^^^^^ So, you believe the monochromes were intentional? You’re probably right. I had always considered them mistakes. I’d love to know if your “different price points” theory is correct as well.

I had wondered about price/cost point being a factor as well.

One interesting thing about the pennants Rob posted is how rare they are. I've been collecting Giants pennants for 5+ years and have never seen even one of the pennant(s) Rob posted (with the batter in the stadium) for sale during that time. I'd expect to see variations for a design that was very common, because it sold for a long time, had multiple production runs, etc. Why so many variations of such a rare pennant?

Here's some more examples of the color variations Trench offered. The below pennant was sold at Dodger Stadium and through the team's mail order catalog from the 1960s through the early 1980s. The first is their simple, two-color variation. White and green, that's it.

Next is the polychrome variant, with at least five different shades of color.

Finally, here's the same polychrome pennant; but, the colors have faded, probably due to sun exposure. From a distance, it almost appears monochrome.

Same design. Different color options.

Anyone have a Syracuse University Baseball Pennant?

How about the pennants from the late 40s/early 50s that seem to have spray-painted colors? This style is a fairly thick felt, wide spine, single stitch, and thin tassels that are further from the corners. The dated Tigers pennants from early 50s seem to fit this mold.

Agree....that kind of effect couldn’t be done with silk screen.

I hear you guys, but even that Cleveland pennant was silk screened. The base layer in white would have been the first layer applied; and, it would have been screened on. No question. It had to be. Otherwise, the red felt would show through the white lettering, making it look pinkish.

On the other hand, the secondary color applications may not have been screened on.... I'm still trying to figure that out because I think that look is really cool. I believe they called that a "color gradient" because, well, the color goes from dark to light to nothing. Typically, this mystery maker applied this effect to the text (which was white) that ran across the pennant, moving in a horizontal line, from top to bottom or bottom to top.

Here's some White Sox and Yankees pennants that feature a two-color gradient. Both were made by the same unknown manufacturer as part of a whole series of mostly monochrome pennants featuring a ball running through the team's name. This "ball through the name" series was made throughout the 1950s and includes a dated 1951 Tigers pennant as well as a ca. 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers pennant.

It's possible they created this gradient by air brushing the colors atop the white base layer. It's also possible they screened it on, using the squeegee like a brush, applying a quick burst of pressure while gradually letting that pressure diminish. Or maybe they rolled the ink on with a roller? Who knows? But it is a very cool look.

I don't believe ADFLAG made either the Cleveland or this Sox or Yankees pennants; but, ADFLAG did make a San Francisco Giants pennant using the same technique.

[I know Rob will happily post it soon enough....]

Interestingly...or not...I've always wondered about this Niners pennant. It looks like someone took spray paint to it...Not really accomplishing the gradient look with the green across forty niners, but some success with the red across San Francisco. Maybe an early attempt at a competitor trying to copy the technique.

<a href="http://imgbox.com/oil5iD94" target="_blank"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/53/bf/oil5iD94_o.png" alt="image host"/></a>

No doubt, the white was silk screened. I'm 99.9% certain the "secondary color applications" had to be airbrushed. The airbrush was invented in the late 1800's and custom car culture made the technique very popular in the 1950's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbrush

:p

This Chicago pennant has been discussed before. I noticed this San Francisco pennant on eBay dated 1915 which has the same “bear” mascot. Makes me think the pennant maker made these for numerous cities using the same mascot. Seeing this pennant makes me think these are not sports related.

Ppie
 

Hi Mike,

I'm no pennant expert but I think the S.F. one is almost certainly for the Pan Pacific International Exposition. Here's a button from my collection...

Pittsburgh pennants
 

Here’s some nice color combo Forbes Field pennants

Good call Andy.

Haven't added much lately but was glad to find this one...

First time I've seen one for sale.

<a href="http://imgbox.com/NChb0jO0" target="_blank"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/ed/22/NChb0jO0_o.jpg" alt="image host"/></a>

Wow, that's in such great condition. Is that older version of that graphic; or the newer?

Any evidence of tassels?

I'd say this one is definitely from the 60's with stadium flags similar to the Raiders and Cowboys versions. You can see the mesh imprint in the screen printing as well...which I believe would put it in the 60s.

One interesting variation on this one...the people in the stadium look like people complete with waving arms. The Cowboys and Raiders versions just have ink blobs representing the crowd. Another difference, the Rams punter has cuffs on the sleeves of his jersey. The Raiders and Cowboys...and the 1940s version of the punter, don't.

Fantastic pickup, Rob...

J E A L O U S of that one... what a beauty!

Liked the orange and black on this one

Good call, Andy, on the 1915 Pan Pacific Pennant. Almost certainly, that's what it is...

As for the Chicago version, I have seen countless pennants over the decades, in which a sports team pennant shared the same image/graphics as a non-sports pennant. I have seen very specific Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers Pennants in which the same exact mascot was used for a zoo, national/state park, or city souvenir pennant. The companies that made these had a "library" of sorts, and utilized these images as appropriate. They did not always create a new image for every pennant and did not limit many of the images to sports.

That said... I still strongly believe the Chicago version is a Cubs Pennant. They always used burgundy for their pre-1920 pennants. The Chicago Bears came to exist in 1922, and oversized pennants were all but gone by then. As for it being a non-sports pennant, of course that remains a slight possibility. But whereas the Bear made complete sense for California (it is the California State Animal, and is prominent on the State Flag), it makes little/no sense for Chicago (other than for the Cubs). Furthermore, the Cubs used a full Bear Mascot back then, as opposed to the later cute Cubbie type mascot.

Just my 2 cents...

Also...

I know this is a pennant thread, but GORGEOUS PIN, Andy...

That is some beautiful artwork and the Bear charm is just awesome!

Ppie
 

Thanks Mark, I sold a lot of 6 PPIE buttons last night on Ebay and just couldn't get myself to add this one to the lot. It's a keeper.

Ditto on all that. Pennant makers definitely re-used their own artwork wherever they could. In many sales catalogues they offered their customers, they would brag about their vast collection of stock artwork you could select from. Typically, this concerned mascots. In some cases, say for something really popular, like a bear, they'd offer 2-3 different variants of the bear. One might be a realistic bear; another might be a cartoonish bear; and still another might feature a third bear posed differently or from an alternative angle.

And, you make a really good case about that Cubs pennant, Mark. I can think of no reason why you would associate a Grizzly Bear with the city of Chicago--unless you were trying to sell it outside the gates of Wrigley Field (or, was it Weeghman Park back in those days?).

Hard to say! I think the Chicago Ballpark was transitioning right about the time this pennant would've been produced. Great insights!

1910s Oakland Oaks PCL pennant??
 

I just picked this pennant up. I'm curious if any of you PCL experts can weigh-in as to whether this may be an Oakland Oaks (or, Acorns, as they were also known as) PCL pennant; or, just a generic city of Oakland, California souvenir pennant?

The tag reads "Newman Mfg. Co. / 883 Market St. / San Francisco ". I did some research on this manufacturer and found a listing for them in a 1922 San Francisco Chamber of Commerce directory; albeit, at a different address located just around the corner.

The pennant is a standard full size at 30" in length--so, it's not oversized like many from the early part of the century. But it is entirely sewn letter; and the style of the manufacturer's logo is very consistent with those from the turn of the century. I would therefore guess this pennant came from the 1910s.

I'm also aware that the San Francisco Seals and the Oaks/Acorns were owned by the same owner back in those days; and, as a result, played many of their home games in San Francisco at Recreation Park as early as 1907. They played there off and on through the early 1920s, in fact.

So, if this is an Oaks/Acorns pennant, that might explain why it was made by a San Francisco manufacturer.

I think their team colors were also blue/white back in the 1910s, but I haven't been able to confirm that.

Anyway, penny for your thoughts?

Oilers pennant
 

Found this Oilers pennant today at an antique mall. I'd never seen it before. The older looking helmet makes me think that it is from the early days of the Oilers.

Oh man...Extremely jealous. Great score. Never saw that before. I've looked in several antique malls around Houston hoping for that kind of find. No such luck.

Very cool Marc!

Vintage football
 

I got the pennant and this other stuff at the Caroyln Thompson antique mall. A decent amount of sports stuff there for a mall (sorry for the non-pennant content... but there are cheerleaders).

Love the snake venom cola can. That's 35 minutes from my house. I was at the Whole Foods about 5 minutes from there earlier today. Never been to the mall.

That is so sweet! Gotta be one of their very first pennants (if not the first).

Well... there is less Oilers stuff there now.

Thanks! I was excited to see it and to be able to get it for a reasonable price. Older NFL pennants (at least 49ers and Oliers) have been selling for (what seem to me) very strong prices lately and I've been an underbidder on several lately.

Is it soft or stiff (that's what she said).

The Oilers pennant... ;)

I’m not a football guy, but that seems like a very unusual pennant. Nice find!

The Oilers pennant is very soft.

I’ve never seen that Oilers pennant. Must be pretty rare. Nice pick up

Here's my 2 cents for your penny... :p

I love that pennant and especially since it's labeled. 99% of my pennants are not labeled. Unfortunately, I don't think it's an Oaks pennants. My quickie research shows the early Oaks used a color scheme of green and yellow (like the Modern A's) with a bit of red in their "insignias". It wasn't until the 1950s (maybe 1940s) that they went to red and blue on white unis. I could definitely be wrong on this, though...

1910s Oakland Oaks PCL pennant??
 

I appreciate your two cents!

I can't dispute anything you said. I myself am skeptical of these crossover travel/baseball pennants from the early part of the century. It is highly unusual to find sewn letter pennants like mine from that era used for anything other than collegiate, travel, or advertising purposes. Professional baseball? Not so much....

I still don't know about the Oaks' uniform colors from that era. I think their colors--much like their team name and ballpark location--changed frequently during that era. Finding a color picture of their uniform from then isn't easy either. They could have been green/yellow in 1916; then blue/white in 1917. Nothing was consistent back in those days.

