Greg, with regards to the Sliding Runner Pennants....I understood that this Red Sox was by AdFlag. The Dodgers Sliding Runner looks to be the same. Are they all AdFlag.

Gary, that’s all the same company. They had a unique way of sewing together spines from two different … spools … or whatever you call it. Like if they come to the end of one they just start another mid pennant without breaking the stitch. Here’s a Phillies from the same company.

Now that you mentioned it … could these all be early Ad Flags? I strongly doubt it. They do share the same stitching style, sans tassels. But these are a tiny bit smaller (26-27”) and generally better quality than Ad Flag whose artists seemed plucked out of middle school art class and are often cut weird. The very old Ad Flags though were not as bad. I think the maroon Braves pictured below is an Ad Flag, in comparison to the blue one which seems to be from the Sliding Runner Co.

Kyle (Domer) might have a better feel for this.

It wasn't ADFLAG. Your "mystery maker" was, most probably, a company we've never once discussed (I think) on this thread. Which baffles my mind; because this maker made a lot of baseball and football pennants in the 1940s and 50s. So many, I was certain it was a maker we've studied extensively. Not so....

We were, however, correct about this mystery maker's location. We speculated that, based upon the volume of New York team pennants associated with their designs, they were based in New York City. This, it seems, we got right.

Your mystery maker behind such legendary pennant series as "the sliding runner" and "the Heisman" is, I believe, the Epstein Novelty Co., 130 Park Row, N.Y.C. :eek:

I'm gonna let that sink in for now ... then come back later with proof.

Stay tuned.

Get your popcorn ready! :p

Every time one of those football runner pennants shows up on ebay, I click on the link to see if there is a label or stamp. As many of you know, that design was used for high school, college, and pro teams. There are so many, but never (from my experience) a label. After Kyle posted about Epstein, a quick Worthpoint search yielded one with a clear label. Really cool. They also have a pennant with a kicker design (although not the super common kicker design, which I think Kyle has attributed to Trench). This Fordham pennant has an Epstein label too.

YES!!! Mystery Solved!

“Dear Mr. Kotter, Please excuse Juan from school today. He’s busy making pennants. Signed, Epstein’s Mom.”

I was thinking along the lines of former Senators' slugger, Mike Epstein. Perhaps he got into baseball because Dad already had the pennants covered. :D

Good one! Unfortunately he didn’t get the same love that Johnny Groth got from WGN.

Here’s one of my favorite Epsteins … (just wanted to see how that sounds)

Now I can update the chapters of the book I imagine writing but never will, where pennants are grouped by maker and ordered in terms of my favorites:

Chapter 1: Trench. The gold standard
Chapter 2: WGN
Chapter 3: ASCO
Chapter 4: Epstein
Chapter 5: Keezer
Chapter 6: BF3 chocolate nuts or whatever
Chapter 7: Grommet Pennant Company of Somewhere in the Midwest
Chapter 8: Handmade pennants scribbled by kids on notebook paper
Chapter 9: Ad Flag

Great stuff Kyle. Thanks. I'll be busy updating my pennant catalog this weekend.