Great pennant Rick. Haven’t seen that one before. Love the photo to go with.

Thanks everyone. Kyle's photo find was definitely the icing on the cake.

It seems like WGN was a very big player in the 1940s. The new acquisition is at top, which resembles the font on other known WGNs. I think we can conclude that the Robinson-Paige-Doby pennants are WGN. They all have the characteristic of thin tassels of same color and texture as the body of the pennant, and many of these have the spray-painted look.

Kyle, what do you think?

This pennant here did remarkably well … fits the WGN style

Always loved that one, although I never really understood the odd design and what it might depict.

Could be. I may need to pay more attention to the thickness of tassels, moving forward.

So, then maybe these are WGN? Thin tassels, same material as pennant. Graphics all one color. Spruced up at times with two cans of spray paint.

I was wondering the same. What the hell? :confused:

Interesting! I think so. Artwork isn’t similar but everything else is a match.

I've always felt those were WGN. Fat spine, thin tassels and less than precise airbrushing.

Looks like a plume of air behind a fastball coming at you. Just my opinion.

Or a headdress or a Mohawk

I was thinking it resembled the grandstands....but looking again I'm not sure I know what it is.

Here's a new arrival of mine today. Catalog Ref: BSRS022-TBC

When I received it the bottom tassel was tied in a loose knot. When I took out the know, I found out why - the tassel is broken off.

Is it worth trying to repair the tassel, put it back in a knot or just leave it loose along side the pennant?

Cool pennant Gary … interesting design (with year in ribbon graphic) that strangely appears only on Boston pennants (Braves and Sox).

Gary- I'd find a way to repair that tassel. For not super valuable stuff, I've used a very, very, very small amount of super glue. Just makes it display better on the wall. It makes a bit of a hard/crunchy area (less glue the better). If it was more valuable, I guess I'd get someone to sew it (would not want to damage it with glue).

Speaking of making things look better, I followed some advice and used Oxyclean on some late 1970s/ early 1980s pennants. I know that these are too new for many of you, but some of these pennants are pretty tough to find in general and are especially tough to find in decent condition. Most are white felt and many have turned yellow, tan, or straight up brown. Here are some before and after pics. Soaked each for about 2-4 hours on hot/warm water and a half scoop of oxyclean. I changed the water/soap once for each (after the water turned brown). They display much, much, much better now.

Marc, great work. Oxy Clean works better than Retro for these? I tried Oxy on an old cloth pennant and it was a flop. I guess it depends on the material.

Finally found this elusive pennant, really pops on my Wall O’ Stadium Pennants

This pic will be tiny, I’m guessing (on my phone in Idaho) but apropos of the 1948 pennant, I guess Bill Veeck buried a 14’ x 20’ (?) pennant in the ground and it’s never been found. This is it:

That’s something else! Interesting to see the more modern-looking Chief Wahoo dating back that far …

Greg- I did not try the retroclean pennants. But the Oxyclean worked great with these stiff felt pennants from the late 1970s/early 1980s. No color running at all, even on an Astros pennant that had red graphics. I've heard that red spines might color bleed a bit, but I did not have any of those. These are all very stiff felt pennants. I've heard that oxyclean does not work well on older softer felt pennants because the paint can bleed.

Here’s a Retro Clean success story ….

Now here’s a note about the stadium pennants. Most, as you know, have a light yellow playing field. Are they made green and it quickly faded? Strangely, these Giants pennants (from the examples I’ve seen from Marc and Rob) seem to retain the grass color, and also many White Sox Comiskey Park (or White Sox Park) pennants have brilliant ballpark colors. But all the others have a yellow outfield :(

My favorite stadium pennants, ranked:

5. NY Giants Polo Grounds
4. “A New Home” Bum LA Dodgers
3. LA Angels Dodger Stadium
2. KC A’s with big ear elephant
1. Redlegs white pennant with gray Crosley

Your turn, Mark :) … I bet we agree on 1 and 2

The Cardinals often has a blue field surface.

