Hey, pennant guys

[Domer05]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

That is a bizarre pennant, with the “backwards” lettering. Cool, that it has a maker that I don’t think any of us (especially Domer05) are familiar with.

Ah, DeMar Mfg. Co. I did a little research on this company a few months ago when I was writing that piece on Trench Mfg. Co. because both were Buffalo, NY based.

DeMar actually pre-dates Trench. I found some references to their existence as a felt novelty maker as early as 1915, or five years before Trench was founded. In 1917 they relocated from 170 Oak St. to 270 N. Division St. As far as I know the two companies were never related.

I've seen maybe a half dozen or so pennants bearing their label. All were travel/souvenir pennants, typically with a city name sewn across them--and, from spine to tip, I might add.

For that reason, for better or worse, I am fairly confident this was not sold as a Pirates baseball pennant. But, man it'd look cool when surrounded by some Pirates memorabilia....

This particular style, where the lettering goes from tip to spine, was offered by DeMar and other manufacturers of the day. It doesn't seem like it was very popular. (Unless maybe the consumer was dyslexic?) But, you will find this style offered in vintage felt novelty catalogues from that era. Here's an example of one, designated as "R-1", offered by the Arthur Mfg. Co. in Lowville, NY ca. 1925: