Just returned from my trip to the northeast. Took some pictures of the random assortment pennants on display at the Hall of Fame (and, yes, that is my reflection in the pics.. sorry about that). Overall, I enjoyed being in Cooperstown. It was fun to walk around and shop. To see baseball card and memorabilia stores, even if most of the stuff was not exactly what I was looking for. If your kid or any kid you know plays baseball, they should certainly go to one of the massive 12u tournaments. My son had a blast (and hit 6 home runs across 8 games).

Sounds like an awesome trip. Glad you enjoyed it!

That being said...The HOF really needs to work on it's pennant game.

Cool pennants Marc

Especially love the Grand Rapid Chicks

Not sure if that would work today

Check this out, guys.

https://youtu.be/yecim0RTSRk

That was a fun watch Marc. Amazing pennants and collection in general.

Here's a blog post that some might finding interesting. I know the Knickerbocker flag has been brought up here a time or two.

https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-knic...g-aa6b3289ca3d

LOL!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13417037705...iy4oy&LH_BIN=1

Great find, Marc! He’s got a fantastic “vault.” Love those glitter pennants!

I will, however, have to dispute his assertion than pennant collecting has only taken off in the past 10-15 years. I’ve been doing it for 30 years and I’m sure some of you have been doing it longer.

Pennant with felt applique graphics
 

Wondering if anyone else has seen graphics applied to a pennant in this manner?

Hi Chris…

It’s really rare for MLB pennants, but more common for vintage college pennants.

Typically if you see an MLB pennant with those “flocked” or raised velvet graphics, you have to suspect it’s a Mitchell & Ness reproduction. All of theirs are done in this style. But yours is unquestionably vintage and of the era. When you’ve seen enough, you just know. Plus, M&N never copied this one, to my knowledge.

Collegiate of Ames was probably the most prolific producer of this style. And they did produce those iconic 3D pennants of the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Giants. But yours has a different look. So, as to who manufactured yours… I have no idea. Regardless it’s a tremendous Reds pennant and a rare find!

Thanks, Mark. I wish more pennants would have been made in this fashion back in the day because it really adds a nice touch but I suspect the cost of doing so was prohibitive though...

Yeah...It's even got the Mitchell & Ness spine, but the body of the pennant looks 100% vintage and even has the funky top corner cut that we see from time to time.

Speaking of Mitchell & Ness, I was alerting a seller earlier today that their 1951 Giants pennant wasn't vintage but a replica and I did some searching on ebay and found a bunch of these. Not sure who would buy an expired redemption from 2005 but more importantly, I never realized these damn Mitchell & Ness pennants were part of an Upper Deck redemption program.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/23369691623...mis&media=COPY


Edit: Wait a minute. I assumed it was a redemption card but in actuality, I'm not sure what it is. Just a baseball card with a Mitchell & Ness laundry tag on it?

Rob- I think that some Mitchell and Ness pennants came through Upper Deck, but maybe not all? I know that Oooribay has (or was trying to get) an 1962 Giants one that I'm pretty sure came through Upper Deck and is rare (i.e., they state only a certain number were produced.. like 3 or 5). Maybe he can post it if he did get it. It's the only Mitchell and Ness pennant that I have been tempted to buy.

In other news, thanks for the two NY Giants pennants : )

I'm also posting a pic of an upgraded SF Giants pennant. For some reason, I'm on a quest to find a mint version of this pennant. Because it is a cloth pennant with VERY heavy graphics, it is always somewhat cracked. Usually pretty badly, with lots of vertical cracks. I think that any rolling or light folding would cause a crack. This one is about as uncracked as I have ever seen (one towards the end).

This is extremely cool! And definitely vintage. Agree with Mark about Collegiate. I’ll add that Trench also did this for a brief time. Mostly with regards to 1960-61 team picture pennants.

You are absolutely correct on that first pennant. The graphics always seem to be cracked.

I did not get the M&N 1962 fantasy pennant.

Here's one that's a bit perplexing. If the Colt .45s came before the Astros, why did they apply the Colt graphics to the reverse side?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295093091897

Perhaps the felt strip at the left side is added as a last step? And the original colts never had the strip applied and was kept in factory inventory?

I always just assumed unsold stock that wasn't to be wasted. They stopped production when they got wind of the name change so no spine. Then flipped it over and finished the job when "Astros" was official?

Or a promotional item at the time of the announcement?

Why did they change the name to Astro's anyway? I could understand (but still not be a fan of) them changing the name in 2022 due to liberal pressure, but in the mid-60s? Was it just because of the opening of the Astrodome?

That Astros/Colt45s pennant is one of those pennants that always seems to be in very nice condition, making me think that there was a find of them some years after they made. I've never seen one that was really beat up. My Colt 45s (no Astros) is in pretty good shape, but has some wear.

I've seen the combo pennant sale at least 4 or 5 times, and it always does well, although all Colt 45s pennants sell for a strong price.

As for the name change, I've read that it had to do with moving stadiums, the press/prominence of the space age, NASA, and astronauts, as well as maybe the Colt Firearms company wanting to get in on the profits from merchandise.

These specific one color screened pennants were made cheaply and not in a large “factory” so unsold stock was just flipped over. Obviously this is one you see more than others because it’s the same town, but generally you see it more in the Chicago teams. I believe these two sided pennants were all made in the Chicago area where these style pennants are from. I never got any “unsold stock” two sided pennants, but these same style one sided.

