Pennant Fever Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Jan222015 by Chris Holmes3 Comments

Pennant Fever #5: California Golden Seals

Sports

Here's a gem from the NHL of the 1970s. It's an undated pennant for the California Golden Seals. The franchise began play in 1961 as the WHL's San Francisco Seals, changed to the California Seals in 1966, and became the Oakland Seals when they became an NHL expansion franchise in 1967. The team was purchased by Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley in 1970. Finley promptly changed the team's colors to the same green and gold as the A's, and also changed the name to California Golden Seals. Another element you can see on the pennant is the artistic player rendering. That is actually based off a real player, in this case Carol Vadnais, who was the team's captain until he was traded in February 1972. The Seals and their neat pennants disappeared in 1976, when the franchise relocated t...

Jan152015 by Chris Holmes1 Comment

Pennant Fever #4: 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers World Series Champions

Auction Finds, Sports

Here's a great World Series pennant from the days of the Brooklyn Dodgers. It celebrates Brooklyn's win in the 1952 World Series and lists a number of the players and the classic "The Bums" mascot. Click for a larger version. There's only one problem, though -- the Dodgers didn't win the '52 Series. They actually lost in seven games to the New York Yankees, so someone jumped the gun on this pennant a little bit. --- Don’t forget to check out the rest of my Pennant Fever entries.

May162014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Pennant Fever #3: 1966 Atlanta Falcons

Auction Finds, Football Friday, Sports

Since their founding in 1966, the Atlanta Falcons have maintained a fairly consistent brand identity. Sure, colors change and logos are modified, but the basic look has remained intact. So that's why I was surprised to see this pennant on eBay, purportedly from the team's inaugural season. Almost nothing from this pennant seems to have found its way into the team's branding, apart from the shade of red. That makes me wonder if this wasn't produced before the logo and wordmark for the team was ever made public. I don't know what the lead time was for pennant manufacturing but I'm guessing this is the case. Another possible explanation is that this was a prototype logo that lost out to the now-familiar one. Either way, it's another fascinating piece of 1960s NFL memorabilia. ...

Apr252014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Pennant Fever #2: 1973 Philadelphia Eagles

Auction Finds, Football Friday, Sports

Now here's a curious one. At a glance this just looks like an ordinary vintage Philadelphia Eagles pennant, right? Attentive Eagles fans, however, might notice something different with this pennant. It features the short-lived white helmet with green wings design, which the team only used from 1969 through 1973. But it also has the Eagles wordmark that Philly didn't start using until the 1973 season (at least according to Chris Creamer's site). That makes this pennant not only a rather unique specimen, but easy to date as well. Unless some printer really goofed, this could only have been produced in 1973, possibly early '74 depending on when the white helmets were ditched. Personally I like the white helmets, but that's a topic for another post. Don’t forget to check ou...

Apr172014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Pennant Fever #1: Los Angeles Sharks

Auction Finds, Sports

The Los Angeles Sharks played just two seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA) under that name, from 1972-1974. After the 1973–74 WHA season the franchise moved to Detroit to become the Michigan Stags, and again mid-season to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Blades. The WHA lasted until 1979, by which time the Sharks were long gone. That meant that as far as pro hockey went in the city, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings were once again the only game in town. (Click the pennant to see the hi-res version.) Don't forget to check out the rest of my Pennant Fever entries.