There’s an easy way for me to tell. The big dealer from Dallas (forgetting his name) has the most gi-normous collection of wonderful Red Sox pennants, I think his pics may be somewhere back in this thread. If he won the pennant, it’s real. If he didn’t bid, it’s fake. Simple as that. :)

I've attached a pic of the back of the red sox pennant, where you can mostly see the spine stitching that appears to leave no way to insert a stick and the long tassels with the triangular cut out (notch) at the tip. And also a pic of the modern Seals pennant with the same characteristics.

Was the triangular tip cut out/notch something that was used on older pennants? Anyone have any examples?

Rick Haskins. First person I thought of when the picture was posted. If he doesn't chime in before, there's a big Tristar show he does every six months in my town. The next one is Feb 8-10. I'll probably see him there and can get his thoughts.

Not a baseball pennant expert by any means, but for me, the graphics look too precise for the era a 32" pennant would be indicative of.

I don’t care who bought it, it’s a newer piece. The stitching on the piping and layering of pieces screams new. Bocca is right.

Rick is probably looking at this and I would be surprised if he spent $400 on this.

Yeah... I was thinking it was likely the same company (or individual) that made the Seals Pennant as well. Many thanks to Marc for blowing up the spine and fish-tail tassels. I was just too lazy to hunt for the pics, although I know they are buried somewhere within this gi-normous thread.

Which, by the way, has now exceeded 2,000 posts! Rob is 'da Man ;)

For what it’s worth, here’s a 1910s Athletics pennant, unquestionably vintage, with horizontal stitching at the top and bottom of the strip. (Also three sets of tassels, tucked behind.)

Here’s another, same era, like the other one everything is stitched (no silk screening). Odd size (9” by 35”) ... but with same stitching on spine.

Another thought on that Red Sox pennant.....the description was very vague. Other than a questionable “vintage” in the title, there were no out and out misrepresentations. I think the seller knew he had a newer item but two bidders convinced themselves otherwise.

A very common MO on eBay these days, unfortunately.

DeMar Mfg. Co. and the backwards pennant
 

Ah, DeMar Mfg. Co. I did a little research on this company a few months ago when I was writing that piece on Trench Mfg. Co. because both were Buffalo, NY based.

DeMar actually pre-dates Trench. I found some references to their existence as a felt novelty maker as early as 1915, or five years before Trench was founded. In 1917 they relocated from 170 Oak St. to 270 N. Division St. As far as I know the two companies were never related.

I've seen maybe a half dozen or so pennants bearing their label. All were travel/souvenir pennants, typically with a city name sewn across them--and, from spine to tip, I might add.

For that reason, for better or worse, I am fairly confident this was not sold as a Pirates baseball pennant. But, man it'd look cool when surrounded by some Pirates memorabilia....

This particular style, where the lettering goes from tip to spine, was offered by DeMar and other manufacturers of the day. It doesn't seem like it was very popular. (Unless maybe the consumer was dyslexic?) But, you will find this style offered in vintage felt novelty catalogues from that era. Here's an example of one, designated as "R-1", offered by the Arthur Mfg. Co. in Lowville, NY ca. 1925: