The Athletics repair job is well done - slight color difference but I'm not sure I would have really noticed without the call out.

Addressing a few of the earlier comments... The Fighting Irish pennant does have a Green Mountain Studios tag (can faintly see it in in pic below middle tassels).

For reference, the unnegotiated quote that I received to repair it was $600, which includes stitching to a mat (defrays some costs of overall framing). The guy is a textile restoration expert who predominantly does work for museums.

I don't necessarily see how having a pennant professionally restored would devalue it, as a key part of professional restoration is having the ability to remove what was added on, but definitely agree it's a cost vs. benefit exercise. The ideas of playing around with the underlying background are good and seem like the best option for my particular situation - it does have some "character" in its current state.

That’s fantastic, Ed! Could you explain what you mean by “needle felting wool fibers”?

That's pretty impressive and I probably wouldn't have noticed a color difference if you hadn't mentioned. Did you start with a wad of loose felt fibers or did you have a patch of felt that you were able to needle to the pennant and then trim with scissors? That pennant looks like it regenerated its own tip the way a lizard would its tail.

needle felting
 

In needle felting you start with a wad of fibers, usually wool but there are plenty of synthetics if you want that. They sell dyed wool in a wide variety of colors so you can blend them together to make any color you need. Then you use a felting needle to repeatedly stab through the fibers. The needle has barbs which pushes the fibers through the other fibers and you keep stabbing until they are weaved together. With enough work you get a solid form. A lot of people needle felt sculptures like animals, dolls, pretty much anything. I learned about needle felting from my wife who teaches art to kids.

To patch a pennant, you can weave into an existing piece of felt pushing the new fibers into the old. Do it enough, you’ll build up a new piece of wool felt. It’ll be fuzzier than the original but you can use an iron to get it flat to match the original felt. To finish, trim to match the edge of the pennant.

I still can't really grasp the concept but I'm sure there's a youtube video if I ever want to give this a try!

I bought some felting needles a couple of months ago but haven't gotten around to using them yet.

I found this video that seemed to explain it well. https://youtu.be/2fdnQhma0-8

The comments provide another tip.....to remove the musty smell, spray with vodka! :p

So I purchased this awhile back from an estate sale in Texas (online) it was part of a "lot" that had an 84' Cubs division champs pennant, which is the only reason I bought them lol

anywho, I was trying to research and came across this article:

https://theundefeated.com/features/w...-was-at-stake/

any thoughts on if this pennant may be that old and/or referencing that particular game? thanks....

Mike:

I knew nothing about that game or backstory. Thanks for sharing your pennant and supporting article.

It sure seems to be a legit pennant made for sale at this historic "Soul Bowl" game. The pennant's by WGN; and, they used this same artwork + letter font to commemorate Super Bowl pennants made during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Special event pennants were kind of their jam. Since an estimated 60,000 fans packed Yankee Stadium to watch this game, I have little doubt the company viewed a game of this caliber as being pennant-worthy.

In fact, there's a 1968 Super Bowl II dueling pennant by WGN showcasing the Packers vs. Raiders matchup from that year's game. It had to have been made a few weeks away from this game. It looks quite similar to yours; same artwork; same letter script, except it reads, "Super Bowl" rather than "Soul Bowl." See: https://pennantfever.weebly.com/blog...ry/wgn-flag-co

Again, thanks for the history lesson. This is why I love pennants!

No no no no.......thank YOU, that was a really cool read and extremely helpful. I believe I may want to invest in my first pennant protector!