Well, those are great choices, all....

Just because of my love for the Reds (and Mr. Red), I will change the order just a tad. My favorite Reds Stadium Pennant is the one with Mr. Red flying on a Bat above Crosley Field. There are so many great ones, I'll have to do a Top 10...

1. Mr. Red Riding a Bat above Crosley Field
2. Mullin Giant inside of the Polo Grounds
3. "A New Home" with Bum dreaming of Dodger Stadium
4. KC Athletics Dumbo-like Elephant towering above Municipal Stadium
5. Milwaukee Braves with screaming Brave above County Stadium
6. Dodgers with Mullin Bum inside Ebbets Field
7. Cardinals with Batting Bird above Sportsman's Park
8. Tigers with full-body leaping Tiger above Briggs Stadium
9. Cardinals with sullen Bird Head above Busch Stadium
10. Huge Mr. Red stretching high above Crosley Field

Honorable Mention:
11. Angels with Angel mascot atop Chavez Ravine
12. Indians with earlier Big Nose Chief Wahoo above "The Mistake on the Lake"

Wish I could attach pics, but this new computer is a b*tch :mad:

Great list. Love the “sullen Cardinal”, you’d think he’d be happy to be featured on a pennant. Yes that Redlegs version you mention is awesome. Kyle’s research helps date it … I have one with the TMC mark which suggests late 50s. Others have the little SS baseball. The Ebbets and Polo Grounds pennants also have the TMC mark. …. Cubs Wrigley pennant is underwhelming ….

I think we should all pitch in a buck or two and put this darn BIN out of its misery … I think he’ll take 8 bucks at this point

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14415622738...V337m&LH_BIN=1

Big time success!

Thank to FB Rob for sharing this tip with bocca and to bocca for sharing it with me. 1/2 cup of Oxyclean in a couple of inches of pretty warm bath water for about 3 hours. These pics don't do the results justice. These crappy, synthetic 80s pennants look much better! I cheaped out and bought the generic Oxyclean :p . Also, for my last two in the bath, I'm thinking upside down may work better, so the "holder downers" are not on the graphics side. Edit: now that I've reviewed my pictures, I see that they really don't do justice to the results. You'll have to believe me.

I know that these pennants aren't for everyone, but some are crazy rare and they are fun to hunt (for not all that much $$). For example, I've never seen this one (that Rob just posted) before.

They look much better once cleaned. I also only held them down until soaked through. Then I just let them float.

Nice work with the Oxy guys. It does a good job not only with overall discoloration but if there are spots too. They come out just by soaking, no spot treatment necessary. Late 70s into the 80s is the sweet spot for Oxy. It's harsher than retro clean but the newer pennants hold up to it.

And like Marc said, no need to hold down. I just make sure the pennant is saturated thoroughly then let it float until I like the results. And be careful with red. It's totally doable, just requires a little more attentiveness because red spines will definitely run. But if you swish the water every 15 minutes or so, the red washes away and will eventually stop running.

I was just extolling the virtue of 80s pennants to Kyle yesterday so these posts are very timely. There are some very rare pennants from the 80s, if you can stomach wading through all the 80s junk. Keep it up. Maybe we can start a movement.

I doubt the “Heavy Hitters” will ever wade into the (19)80s :rolleyes:

x

Geez, Trench …

Too soon??

Too soon. :p

Well that's pretty morbid for a non-sports pennant. I'm glad they didn't do this type of thing with their sports pennants, or we might have...

The paralysis of Roy Campanella
The freezing of Ted Williams' head
The snapping of Joe Theisman's leg
The suicide of Donnie Moore
or
The injection of Barry Bonds' butt cheek

(Apologies to Rob for that last one)

They could at least have made a Giants Polo Grounds pennant with a little guy using binoculars in the outfield ….

Think of the possibilities with OJ. The fun the air brusher could have with that. "OJ kills Nicole". It would look like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Wonder which company made this societal reject? If they had a Manson Family pennant, I'd be all over it.

Did you guys see the thread “Looking for Ted Williams pieces”?

A smart ass reply instantly came to my mind.

Man, we're going downhill fast. Not sure I can ever look at a Pollock painting the same way again. :eek:

Any thoughts on this one? Baseball or travel? The Tiger on the label seems too coincidental, no? Was this a logo of The Reproduction Company?

The Reproduction Co.
 

It's a legit Reproduction Co. label. In fact, I can date this specific label to ca. 1914. They used it on plenty of travel/souvenir and special event pennants manufactured during the mid-1910s.

For some reason, this company, which was based in Manhattan (and later, Brooklyn) really liked tigers. Of the four labels I've found of theirs used between 1908-1921, two featured tigers: one with a full body of a tiger; the other with only the head.

Unfortunately, I believe it's just a coincidence that there's a tiger on this "Detroit" pennant's label. I'm pretty sure this is a travel/souvenir pennant. They made a lot of these for many cities and states. They mostly all looked like this "Detroit" pennant, down to the same Gothic font. Usually, these were 100% screen printed; but, some, like this "Detroit" pennant, featured sewed letters.

The Reproduction Co. did make two known professional baseball pennants; however, unlike their travel/souvenir pennants, each were undeniably baseball pennants; and, both were made closer to 1910. As you'll see, they don't resemble the "Detroit" pennant at all. Here they are below....

Great stuff as always Kyle. I typically find pennants with no team name pretty dubious. But the logo here was a curveball. I can only imagine how many collectors over the last 100+ years were sure this was a baseball pennant because of that tiger logo on the back. But, as Paul Harvey used to say...

It still might be a Tigers Pennant, but it has nothing to do with the tag. The Tigers definitely used that gothic style font, and the colors are also perfect for the Tigers.

Of course it's still a leap of faith, and not one that I'd sink a lot of money into. But I would never-the-less give it close to a 50/50 chance of being a Tigers pennant.

You're more knowledgeable than I, but I would only give it a 10% chance...if that.

This pennant sold on eBay several years ago and it had a Reproduction Co tag on the back. I did not win it, but did keep a photo and a note about the tag.

What an INCREDIBLE Cubs pennant in INCREDIBLE condition. That’s maybe close to five figures in the current market.

Mike, you sure it wasn't a Spalding Bros. label, like the moth-eaten one that just sold for like $600 last month on what otherwise appeared to be the same pennant?

Five figures? Like 1/660th of a Honus Wagner card?

Here’s the thread when I asked about it in 2014.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=184244

Very cool Cubs WGN 75th anniversary pennant just sold on eBay, rare color version. Mike, I think you have this already? … did anyone here win it?

75th anniversary of the Cubs or of WGN? :confused:

1971 "Pittsburg" Pirates World Champs Pennant
 

Yet another former ASCO employee contacted me recently. David Kulas worked for Lars Granberg back in the early 1970s. He was Assistant Sales Manager for ASCO's Button House division; and National Sales Manager for Idea Promotions, another offshoot of the parent company.

We spoke for nearly an hour. I asked him for some good pennant stories, to "share with my readers." He gave me this gem....

In 1971 he was working at ASCO/Button House. The pirates were in the World Series. It was looking like the Pirates might win it all. Accordingly, some vendor contacted ASCO about pre-ordering 5,000 "World Champion" pennants. ASCO got right to work, made up a quick design, printed 5,000 of them, then overnighted them to the vendor in Pittsburgh.

The next day someone from ASCO telephoned the vendor to ensure the product had arrived safely. It had. There was only one problem, the vendor stated: "You spelled Pittsburgh wrong!" In their haste to make the pennant, someone in Winona left off the "h" in Pittsburgh. The parties agreed to talk in an hour or so about a plan forward, and the call ended.

When they spoke again an hour later, ASCO was prepared to eat the loss and re-make and re-ship a new order of pennants--this time, with the typo corrected. "Don't bother," said the vendor, "we sold'em already."

In such circumstances, these products would be destroyed. Mr. Kulas himself once made up a "Boston Red Socks" pennant for a vendor outside Fenway Park. In that instance, the product was rejected and subsequently destroyed. But the Bucs were hot; and nobody seemed to mind the typo (or, more likely, nobody noticed!). So, 5,000 of these misspelled pennants made it to market. :eek:

Perhaps someone here owns one? No question about it: Mike Knapp (71buc) is the expert on 1971 Pirates pennants ... but even he isn't aware of such a pennant.

Great story, Kyle.

I’d say “Thanks for sharing,” but I hate that expression! :p

Edit: you’ve given Mike Knapp something new to look for.

Great story! I'll be actively search for one of those.

I just got this "error" pennant.

I have one of those but I remember some clown on eBay, years ago, who was asking $60. He relisted it over and over. I offered $30, multiple times. He never took me up on it. What is it with some sellers? I guess they’ve never heard of the “bird in the hand.” :rolleyes:

From the days of the Crazy Crab …

Since we're talking about errors, I can't get too into pins/buttons because of all the repros out there but I got this in a lot that was so cheap I was forced to buy it.

x

Awesome cap … SportsLogos.net has the hat logo (with script Giants) discontinued after 1982 season but Crazy Crab was 1984. So it may not be “official” merchandise. Still very cool!

Does anyone here really think this is vintage (as advertised?) Sad that it has 10 bids already....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33412648168...oAAOSwYuJhJuw4

I have personally never seen that pennant and in Mpls here I’ve seen and sold just about every Milwaukee Braves pennant over the years. I’m looking on my phone so it’s tough to tell, but the material and piping appears to be felt. It just seems too bright white to be vintage. Also, most Milw Braves pennants had some sort of color either felt, piping, graphics, etc. Never just black and white.

100% not vintage. The stitching on the spine is trademark modern repop.

I had to re-read the first part of the message twice. My son says ‘cap’ or ‘no cap’ meaning ‘bs’ or ‘no bs’. I thought you were saying awesome bs [emoji1750]. Damn kids changing my vernacular…

That’s an expression I have not heard. :p

Greg - did you know the original plan was for free crab cocktails on the final day of the 1984 season? That way, the fans would eat the mascot. :D

Really? That’s cool. I think the crab would have outhit Johnny LeMaster (who I think retired that season, or the league finally retired him).

OK, the heavy hitters can move on. This is for the low brows like myself, FB Rob and Marc...














I purposely bought the worst pennant I could find (for 7 bucks). Here's what my generic Oxyclean did:

Nice... I no longer fear the brown pennants.

Luckily, I don’t think I’m competing with you for any of the “white” 70s-80s pennants!

Anybody see this listing for a Grain Belt Vikings Pennant?

It's not something I'm after, but I remember that others were after these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Minnesota-V...-127632-2357-0

That thing is awesome! I wonder what the “Pre” on the jersey means? :confused:

I agree. It's pretty great. I'm assuming Pre refers to their Grain Belt Premium beer...but that's just my assumption.

Those are very difficult to find pennants, even in Mpls area. Seller is a great guy

FWIW, I put it on my watch list and got an offer of $150 off from the seller.

I think others may have been looking for the Twins version.

Same here.... haven't checked to see if it's ended yet.

Don’t know how many Twitter users there are here but this guy is a great follow and that is one great jacket. Is that a trolley car on the shoulder?

Sweet warm-up jacket!! Yes, I think a cable car like the Warriors now have.

Joe Pettini?....4 years a Giant; .203 BA, 1 HR. In 1980, he turned the only Giants triple play in Candlestick history with two other rookie luminaries...Guy Sularz; 4 years a Giant; .218 BA, also 1 HR and Rich Murray; two years a Giant; .216 BA with four :eek: HR.

Did you run out of Willie Mays stamps or something?? Regardless, I approve. :p