Pretty cool the details on that Colt pennant is amazing

Looks like we all agree this was the case.

You are correct, Jason. I believe this Chicago-area maker was ADFLAG.

Tough to argue, as no other explanation makes much sense! :o

If that is the case, you’d think we’d see some that don’t have any piping. I have not seen that before.

A collector friend has a two-sided Orioles/Browns pennant (what appears to be WGN) with the spine on the O’s side …

Changing gears...

Let's see some Hunt Auction Pennant pickups! Their All Star Auction was the best pennant auction in eons, so I'm sure some people here must've bolstered their collections.

I spent my wad early (on non-pennant pickups) before the pennant barrage hit later in the auction. Otherwise I'd have gone hard after many of those pennants.

My biggest frustration is this one. I tried to bid it up, but Invaluable wouldn't register the bid. Someone out there really benefited from that gaffe...

https://huntauctions.com/live/imagev...=390&lot_qual=


This is the one I was most focused on, going into the auction. I believe it's the only known example. I know Mike Egner owned it at one point, and I've seen it two other times (easily identified by the blunt tip). But the next bid increment would've taken it to $1,500. And even if that bid won, that's a $2,000 price tag with BP, Sales Tax and Shipping all thrown in...

https://huntauctions.com/live/imagev...=409&lot_qual=

Seemed like a lot to pay for a pennant lacking any "baseball graphics". I'm guessing, however that another will not surface in my lifetime. Regardless, congrats are in order to somebody!

I bid on the 1942 Yankees. I didn't have it, but generally only go crazy for the years they won. I've only seen this one other time. Great pennant.

Great pennants. I'm sorry I missed the auction. I really like that Yankees pennant.

I just had these arrive. A nice run of team photo pennants. There's some issues with some of the spines but the price was right.

Yikes … not vintage

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29468700879...p2047675.l2557

Didn’t bid in the Hunt Auction but pleasantly shocked at some of the closing prices. They might be the auction house of choice when it comes time to unload. That white ‘43 Cardinals was pretty wild, as was the ‘29 Athletics. Here’s a pic of the ‘42 Yankees and the Cardinals sister pennant.

These are really cool. The pictures look like they are in good shape (not creased) which is a big plus.

Don't tell me that's a glass of tea or something on the same table as those great pennants!

Well, it's a glass of ice tea. :D You can take the man to London, but you can't take Texas out of the man.

It’s legit, though, isn’t it? Just a lot of money for a 1968 pennant?

Now you're just showing off. :rolleyes:

Let's see those two directly below the Cards and Yanks!

Nah it’s late 70s stock. Thin paper-like pressed felt.

Here are three, some glare in the middle … I think there are four WS pennants in this style, I am missing 1940. My guess is WGN. There’s a rare Senators pennant on a high BIN on eBay that has the same funky ‘S’.

Hey did anyone win this a few months ago? One of the most beautiful pennants I’ve ever seen (100% because of the blue) and it’s from the mystery “grommet” pennant company.

Really nice pennants, Greg. Impressive that the follow-up paint on the 1939 pennant has not faded.

Greg, did any of these three dueling scroll pennants feature tassels?? I seem to recall the '39 having them; but perhaps not on the others?

Keezer Mfg. Co., art department, new photos
 

If you haven't checked out my Pennant Fever post on Keezer Mfg. Co. in a while, you may want to revisit it. The Plaistow Historical Society reached out to me a few weeks ago and shared a number of photos and newspaper clippings featuring company employees hard at work at their Plaistow plant over the years.

One little gem I'll preview here concerns a mid-century article on the art department and its personnel. For years we've wondered who the artists were behind some of our favorite pennant artwork, right? Well, now we we know who was responsible for Keezer's art....

Great photo! Thanks Kyle, for finding and posting that awesome info!

Great stuff.... Trouble is, now I want to see what's below those scroll pennants. ;)

It's a never-ending smorgasbord of inredible pennants. Should be designated as "The Great Wall of Thetahat".

But to stay "on-topic", I have the identical 1940 WS Scroll version (Reds/Tigers) in green felt with yellow graphics.

Agree, that's a beautiful pennant. Have seen it before and wished I had one. The cardinal pennant that is.

Thanks Kyle. I enjoyed the updated Keezer post. Great to see those photos.

I saw these at the National in Baltimore years ago, but he didn’t want to sell just the Yankees. I thought about buying the pair and selling the Cards, but obviously didn’t. Nice 1939 also, I think Ron Cunningham had that one for sale at one of the Chicago nationals. Fantastic condition.

I don’t think those are grommets…. I think they’re thumbtack depressions.

My ‘39 does not have its tassels but ‘41 and ‘47 do (tucked behind).

No … on this pennant they aren’t grommets but I meant it’s the same company as the one who used grommets. I just referred to it as the “grommet” company (with quotes). It seems as if after 1940 they did away with the grommets and stitched the tassels to the pennant, still without a spine. There is typically a clover design where the grommets used to be.

In the pic below only the 1939 dated pennant has grommets. Gotta be a Midwest company …

(On another note, I’m always looking for color variations of these Browns pennants … I think I’ve seen blue?)