Holy Grail Found!

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Posted By: Mike H

As many of you know, I love pennants. I focus on Cubs, Tigers, and Yankees with the Cubs being my top priority. I have wanted an oversized early Cubs pennant for years, but have either been short on money, luck finding one, or both...ha ha. Well, I have found the only example I have seen of the piece you see on this page. I just love it! It's 34" without the tassels and on extremely heavy felt. I'll have it mounted like the Tigers pennant from Mark S. that I posted last year, then put new pics here for all of you.
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Posted By: doug goodman

Fantastic. Congratulations.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Awesome Mike!!!!

But, we need details!!!! Where'd you find it?

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Posted By: Brock G.

Think about Mike. It could be yours.




Looks great. Congrats again.

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Posted By: Mike H

It was on ebay, I offered a BIN (significantly more than you may see on the listing), we finagled for several days, I slept poorly for two weeks,then WALLA, it was mine.

Brock, I told you I want the Sandberg AND a Ken Griffey JR with hat on backwards SLU for the pennant!!! Since you are trying to rip me off, I now want a Frank Thomas thrown in for good measure!!!

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Posted By: Brock G.

Hey Mike, while you're at it why dont you just ask for one of my kidneys as well!

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Posted By: Matt Hart

Congrats Mike! Great piece!
Matt

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Gorgeous pennant Mike. Congrats!

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Posted By: Clint

Mike, congratulations on snagging such a beautiful pennant. I thought it was going to be a Spalding trophy.

Clint

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Posted By: Mike H

You have all heard me drone on about how I believe we are just scratching the surface regarding memorabilia "finds". I'm not talking about gamers from prominent players, but rather the stuff we all love like equipment, pins, pennants, figurals, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of homes in this country that are 70+ years old. You know there is gold in some of them.



Now that the deal is complete, I asked the seller of my pennant to tell me where she got it. Her response reinforces the views I stated above. Here is her the email, she sent:



Hi Mike,



Glad that it arrived and your happy with it. There was an old man who lived by himself for years, he died and left his house and it's contents to a fireman. That fireman is a customer in the restaurant that I work at. He had a yard sale, which I missed and can only imagine what was there. He sold the house and needed to remove the rest of the contents. Just in talking he said there was an old trunk in the attic. Long story short, he told me to go in and take anything I wanted. So, that's what I did. I loaded up my van and took what I could. I was suppose to go back and get more stuff, but I had a heart attack and never made it. Meanwhile the house was sold and no longer his. The pennant was in the trunk. There were other pennants there that I still have, but they are from places, not sports. There was a tin full of political buttons, one of which said "Embargo Hitler". I still have not gotten the chance to go through all the boxes yet.



I had an old frame up for auction that had a picture of the man as a child with his brother. You man still be able to see it if you search under my completed listings.



Apparently this guy was a very big sports fan. He was particularly fond of horse racing.



If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact me.

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Posted By: Ben

Mike,

In your story you mentioned that there was an embargo Hitler pin and other old stuff. Were there any military items? I collect American and German stuff from the Civil War-WW2.


Thanks,
Ben

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Posted By: Mike H

That is her story, not mine Ben. I have no idea what she has, other than that she has no other baseball pieces.

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Posted By: mike

Stunning find Mike. What a gem!! I could use the image if it is alright. Mike

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Posted By: Ben

Whoops!!! Sorry, for the mistake Mike. I read it quickly and missed that part...I was too busy salivating over the pennant. Amazing pickup!

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Posted By: Mike H

I have emailed a direct link to the photos Mike. Please use them as you like.

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Posted By: CoreyrSh.anus

Great pennant! Congrats! Any idea the year it was issued?

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Posted By: Mike H

Thanks Corey. It dates from the teens, but it's impossible to be exact. It was probably issued over a few year period. I have seen a Giants version from that period with the same design, but this is the only Cub I have seen or heard of. Do you have any early pennant photos to share?

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Posted By: CoreyRSh.anus

Unfortunately no, I do not have any pennants to share. That is one hole in my collection. I'd love someday to acquire a very early Yankees/Highlanders pennant.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I see Mark hasn't chimed in yet so I'm sure he just hasn't seen it yet. If anyone would know more about your pennant Mike it is him.

And is it just me or does it look like they spelled it "Chirago"?

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Posted By: Mike H

Mark was the first to know the deal was going down. He was a great sounding board, as this deal got real complicated. He's never seen another example. All we know is that it is from the teens.

My wife said the Chirago thing as well. I guess it's a function of the font (I hope...ha ha).

FYI, I left it with the framer today. It should be home in two weeks. It will be just like this Tiger pennant, but with a suede matt that is a cross between the lettering and the lighter tones in the bear.

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Posted By: Brock G.

Should look great Mike. Did you get an estimate of the framing cost?

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Posted By: Mike H

$401.40 with the museum glass, invisible hand stitching to the matt. These folks to museum quality work in Ann Arbor. I think the price is fair considering the dimensions of the suede matt are 40" x 19" and the wood frame is ornate,thick, and heavy. You can't tell from the pic, but the glass is about 3/4" from the pennant, so there is a shadow box effect.

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Posted By: Mark

I did know about this one early-on, and I believe Mike aged about 10 years during the course of the negotiations. I'm sure Mike will say it was worth it in the long-run, as this one is a gem (and could be a lone-survivor). I know that I have never seen another in many many years of collecting these...

Below is one of my Cubbies that has been posted before (with the same "Chirago" graphics...) It's quite similar in style, but is clearly a different variation than Mike's. I guess you could say that mine captures the Bear mascot in a more pensive mood, and Mike's shows a decidedly happier Bear. Perhaps my Bear somehow knew what the future held for the Cubbies, and that they would go more than a century without another World Championship?

I would estimate that both of these are from the 1910 - 1915 time period, based on known dated pennants with similar graphics. You really cannot pin it down much more than that. Congrats to Mike for an amazing pickup!

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Those Pennants are great guys. By the way, It was in an old post that I can't find right now, but what ever happened to that 54 member who was thinking of putting together a book on pennants?

Greg

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Posted By: Anonymous

Greg...



Mike E. is currently working hard on the book. I think it involves more work that he originally envisioned, but he's made some great progress. I have helped him a little bit (providing images and input on grading/pricing), but wish I had much more time to help him out. My "real" job (the one that pays the bills) is just too demanding right now.

I am sure that Mike's book will tremendously benefit all of us who collect pennants, and will inspire a new wave of pennant collectors as well. I'm not sure when he hopes to complete it... perhaps he will see this, and can chime in with an update.

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Posted By: mike

The pennant book is coming along great. I have well over 1,000 different pennants both baseball and football (with many contributions from here) dating back to the early 1900's. Resizing all the photos to the same size and getting just a white background has taken the longest time but it is just about done. I should be working on starting to put it all together very soon. I am looking forward to completing the project. Mike