PENNANT FACTORY
Homemade pennants inspired by designs of the past
The jobIn their final 10 years in Brooklyn, the Dodgers won six National League pennants. Not surprisingly, novelty makers from that era made plenty of souvenir pennants to commemorate these teams. Although many of these pennants survived the tests of time; the majority, you'll notice, lack any reference to the year of issue. This, I've come to learn, was a common practice throughout the novelty industry for many teams. To avoid getting stuck with unsold stock, many of these league championship pennants bare no dates or years of production on them. This omission was no accident. Sure, a 1952-dated National League Champions pennant would sell well at that year's World Series; but, what about in 1953? If a team was particularly good, the odds of them winning the pennant the following year were decent. By omitting the year, retailers preserved the option to re-issue their unsold stock in the years ahead. From a 1950s business point of view, this practice made sense. From a collector's view today, however, it's a bit frustrating. Dated pennants carry greater demand because their precise age is unquestionable. Unfortunately, with the year-less "National/American League Champions" pennants--although still very cool--you cannot be so certain of their vintage. If your team only captured the pennant once that decade, e.g., the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies, no problem; there won't be much debate as to when the pennant was made, whether or not the year appears on it... But for a team like the Yankees--good luck. Unless their pennants have a roster on them, without a year, all you can do is guess what championship it was made for. Their teams were so consistently good you could almost bet on them winning the American League Pennant every year. And if a team like the Yankees choked and for some unexpected reason, failed to capture the American League Pennant? No problem. If you were a souvenir retailer, all you had to do was, "Wait 'til next year." By omitting the year, inventory that would otherwise have amounted to "phantom pennants" could be placed in storage; then retrieved for sale the moment that team did finish first. In this way, stock that would otherwise be unusable need not be destroyed. For pennant makers, this was reason enough to omit the year of production. Brooklyn Dodger fans knew all about waiting 'til next year. They were also familiar with end-of-season collapses. As noted earlier, the Dodgers generally took care of business during the regular season; but, when it came to the World Series, they couldn't get past the Yankees. With one exception: 1955, the one and only year Brooklyn's "bums" were triumphant. The silver lining, for Dodger fans anyway, in this humbling fact is: if you come across a "World Champions" Brooklyn pennant, you pretty much know it had to come from 1955. That's significant because, when it comes to the pennant winning teams of 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, and 1956, in the absence of a date or team roster on the item, your guess is as good as mine as to when it was made. One pennant maker in particular that made a lot of Brooklyn pennants during the 1940s and 50s was Trench Mfg. Co. of Buffalo, NY. Moreover, Trench made a significant number of league championship pennants; and, they clearly adopted the practice of omitting the year of production thereon. Here's a few examples I know of: See what I mean? There's more than a dozen pennants here by the same maker from the 1940s and 50s; and none reflect the year of the championship. Clearly this omission worked out well for the retailers that purchased them from Trench. I don't need to explain why the final "WORLD CHAMPS" pennant featured above is special. In fact, of all the pennants commemorating the '55 title, this is probably my favorite. I've always admired the artwork featuring Ebbets Field's famed façade; and the pair of crossed bats beneath complement the ballpark nicely. It's such a wonderful design, it doesn't bother me at all that the year "1955" was omitted; but, that's only because, as noted earlier, we know it had to commemorate the '55 title. Unfortunately, due to the material Trench used throughout the mid-1950s, this pennant was prone to fading. It's also a surprisingly rare pennant! You'd think they would have made (and sold) tons of these, right? Perhaps they did. Nevertheless, there's very few of these left today. This scarcity, coupled with the premium collectors put on anything from the Brooklyn Dodgers that can be dated to the year 1955, means you'd be lucky to get a faded version for under $250. And because I can't quite justify paying that kind of money for a blue-ish Dodger pennant, I decided to make it myself. The resultHonestly, this pennant was a joy to make. I worried that some of the intricate detail behind the Ebbets Field façade would be lost during the screen printing process; but it came out okay. After printing/curing the white underbase (2X), I hand painted the graphics using water color pencils. This technique is no substitute for an airbrush; but, I'm pleased with the result. One thing's for sure: mine definitely doesn't look faded. |
AuthorIn 2018 I started a separate website called Pennant Fever dedicated to 20th century felt novelty manufacturers. It focuses on these companies' history, products, etc. Eventually, my interest in these businesses inspired me to start making my own pennants. THIS site you're currently viewing, Pennant Factory, is where I'll showcase some of the felt projects I've taken on. Most are reproductions of real pennants once for sale to the public. I've done my best to re-create the originals as authentically as possible based upon surviving photos, known dimensions, etc. Others are my original work, intended to look like the styles of yesteryear. Some turned out better than others. See for yourself. Enjoy! -KRB Projects:
All
Archives
February 2024
|