Hey, pennant guys

[Domer05]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

For those intrigued by the late 60, early 70s, oddball and bootleg pennants...I found this picture pretty interesting.

1) I love finding lots of pennants from the same series/maker and it appears that is the case here. I recognize many Adflag designs. Are they all Adflag? The Astros, Expos, Royals, Padres appear to be similar to each other but not the others.

2) Many depict styles that are often attributed to earlier decades. This lot is clearly from the very late 60s or more likely early 70s. I know at least a few of these have felt counterparts and designs were often used over years so not really surprising. But is that the case here or are these copies/bootlegs? Hard to see for sure, but I don't see makers marks on any of them. The Mets for sure screams bootleg to me.

3) None have a MLB trademark. By the early 70s, were they mandatory? Was Adflag exempt from using one?

4) They are all monochrome which is a hint to Ad Flag, but Ad Flag started to produce multi colored pennants in the 1960s. Did they go back to monochrome or always continue to produce them?

5) If you're as interested in this as I am, raise your hand.

I can think of no pennant by ADFLAG or WGN that ever bore an MLB logo. Like, not a single one. When MLB began licensing their marks in 1969, it appears they offered only Trench and ASCO this right. So, you won't find anything by other companies with the MLB logo because they would never have been officially licensed to make MLB pennants.

That doesn't mean they didn't make MLB pennants in 1969; it just means they weren't "officially licensed" merchandise.

I believe ADFLAG gave up on professional sports pennants by 1969, perhaps even a few years earlier. I could be wrong on this; but, after speaking with their owner, that's the impression I was left with. WGN, however, seems to have hung on through 1969, perhaps even a year or two later. They made a Reds pennant referencing them as "The Big Red Machine," which suggests it was made after 1969.