Oh I’m fairly certain it’s WGN. Or let’s say that I’m certain it was made by the same designers who made WGN pennants in the 40s and early 50s. Maybe another company signed them as free agents LOL. Spine/tassels/stitching all resemble the style of the Groth Tigers pennant and others. Thin tassels that are same color as the body, closer towards the center than corners, thick spine, white single stitch thread. Here’s a ‘44 Browns pennant with the exact same handwritten letter font. And then of course there’s the weird Groth connection.

They made a not too uncommon ‘59 Chisox scroll pennant in all-white print. I will say that even by the early 50s they stopped using tassels on most pennants and the spine was narrower. So it’s odd that this resembles their earlier ones. I still think that points to simply having multiple styles.

Another Groth related oddity is that I am almost certain that WGN made a 1946 dated pennant with roster, which was Groth’s rookie year. Had only 9 ABs.

That’s great info! Thanks Marc. Apparently he was very popular.

I'm guessing it was part of a patchwork quilt, and was removed in that way. As for the reason the Boston mini was never separated from the oversized pennant, one can only guess. Is it covering up a significant flaw or missing portion of the spine? That's the frustration.

And the crazy framing/matting job that accommodates the odd shape and bent tip of the Mini is simply bizarre. Makes me think there was a good reason for not separating the two.

https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com...?itemid=105013

Fatima College Pennants
 

Question for the group...were the College Pennants offered from the coupons and advertisements below, the same as the B54 large rectangular felts?
I ask because the B54s were closer to 13x28", and the pennants advertised by Fatima are listed as 12x32". Were there different Fatima College Pennants? If so, I am not sure I am aware of them.
Thanks
Joe

I came across this add from 1910 stating the the Fatima pennants were a "hand-sewn felt pennant", which which would seem to indicate they are not the B54 rugs, but rather your traditional college pennants with sewn on letters. If that's the case, I have never seen a tag or marking on a large pennant from Fatima or Liggett & Meyers. Have others?

I wonder where L&M sourced their pennants, and if they ever put their own tag or stamping on the reverse. Since they offered for over 100 colleges, etc., it would seem they sourced from a larger pennant manaufacturer.

Joe, I completely agree with you. Until your earlier post, I had always assumed that the promo items offered by Fatima Cigarettes ca. 1910 were limited to pennant-like items, e.g., leather squares embossed with an image of a school's pennant, or felt "rugs" with an illustration of same. I had no reason to think they offered full-size, sewed letter pennants. Apparently, they did, as per these advertisements you've unearthed. Nice work!

As to your latest post, I too am now wondering where they sourced their pennants from. My best guess is these promo pennants had no mark at all on them. If they had read "Smoke Fatima Cigarettes" on the reverse, we'd have surely come across such a distinctive mark.

It's an odd thing to have a promo pennant series with no branding whatsoever thereon. Isn't the whole point to promote sales of their products? The Ferguson Bakery (BF3) promo pennant series from ca. 1916 was mostly unbranded; however, their premiums had at least a maker's mark on the reverse (Bradford & Co.). On the other hand, The Detroit Free Press promo pennant series from ca. 1913 included a label on the reverse reading "Detroit Free Press." Adding a label or screening an extra mark would have added to the production costs, so maybe that's why Fatima didn't mark their pennants with their branding, as they did with their premium "rugs" (which could be easily stamped with their branding)?

If you're curious, here's the premium "rug" Fatima issued for Notre Dame....

WOW very nice looking "Rug" actually look good hanging on a wall

If you're into college pennants, I stumbled upon this place recently. Located in Branford, CT (with CT pricing to boot). Joe you may be particularly interested, if you aren't aware already. Didn't realize there were real live brick and mortar pennants stores out there.

PS...Sorry for the super size. Not enough coffee in me yet to mess with the photo sizes.

https://americanamemories.com

Thanks Rob. I am aware of Americana Memories, as they have a large on-line presence and on Etsy too. I didn't realize either they have an actual store. That would be cool to visit if I find myself in the area someday - like you said, they have some very healthy prices! :rolleyes:

BTW, looking at the picture you sent, I am not a fan of seeing pennants sitting out in the sun like that. I've seen how the older pennants can fade considerably over time, if exposed to sun.

Thanks Domer. Given the American Tobacco Company's (ATC) enormously broad and deep reach within all the colleges and universities, it would seem many would take advantage of the premium coupon offer. Seems to suggest that a very large proportion of the college sewn letter pennants that remain today, were actually distributed through the ATC.

Given the extensive amount of smoking that took place then, it would be very quick and easy for a student to amass 25 coupons.

Here's a piece on one of the typical smokers that happened at Cornell (there were many throughout the year), where 1,200 cans of tobacco and 30,000 Fatima cigarettes were donated by the American Tobacco Company - they had their hooks into all these students.