Most college merchandise gets tossed in a drawer after a semester. These pieces have survived over 70 years — and they look better now than the day they were made.
We carry Americana Memories at Varsity54 because nothing else in our catalog tells a story like this. Each piece is a genuine 1950s wool felt college pennant, professionally framed with UV-protective glass, ready to hang the day it arrives. No assembly. No trip to the frame shop. Just a rare piece of your school's history in a frame that does it justice.
Here's the story behind them — and why they keep selling out.
In 1953, Hormel Put College Pennants on Cans of Chili
This part sounds made up, but it's real. In 1953, the Hormel Company — the people behind SPAM and canned chili — launched a nationwide grocery store promotion. They rubber-banded small wool felt pennants featuring 95 different university crests and school colors to cans of Hormel Chili Con Carne and Hormel Tamales.
Grocery stores stacked 10-foot displays of these cans with football-shaped signs reading "Collect College Pennants!" For 25 cents and a Hormel label, you could mail away for a set of six. The promotion ran in comic books, newspapers, and right on the store shelves. Hormel produced over 5 million of these pennants.
Seven decades later, almost all of them are gone. The ones that survived are now sought-after collector's items — and Americana Memories has built one of the largest private collections of them in the country.
What You're Actually Getting
Every Americana Memories pennant we sell comes:
- Professionally framed in your choice of black or mahogany
- UV-protective glass to prevent fading
- Precision-cut archival mat for a clean, gallery-quality look
- History card on the back explaining the 1953 Hormel promotion
- Frame size: 9" x 14" — fits perfectly above a desk, in a hallway, or as part of a gallery wall
- Original 1950s wool felt pennant inside (4" x 9")
These aren't reproductions. Each pennant is an authentic vintage piece from the original 1953 Hormel run. Prices range from $149 to $165 depending on the school.
Our Picks: 12 Standout Pennants in the Collection
We carry pennants from over 50 universities. Here are the ones that get the most attention — and tend to go first.
The Ivy League Trio
If you went to one of these schools (or wish you did), these are the crown jewels of the collection.
Vintage Harvard University Hormel Pennant — Deep crimson felt with the Harvard crest. This is the single most-recognized pennant in the collection and makes an immediate statement in any room. If you're shopping for a Harvard alum, stop here.
Vintage Princeton University Hormel Pennant — Classic orange and black with the Princeton tiger shield. The color contrast on this one photographs beautifully — it pops on a dark wall.
Vintage Dartmouth Hormel Pennant — Dartmouth green with that iconic Big Green identity. A subtler piece that collectors love. Pair it with the Harvard and Princeton for an Ivy wall that speaks for itself.
The Big Football Schools
These are the pennants that stop people mid-sentence when they walk into a room.
Vintage University of Michigan Hormel Pennant — Maize and blue, 70+ years old, and still as bold as a Saturday in Ann Arbor. Michigan alumni have an emotional reaction to this one.
Vintage University of Alabama Hormel Pennant — Crimson Tide pride from before Bear Bryant even arrived. This pennant predates most of the dynasty — which makes it even more special.
Vintage Notre Dame Hormel Pennant — The Fighting Irish crest on gold felt. Notre Dame has one of the most passionate alumni networks in the country, and this pennant hits different than anything you'd find in a campus bookstore.
Vintage Ohio State Hormel Pennant — Scarlet and gray from the Woody Hayes era. Every Buckeye fan thinks they've seen everything — until they see this.
West Coast & Southern Standouts
Vintage UCLA Hormel Pennant — Bruins blue and gold with the UCLA seal. A beautiful piece for any West Coast collector or LA native.
Vintage Stanford University Hormel Pennant — Cardinal red Stanford crest on felt. Stanford grads are notoriously hard to shop for — this solves that problem permanently.
Vintage University of Georgia Hormel Pennant — Red and black Bulldog pride. With Georgia's recent football dominance, demand for vintage UGA memorabilia has exploded. This one won't last.
The Sleeper Picks
Not every great pennant comes from a powerhouse program. These are the ones collectors specifically hunt for.
Vintage Duke University Hormel Pennant — Royal blue with the Duke crest. Basketball royalty deserves wall space, and vintage Duke memorabilia from the 1950s is exceptionally rare.
Vintage University of North Carolina Hormel Pennant — Carolina blue felt. Hang this next to the Duke pennant if you want to start a conversation (or an argument) every time someone visits.
5 Reasons People Buy These (Beyond School Pride)
Graduation gifts that actually mean something. A framed vintage pennant from someone's school says more than a gift card ever could. It's personal, it's rare, and it's the kind of gift that stays on a wall for decades.
Father's Day and holiday gifts for the person who has everything. If your dad, uncle, or father-in-law went to one of these schools, this is the gift that finally makes them speechless.
Home office and den decor. These pennants bring warmth and personality to a room without looking like a dorm. The professional framing makes them gallery-appropriate. Interior designers have started using vintage pennant walls as a design statement.
Collector's items with real value. Vintage 1950s sports memorabilia in this condition is increasingly hard to find. These pennants are priced between $149 and $165 — original Hormel pennants in similar condition have sold for significantly more at auction and on resale markets.
Pairing multiple schools together. Some of our best customers buy three to five pennants at once — their school, their spouse's school, their kids' schools — and create a family education wall. It's one of the most popular ways to display them.
How to Style a Vintage Pennant Wall
A single framed pennant looks great on its own, but the real impact comes from grouping them. Here are three layouts our customers love:
The Family Legacy Wall — One pennant for each school in your family. Line them up horizontally in a hallway or staircase. Works with as few as two or as many as six.
The Rivalry Pairing — Michigan next to Ohio State. Duke next to UNC. Harvard next to Princeton. Rivalry pairs are a bold design choice that always gets a reaction.
The Conference Grid — Pick four or five schools from the same conference and arrange them in a grid. A Big Ten or SEC grid in a sports room is an instant focal point.
Every School in the Collection
Beyond our featured picks, we carry vintage Hormel pennants for dozens more schools including Army, Navy, Baylor, Purdue, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Rice, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Kentucky, Minnesota, SMU, Temple, Drake, and more.
Browse the full Americana Memories collection →
Before You Go: What to Know
These are vintage originals, not reproductions. Each pennant is from the actual 1953 Hormel promotion. Once a school sells out, it's gone — there's no factory making more.
They ship ready to hang. No assembly, no framing needed. Take it out of the box, put a nail in the wall, done.
Priced from $149 to $165. For a professionally framed piece of 70-year-old college memorabilia, this is well below what comparable vintage pennants sell for on auction sites and specialty dealers.
Shop Americana Memories at Varsity54 →
Looking for something you don't see? Americana Memories carries thousands of vintage pennants beyond what's listed here. Contact us and we'll help you track down your school.
