Cool pennant...WGN...Late 60's early 70s. Domer can correct my guesses.

There must've been a warehouse find of college football pennants at some point as nearly every one you find from that time period is in mint condition.

***Edit to add...And they seem to sell for less than you'd think.***

Yeah, this one is pretty mint. One thing that makes me think it might be vintage is that the spine over-extended at the bottom. I cut it off. :p

Rare for me to find a Santa Clara pennant that I have never seen, but this one showed up on ebay last week. It's Chicago Pennant Co, with a flocked Bronco graphic. Really nice.

That's a beauty Marc. Nice score.

Wow - huge score! Happy you found one you didn’t have. Once you display it, I hope to see updated photos!

WGN, all the way.

Great find, Marc! Do you have competition for Santa Clara pennants?

Thanks, guys. I have some competition for Santa Clara items, but I think it is a pretty small group of collectors. Most specialize a bit more broadly in groups of schools (e.g., Stanford/Cal/Santa Clara).

$349 is a little steep for this pennant. Maybe he'll give it to me for half off?

https://ebay.us/laCcd8

Get half off the $15.20 shipping, too!

Looking for any insight on this pennant. Age, maker, even what sport it’s for? Buffalo has had many franchises with the Bisons name over the years( Baseball, hockey, football, et al)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...635edaa6e9.jpg


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I was bidding on it as if it was football primarily because I've only ever seen a "Bisons" football pennant from that era (1940s). But it could be Minor League Baseball, Professional Basketball or Professional Hockey as well.

Being 3/4 size and given the price it sold for, I suspect that someone knows for sure or at least feels it is most likely NOT the football team...thus making it even more rare.

I guess that's the beauty of this one...it can be whatever you want it to be.

I would have guessed the AAFC Bisons as well. Colors and style look a lot like the Bisons/Bills pennants I’ve seen from that era.


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Hello, all. I'm a new joiner and have loved reading through all the posts - highly informative!

I picked up the attached ND pennant this past weekend - believed to be from their first Championship in 1924.

Two questions:
1) Has anyone seen any other examples of this pennant or other 1924 ND championship pennants?

2) Any way to confirm 1924 on this one (i.e., rule out 1929/1930 championships)? Pennant is from Chicago Pennant Co at 41" long (w/out tassels) and 14" wide.

Great pennant! It’s the real deal but I couldn’t date it for you.

Domer may be able to help. He’s well versed in all the makers and a ND guy, as well.

Great pennant. I'm not an expert on the topic, but I wonder when teams started using the term "National Champions"? Did they use it as early as 1924? They might have.

Dc1917: HO-LY-SHeeeeeeeeeeet!

Never seen that pennant before. And, yes, I believe there's good evidence this was made to commemorate the '24 team--not the '29 or '30 National Championship winning teams ... or the '43, '46, '47 or '49 teams; or the '66, '73, or '77 champs. Or the '88 team. Definitely not any of these teams.

Lots of championships = lots of confusion. That's the problem with winning all the time, right? :rolleyes:

Seriously, it's from 1924. We know because the label used (label #6, on my BLOG) was only in use for a limited window: roughly 1924-27. Chipen'co switched to a whole new label at the end of the 1920s, so we can say with confidence this isn't from that era. See: https://pennantfever.weebly.com/blog...ago-pennant-co

I wondered when the term "National Champions" first came into vogue; and whether it was commonly in use by the mid-1920s. It was! In fact, there's one other Notre Dame pennant, that I know of, that features the term and the year 1924 on it. I've never actually seen it, so who knows if any exist today, but I do believe it was made. You can read all about it, and my attempt to reproduce it, here: https://pennantfever.weebly.com/blog...ago-pennant-co

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the thread!

Awesome, appreciate the info! And Domer, your blog is phenomenal - astonishing how much knowledge is captured there. Thanks for sharing.

I have a relatively extensive collection of ND pennants and a few miscellaneous. Nothing as noteworthy as my "newer" one, but I'll aim to share some other photos in the coming days.

Congrats on snagging the ND Pennant. It's definitely from 1924. Great score!

Congratulations on this incredible find. Truly a gem. Just my opinion, but if it were me, I would definitely have this professionally framed. It is certainly deserving. If you do, make sure and take a photo of the tag on the back as a reminder.

