39 stars never made ?

[MIKE IN MASS]

hello everyone found the flag in the eves of my dads house during remodel 12 BY 18 INCHES TACKED TO A POLE MAYBE 3 FEET LONG THAT YOU WOULD PUT IN THE GROUND hand carved pointed end . 39 stars Idid a google on it says the never made them but i have one ... is it worth anything thanks mike p

[NAVA1974]

hello everyone found the flag in the eves of my dads house during remodel 12 BY 18 INCHES TACKED TO A POLE MAYBE 3 FEET LONG THAT YOU WOULD PUT IN THE GROUND hand carved pointed end . 39 stars Idid a google on it says the never made them but i have one ... is it worth anything thanks mike p

Hello Mike and Welcome to the Flag Forum.
A double welcome to you from Massachusetts. I am a native of North Andover, but resident of Columbia Maryland for the last 3 decades.

39 star flags are oddly common. Most people assume they were made in 1889 when the 39th state was admitted to the union. The problem is, the 39th state was not admitted alone. Both NDakota and SDakota were admitted at the same instant, so the nation never had 39 states - the total went from 38 to 40 all at once.

However, 39 star flags were made in mass quantities for the nation's Centennial Celebration of 1876. At the time there were 37 states, and it was assmed that two new states would join the union in1876. Only Colorado was admitted in August.

Here are three different examples of 39-star flags. The frirst one has a patent date of December 1875. The other two are also printed on the same soft cotton material.


This "International" flag was sold at the Centennial World's Fair in Philadelphia.




This "Global" pattern flag is one of a string of six printed examples.




This rectangular star pattern was very common and, as you can see, was never even cut into individual flags.

The top flag sells in the range of $100 to $250, as would the middle one because of its interesting star pattern. But 39 stars in rows sell for $50 or so.

Can you post a pic of your flag?

Regards,

Nick A

ps: you can see other flags from my collection here:
American Flags - a set on Flickr

[MIKE IN MASS]

HI NICK and thanks for the info the flag at my dads farm looks exactly like the top one ,the international ,but without the border of names . Iwill look closly at the edges to see if maybe somone cut it of but the star pattern of 7,6,7,6,7,6, verticly is identical . Qiuck history Ifound this flag rolled up on a stick ,up in the eves during a remodel of his house (circa 1780) The stick ,about 3 feet long ,square stock ,with a sharpend end like to stick it in the ground . my dad had the flag put in a frame of glass to protect it still on the stick . Iwould love to post some pics,, i,ll take some photos and e=mail them to you as i,m not smart enough to figure out how to post pics myself THANKYOU FOR YOUR TIME ,Mike Peterson