Folks Of Interest Drag race ad banners, when did it begin?

Since I was a kid, taking the ad banners off the fences was a thing at the end of a big drag race. They were tied on with rope, pull your pocket knife, get it quick. Nobody ever stopped it. I always thought it was The Last Drag Race at Lions that made it become a fan fashion statement. Well documented how that massive crowd had a huge contingent of folks who wanted a piece of history and did their best to get it. Was that it or was it earlier? Enjoy, I hope this gets to be a fun topic. If you ever got some tell your story.

 

Got mine from the Fallnationals in Seattle back in later 70’s. Exactly as you said, a pocket knife and and 4 quick cuts and you have a nice souvenir.

 

I started in the early 1990s so pretty much a latecomer to the sport of banner collecting.
Have no idea when it all started - probably about the time people started collecting souvenirs from anything!
And I don't have any big banners, just these and I'm not quite as sneaky or quick as you guys are. I'm a dumpster diver. Rescued mine from the garbage cans in the pits at B-I-R after the racers had pulled out.

 

They moved this to the new timing tower built at BIR in 88ish.
1990 I am helping the radio tech guys and they started dropping them down off tower.
I asked Dick Roe, then GM of the track if I could have it.
He asked me how I was getting it home.
Told him in my truck. He then said as long as I hall the rest of the signs over to their storage I could have it, as long as I covered it up with a couple othe sheets of plywood.
He didnt want anyone stealing it out of my truck.