Sorry. I put the wrong URL. Try here: https://pennantfactory.weebly.com/bl...e-pennant-1925

Great selection of pennants in the Hunt auctions all star auction

As promised, attaching photos of other ND pennants from the '20s to maybe early '50s. Very slow buildup on the framing, but I'll get there eventually :). The first two pictured are likely next in line alongside the '24 championship one.

I'm thinking of getting the Fighting Irish one restored, but would welcome thoughts on if that's worth the effort. Pennant is from Green Mountain Studios - missing its 3rd set of tassels and has extensive moth damage in areas, but it exists!

That's an amazing collection of ND pennants. WOW!

A few recent pick ups arrived today. Nothing super rare but I was looking for the Killebrew pennant and found it in an unlikely online auction from Canada.

Catalog References:

• MWBW004-TBC
• NYMT022-TBC
• LADG008-ADFL
• MNTW003-TBC

Maybe not super rare, but super cool!

Those are some great pennants! The first two are off the charts!

You know, in the 107 pages and 5300 posts to this thread, I don’t know if we’ve ever discussed professional restoration. I ‘ve done my share of amateur restoration but would have a clue how to handle the moth damage to the Fighting Irish. Do you know of a person who does that kind of work?

I’m interested to see what others have to say about restoration. My guess is the opinion will be “go for it if you intent to keep it; you must disclose it if you ever sell.” Personally, I'd love to see if something could be done.

We’re all on a first name basis....what’s yours? :p

P.S. is there a tag for Green Mountain Studios?

I can't imagine that would be cheap, so it would have to be reserved for very special pennants. And who wants to risk messing with those? In 25+ years of collecting, I've never see a pennant that was described as professionally restored...so it's either not a thing or not worth the money. Maybe others have?

On closer inspection, it seems the only really bad portions are lower left and upper right. You could do what I’ve done….cut out little felt patches and tape them from the back. :p

I just picked up a book on the Pacific Coast League. Check out these beauties...

Restoration?? Are you kidding? Nooooooooo. How on earth would you replace missing pieces of 100+ year old, sun faded, patina'd felt? Between that and the frame you'd spend more than the pennant was worth (and, you'd certainly devalue it for resale purposes).

I say let these priceless artifacts show their age. Sure, the Declaration of Independence's looking a bit shabby; but, nobody's about to trace over John Hancock's signature, just to make it look like it did on July 4, 1776.

It's a 100+ year old pennant. It's okay to look old.

If you want a happy medium, I recommend scanning the color of the primary felt color; printing it in the shape of a triangle; and placing the pennant atop this background, so the pennant appears--from a distance--to be one, intact pennant. Up close, you'll see the holes; and that will convince others that they're looking at a truly special (and unrestored) pennant. Everybody wins!

This is precisely how the Smithsonian displayed the Star Spangled Banner for many decades.

Just make sure the background is printed on acid free material. Or better yet, use felt ... if you can match the color.

That sounds like a good plan.

I've got a Cardinals pennant I did that to. You can barely tell...from the front. :)

That's a great and practical solution.

Those ND early pennants are off the charts as is the national champs one.

That Killebrew pennant is nice and tougher than the different photo versions you see around more. DWR is the expert on the Twins photo pennants

1910 Connie Mack Athletics Pennant
 

I'm working on more updates to the Pennant Catalog. I came upon this Connie Mack Athletics pennant from an auction in 2019. The listing says that the top was restored. I'm assuming that means the spine and tassels were replaced.

I'm interested on thoughts on this one? Does anyone remember the auction in 2019?

https://paragonauctions.com/CIRCA_19...-LOT10045.aspx

Saw these on ebay. I have a couple of different Giants pennants done by Schmidt's. I thought it was cool to see the whole intact set, along with string and directions for display options (not $250 cool, tho).

Don't bother with it. The pennant is a common/obvious reproduction, and the Auction House is clueless. Someone got taken, and it's this kind of thing that really screws the hobby. Just LMK if you need an image of the real one.

pennant repair
 

I've tried repairing old felt and it is possible. This was my first attempt on an faded A's pennant with a bad tip. If I ever do it again I would take more time to match the color better as it came out a little bit too dark. I did it by needle felting wool fibers to reproduce the felt.

PS. !f I had an historically old/valuable pennant I wouldn't have touched it.

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!

