PENNANT FACTORY
Homemade pennants inspired by designs of the past
The jobFor most of the planet, 2020 will go down as one of the worst years in modern-day history. No question about it: COVID-19, cries of racial injustice, and the ensuing civil unrest have all dampened our spirits. But, for Dodger fans, amid all this negativity, we at least got to see something happen we've waited 32 years for: a World Series championship. In my last post here on Pennant Factory I unveiled my 2020 World Series Champions banner. That project was based on a 1955 banner. Since this is a site primarily devoted to pennants, I wanted to make a pennant commemorating the 2020 Dodgers as well. In search of inspiration, I combed through some of the wonderful pennants produced during the 1950s and 60s for prior Dodger teams, and I found this series: This handsome quartet of pennants was manufactured by Advertising Flag Co. of Chicago, better known today among collectors as "ADFLAG." This series was likely produced between 1962-65, when Dodger Stadium was alternatively known as "Chavez Ravine." The series began as a standard stadium pennant-type design; however, to commemorate the '65 Dodgers team, ADFLAG adapted the design into a league championship pennant; then world championship pennant. All four designs feature a perfectly illustrated depiction of the Dodgers' new ballpark. The latter two 1965-dated pennants of course featured the 25 player names from that team's roster; along with manager Walter Alston. The 1965-dated pennants featured two subtle but noteworthy differences. First, the artwork was mirror imaged. This curious alteration resulted in the pitcher becoming a south paw. Why? I suspect this was done to make the pitcher look more like Sandy Koufax, who was of course left handed. As proof of this, you'll note that, of all the player names listed on the 1965-dated pennants, only Koufax's first and last name appear; and they come first--right next to the pitcher's face. Second, and this difference is much more subtle, note that the graphic artist responsible for producing each of the two 1965-dated pennants misspelled "Chavez Ravine" somewhere along the way.... Clearly the graphic artist back at ADFLAG's Chicago headquarters was unfamiliar with Los Angeles; and/or the Spanish language. Suffice it to say: I've never met anyone with the surname "Chavaz"; and there's no ballpark or geographic entity known as "Chavaz Ravine" in Los Angeles, or anywhere, to my knowledge. Look, mistakes happen. Sometimes it's the screen printer's fault. Other times its the felt cutter's mistake. Rarely, it's the graphic artist's error; but, here, this appears to be the case. Pennants made during the 1960s required many steps executed by several different people in rapid succession. And they were all human; and, mistakes were a part of the process. Nobody's perfect. I actually think this misspelling enhances the pennant's design. It reminds us of the human element behind 20th century pennant making; and this certainly wasn't the only graphic error ever to appear on a pennant. Remember, pennants like this were hastily produced to be sold at the World Series itself. If ADFLAG had caught the error, there likely was no time to re-print anything anyway. So, I modeled my 2020 pennant on the 1965 world champions pennant--mistakes and all. The best part about this design was that it allowed me to highlight one player on the 28-man roster (MLB permitted a 28-man playoff roster in 2020 due to COVID-19) in particular: Clayton Kershaw. And the best part about this design? Like Koufax, Kershaw is also a lefty. The result: Version #1 (V1)Here's my first design, featuring the original "Chavaz Ravine" misspelling, just as it appeared on the 1965-dated original: |
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:
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