Hey, pennant guys

[Domer05]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Picked these two up in the last few weeks. Priced too cheaply to pass up. They have to be at least 100 years old. Both 34" excluding tassels. Anyone have any idea who the maker would be on these? Chicago Pennant Co. was around at that time.

I've found a similar pennant (but not exact) using the same font and a circle shaped graphic, as on the Harvard pennant. The tag on that one reads: Henry Schwartz of 15 Ann St New York.

Domer...Does that name meaning anything to you?

Great pennants! So, I've never once come across that maker you identified: Henry Schwartz of New York City. I don't know that the two pennants were made by the same maker ... could be. Hard to say, right? The two letter fonts used are similar; but not identical.

That style of font was used throughout the 1910s by several pennant makers that had adopted the screen printing method for felt pennants; and, you couldn't replicate this font via any other method (i.e., sewn letters).

The fact that they were screen printed tells us they were made after 1907; probably closer to 1910, when this method became more widely used.

The most obvious candidate for either maker was The Reproduction Co. of New York City. They are believed to be the first manufacturer to patent and manufacture pennants via the screen printed method. With that said, they tended to use the same stock graphic illustrations; and these don't appear to be ones they used. Two other possibilities: Annin; and Langrock Bros., both of New York City. Both followed Reproduction Co.'s lead in adopting screen printing by the early 1910s.

Although Chicago Pennant Co. opened its doors by 1910, I don't believe they made these. Their earliest pennants all had labels that clearly identified them by name and address; and, I don't believe they ever screen printed a pennant in the 1910s (or ever?). Their early stuff was all sewn letter; and by the 1940s, they used primarily flocked graphics.