Well here's a rare historical pennant that just sold for 1/10th of its "would be" value in EX condition. Even with all of its faults, the graphics appear completely undisturbed...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14408520244...p2047675.l2557

Whoever won this one might consider paying you a handsome sum to perform your "felting needle magic". Can't imagine a better candidate, if the right color burgundy wool could be obtained. I am normally against restoration, but this one could really benefit from the "felting" procedure.

Great job on the A's Pennant, BTW!

Despite the graphics being in good shape, I was a little surprised at price this pennant received. Granted it’s rare, but that’s a lot of damage. If restored and then sold again, even though I collect Cubs pennants, I would not be interested. Curious how others feel.

I would've paid that. I think it's still a stunning pennant and will look great framed. Probably would've gone for what...4-5K if not moth eaten?

I, for one, am seeing possibilities with the "felting" procedure.

I just mastered the art of "bleaching" a pennant to get stains out now I have to take up sewing, lol

Just picked up this rare old minor league pennant, of the Class D Mathewson (Saskatchewan) Armadillos ….

EDIT: Bad, bad joke …

Very cool!

Are you certain?

Any chance it's a nod to Christy Mathewson, the pitcher? Looks to be from the 1910s, when he was among the NL's best pitchers.

Can we get a close-up of the artwork?

Ah, I’m sorry that was me trying to be funny. It’s Christy. I don’t even know if there is a town called Mathewson. I will post the graphic shortly, it’s definitely him …. Just interesting how it looks so much like a team pennant.

It’s him.

Wow! Ever seen that one before?

Nope … similar graphic on a 1910’s Giants pennant however.

You fooled me, although I wondered how many armadillos there were in Saskatchewan. In this case very, very, very cool! :D

Thanks for sharing this fabulous find. Lone survivor perhaps?

Damn! You just beat me picking up that Matty. It was there, i quickly read the info and clicked the “buy”… GONE!! Must have beat me by seconds.:(

Congrats!

Possibly, I haven’t seen it before.

Thank you. I had a deal worked out with the seller, and was waiting to pounce on it.

Greg, I thought I told you: never joke about 100+ year old pennants!

Okay, you got me ... thought maybe you missed the connection; and, I was gonna totally make your day.

Cool pennant. Seems to be manufactured by the same mystery maker as this ca. 1916 Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) pennant. Artwork is very similar, down to the charcoal shading used on the uniforms; and the coloring of the shadows between the players' legs.

Which means the Dodgers and Giants, in this mystery artist's view, wore identical unis back then.... :eek:

Hello, you had a deal with the seller makes me feel better. That means
I probably had ZERO chance. Enjoy that awesome relic :):)

Albert

Yep that’s a good observation. This has me wondering, are there any other player-dedicated pennants this old?

Yes… Frank Chance, Nap LaJoie, Walter Johnson, Red Dooin, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith and Managers Connie Mack and John McGraw, to name a few off the top of my head. I know there are more but am in the midst of a brain fart.

I’ve never even heard of Red Dooin. :p

Bump for any information.

Ah yes of course. The bakery pennants come to mind. I guess I was thinking a player-only pennant with no (or lesser) mention of team. But that’s not exactly a clear cut category. If you’re talking about that Foxey Griff pennant …. Wow … I remember seeing that on eBay in my early collecting days, late 90s, and didn’t make the connection to Clark Griffith. It sold for like a grand and then I saw a dealer with it at an antique show in Atlantic City. I wonder if you have the exact pennant ….

Dooin’s Daisies! … as the Phillies were known when Red was manager (1910-14). This pennant can run north of $10K in auction …

matty
 

same graphic

Was that done for a tour of Japan? The font, obviously, suggests that.

Possibly. I’ve read that the 1913-14 World Tour stopped in Japan, but Christy did not make any overseas trips.

Made a holder for it … it’s not without blemishes but it works for limited display room. 40 gauge clear vinyl from an online marine store, very thick but soft. One day I’ll try the poster frame approach suggested by Baseball Rob.

Domer alerted me to this pennant (on etsy). Since my "room" is more of a flea market than a museum, I figured I would stuff the monogram under some other stuff and let the San Francisco show. The seller was Keith Javic...Domer tells me he's mrkrab around here. For $60, I figured I couldn't go wrong. Keith represented this as 1910's. What do you guys think? Was stitching this good in the 1910s? This thing is massive...47" x 17." Keith also guessed the monogram was Polytechnic College, but I see a P I C, not P T C. Besides, there's never been a Polytechnic College in SF. Any other guesses who this pennant might represent?