A few years ago a follower of this thread posted the below Oaks pennants from the same era we're talking about. It's a stunner! So good, I'm gonna re-post it in all its glory below.

Note that the uniform depicted is blue/white, much like my pennant believed to be from the same era....

So, who knows for certain, right? Certainty in this hobby isn't common either, is it?

Hardly conclusive but adding to the intrigue...This from a 2014 Ebay auction:

Rare c. 1913 felt pennant from the Oakland Oaks Baseball Team. Measures a 29 inches across and condition is VERY nice. From the collection of a 1908-1915 Minor League Baseball Player from the era and I have a couple other pennants including an Centralia pennant and a pictoral Aberdeen Washington pennant as well! There are no specific markings identifying it as baseball but most pennants of the era were like this. Considering the collection it came from I have NO doubt this was used by a baseball fan to root on the Oakland Oaks, especially since dark blue and white were the Oaks colors as well!
<a href="http://imgbox.com/5uAEaBfL" target="_blank"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/0b/d0/5uAEaBfL_o.jpg" alt="image host"/></a>

One other note...It's interesting that the Oakland Oaks baseball team and the Oakland Oaks basketball team used the same mascot. This guys:

<a href="http://imgbox.com/cebIvPm4" target="_blank"><img src="https://images2.imgbox.com/8b/83/cebIvPm4_o.jpg" alt="image host"/></a>

1910s Oakland Oaks PCL pennant??
 

As best I can tell, the Oaks did sport a blue/white uniform by ca. 1912. There's a few different tobacco cards from that era that depict such a uniform. See below.

By the latter portion of the decade, the Oaks used a different uniform than the one below. I wondered if this one perhaps was the early green/yellow one they may have also worn? Then I found this 1918 movie footage of the Oaks and their opening day festivities:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u-uQBv7H1Y

Obviously, this footage has been colorized. But, however they colorize these old movies ... they made these uniforms blue/white, too.

So, who knows?

It's a cool movie clip either way and that first uniform is totally sweet.

Repro
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-VINTAG...d&LH_Auction=1

Who are the suckers paying high dollar for non period pennants? There is also a vintage "1946" Red Sox pennant currently for sale. I guess because these were produced many years ago, I think mid-late 70's, the vintage label isn't being deceptive. However claiming vintage and leaving out the date of manufacture its aim is to take advantage of the novice collector.

That’s not even in good condition. A seller with hearly 50,000 feedbacks ought to know better. :mad:

I see this garbage every time I search vintage pennants on eBay. In addition to it being obviously post-1970s, it's just ugly. There's nothing attractive or artistic to any of these poorly made generic repros.

Maybe a few years down the road, there will be a legitimate market for "vintage reproductions". Apparently one man's trash is becoming another man's treasure.

Good lord!!! 290 bucks!?!?!?

Found these three at my friends shop recently. I’m very intrigued by the Press Club of Chicago and Modern pennants (both made by National of Chicago). Anyone have have info on those, please let me know.

Do you have picture of the maker's mark, label, or tag you can share? That manufacturer doesn't sound familiar to me.

I didn’t remember the full name National Badge and Pennant Company

National Badge & Pennant Co.
 

Honestly, I've never heard of them. Which surprised me because I've become quite familiar with a half dozen different pennant makers from Chicago; and I cannot recall ever seeing one of their pennants.

Which tells me they probably never manufactured sports pennants.

The Illinois corporate registry from 1915 lists them as having incorporated as a for profit business by 1914. Here's two ads I found in the Directory and Register of Women's Clubs, City of Chicago and Vicinity (1915) and The Dry Goods Economist (1918) that list their address as 105 W. Madison St., a building in the loop that still stands today.

From the style of your two pennants I'd say either could be from the 1910s when these ads were placed.

Another label
 

This is a somewhat recent pickup. I just noticed that it has a label (Pacific Athletic Co).

Pacific Athletic co.
 

That's a cool Santa Clara pennant. I've always liked that tag because it's colorized. The slogan, "Be Specific - Say Pacific" is kind of a nice touch, too.

As far as I can tell this company dates back to at least 1913 when they were known as the Pacific Pennant & Novelty Co., located at 244-46 New High Street in downtown Los Angeles, CA. They were one of the biggest pennant makers on the west coast for the first half of the 20th century and they made a lot of Pac 12 collegiate pennants during that time.

I've always thought your tag was one they used throughout the 1940s. By then they had changed their name to Pacific Athletic Co. because they were making a lot more than just pennants; namely athletic uniforms and apparel.

By the 1950s they moved out of Los Angeles to the nearby suburb of Gardena, CA where they set up shop at 14501 S. Figueroa Blvd. This apparently prompted a label re-design, see below.

In 1956 Pacific Athletic Co. was acquired by Collegiate Mfg. Co. of Ames, IA. From then on, the resulting company re-branded itself as Collegiate-Pacific. Manufacturing of all felt novelty products would eventually shift to their Roanoke, VA site where pennants are still being made today.

Pacific Athletic Co. made some really cool pennants over the years. Look for their tagging on pennants for UCLA, Cal, Stanford and a ton of smaller colleges and high schools from California and the west coast.