point out) when Cornell joined the bear family.

For more on their copyrighted works, there's a slideshow embedded within my Repco piece. To date, I've found about two dozen survivors exemplifying this terrific artwork.

This Wisconsin pennant is a beauty; and yes, it has to be Repco's work. No-contrast spine + Old English font featuring that weird lower case "c" resembling an "r".

Here's the White Sox variant, featuring the same distinctive lower case "c"....

N.P.Co. = National Pennant Co. of New York.

Haven't seen any other pennants by them; but there is this sun visor by them reportedly from 1937....

Speaking of that distinctive Old English letter font, with the weird lower case "c" resembling an "r", check this photo out....

This ca. 1914 photo reportedly shows the 2d class barber shop aboard the RMS Olympic--which was RMS Titanic's sister ship.

Cool souvenir pennants, right? Look at the "c" in "Olympic" ... they're by Repco!

Kind of makes you wonder whether Repco ever made a Titanic version that's sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic. :eek:

Thanks Kyle, very helpful, as always. I was just thinking this could not be Repco when you said that 1915 is about when it appears Repco may have left the pennant market, and that you couldn't think of a Repco pennant we can definitively source to them after 1914.

The Cornell Bear came onto the scene when a bear cub from Maine joined the sideline during games in the Fall of 1915. By the the end of the season the Cub had completely gone viral, widely popular on campus. I assume the earliest this pennant would have been created is very late 1915 or 1916. So I guess this could be an example where Repco’s pennant making continued into 1915 or 1916. The investigation to try an pinpoint dates for memorabilia is always fun stuff, thanks for the help!

Thanks! Do you know any of the NP Co. history? I was assuming this pennant was 1910-1915 based on the artwork and that the girl’s basketball team was popular then and on campus, and then seems to have disappeared for decades.

Ok, just came across this in Worthpoint, after I posted. This may add a wrinkle to things. The bear artwork is Repco’s copyrighted art, but according to the Worthpoint listing there is a Langrock tag on the pennant. Only difference is the contrast spine. I guess it’s possible Langrock could have made a pennant too with a non-contrast spine that matches the Repco artwork and lettering? Just speculating, but the use of the artwork and lettering muddies things between the two makers.

It seems like Joe (vintagesportscollector) is a somewhat new contributor to our group. A very welcome contributor! You (Joe) have some great pennants and insight. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=in...E0a6uf3mM,st:0

And here we have the same bear on a Cubs (?) pennant

Since we are on the topic of these circa 1910-1915 pennants, can anyone identify the graphic on this Santa Clara pennant? It looks like a baseball batter to me. Anyone have a pennant with this batter?

That’s funny. :p

I should be offended by that because my first car was a puke green 1976 Ford Mustang II....but it's accurate. :) Still it was a Mustang.

Thanks Rob. Not so much new, as sporadic or infrequent contributor, given my unique and narrow collecting focus, but this thread is my favorite on N54.

Yeah, Repco certainly could have continued making pennants past 1915. I just haven't been able to definitively date one past 1914. So yours is good evidence that perhaps they did make pennants in the latter 1910s. Good insight.

I know nothing about National Pennant Co., unfortunately. Just that their name appeared in commercial directories from the 1910s and 20s as a felt novelty maker.

I was thinking yours looked mid-1910s as well.

Damnet Joe! We're searching for clarity here--not mud. ;)

Well, this is a problem isn't it.... Can I retract my initial opinion? Yours kinda has to be by Langrock, doesn't it?

As I noted earlier, the two bears--though similar--are different. See below.

It looks to me like Langrock figured out how to make a process pennant; then, made an eerily similar bear to reproduce over and over again on their collegiate pennants. And, they ripped off Repco's letter font, which apparently wasn't copyrighted.

Although we may object to such practice, legally speaking, this would be above board. More importantly, there's plenty of evidence of pennant makers mimicking their competitors' artwork throughout the 20th century, so no reason to think that's not what happened here.

I just made arrangements to buy this last night so my apologies for the poor screenshot photo but that’s all I have. It appears to either be a trade card or possibly an ink blotter. I’m assuming that the 1914 champions pennant that it refers to is one that was flown at the stadium and it was manufactured by this company. Since it says last year, I would put it at circa 1915.

That’s a beautiful piece. Would love to see that actual Athletics pennant. :eek: