Sunday, March 30, 2008

Musical Instruments

I think we're nearing the end of my series of ties depicting real things. This is the first of two hand-painted ties featuring musical images. This one has four musical instruments painted on it, along with three small pieces of musical staff and notes.

The instruments appear to be, starting at the top, a saxophone, a soprano sax, or perhaps a clarinet, a trumpet or cornet, and finally, a euphonium or baritone, perhaps a tuba.

The images on the tie are quite clearly hand-painted, although this is much more obvious with the tie in hand, probably, than in the scan. The paint is thick, and rough to the touch, raised above the surface of the tie.

The tie has one label, sewn into the small end, and partially visible in the scan. It reads as follows:

Pilgrim
Reg. U.S Pat. Off.
Rayon Cravats

Next week, another hand-painted musical-themed tie, and then, I'm afraid I'll probably be at the end of the series depicting items from real life, unless I find another that I'm not currently aware of.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Birds of a Feather

No tie got posted last week, sorry. A combination of factors conspired against me. First, it was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, and one of the busiest times in the life of a church musician such as myself. Second, I was in the process coming down with a nasty cold, which still has me coughing and hacking and blowing, etc.

I did get this tie scanned last Sunday, I just didn't manage to find the time or energy to get it posted, and to write about it. Enough with the excuses, and on with the tie!

This is another truly unusual tie, in that, of the birds of paradise featured on it, the primary one, the largest one, is made with real bird feathers pasted on. Not only does this tie depict things from the real word, i.e., birds, it depicts them with real feathers.

Unfortunately, the bird is currently missing one yet longer tail feather, which fell off years ago. I still have the missing feather stored away in a box somewhere, and if I ever come across it, I plan to glue it back on, but I haven't seen that box or its contents in years. I'm sure it's out in my garage somewhere, along with dozens of other boxes of stuff that we haven't opened in ages, and which my wife would love to dispose of (not the feather, per se, but the boxes of stuff).

This tie is one of a pair that were gifted to me by one of my high school academy roommates. The other one was this Hawaiian Gardens tie posted back in June, 2006. The tie has two labels sewn together into the small end of the tie, and shown in the scan, if you can twist your head to the correct angle to make them out. Wait! Don't try to tie yourself (or at least your neck) into a pretzel. I'll transcribe them for you. They both appear to be manufacturer's labels. Graced with the tiny image of a mountain and trees, the first one reads:
Timberline Cravats
while the second one reads, somewhat enigmatically (or at least ungrammatically):
BELLE
Creation
TIES BEST
"ALWAYS"
acetate & rayon
It's worth mentioning that Timberline Lodge is a famous ski resort located up on the slopes of Mt. Hood, near Portland, Oregon. I don't know if this tie was designed or manufactured in Oregon or not, but it certainly has a local-sounding brand name! I say local, because even though I currently live in neighboring Washington, I am a native Oregonian, and remain loyal to my home state and mountain. For many (if not most) Oregonians, Mt. Hood is "THE mountain." If I had more time, or were feeling more energetic, I'd scan and post a closeup of the mountain image on the label, just so you could see it better. If you're trying to see it, it's right about the big letter "T" in Timberline.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Lilly Dache "le repos"

Here is a truly interesting and unique tie from famous designer Lilly Daché. The famous French/American designer, who lived from 1898 to 1989, was most well known as a milliner, a hat designer, but she also designed other accessories, and eventually dresses, and men's accessories, like ties.

I'm not sure the design of this tie really fits in my current theme of ties depicting "real things" as the images on the tie may not be all that realistic. But they are at least anthropomorphic. Some of them resemble African masks, and the reposing figures near the top and bottom of the design remind me at least a little of one of Henry Moore's reclining figure sculptures.

I've created a composite second image showing the Lilly Daché logo which is located on the face of the tie itself, near the bottom, and the various labels,. One of the labels, printed directly into the fabric of the tie, and located on the reverse of the large end, lists the name of the design, "le repos" meaning "the rest" or "the repose."

The other two labels are sewn in. The Lily Daché label is sewn onto the reverse side of the large end, just up from the printed label described above. It has the word "soie" (French for silk) printed vertically along the left side. Then the word "Original" in a fancy script, followed by "Lilly Dache" with "Paris - New York" along the bottom.

The other, the seller's label, is sewn into the small end of the tie. It reads "Meier & Frank Co. Portland, Oregon."

This is one of my favorite vintage ties, due to its unique design. However, it is definitely showing its age, and is fraying quite a bit along the bottom edge. Thus, I allow myself the pleasure of wearing it only rarely.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Tropical Getaway

Continuing the theme of ties depicting real things, here is a tie showing some tropical getaway, replete with potted palms. The detail isn't really that great, so I can't say for sure if the tie is depicting a scene in the Bahamas, or Mexico, or some other Central American nation, or just southern California or Florida. Take your pick, I guess.

In addition to the tiled villa in front of which those potted palms are flourishing, the tie separately depicts a group of three palm trees that are apparently growing in the earth as they should.

Some might think I should have saved this tie for the summer, but no, a glimpse of tropical paradise should be a morale booster for those of us still stuck in winter. Not that I personally, am that interested in traveling to tropical climes. I'd never be a "snowbird," as we refer to those folks who, like the birds, head south for the winter. (Believe it or not, there's even a Wikipedia article on the topic of "Snowbirds!"

I did use some of my other vintage tropical ties to celebrate the summer, but this one is fitting into my current theme of ties depicting real things. Or at least things that could theoretically be real. Here's a list of past tropical images. I'm not sure why I didn't include this one at the time, but it's possible I didn't own it yet then. Either that, or I had forgotten about it.

Well, that's probably about enough rambling on for this week. This tie has one label, sewn onto the large end of the tie (more commonly, labels are sewn into the small end). The label reads:

Wembley
Sama-Fane*
*Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.

The word "Wembley," interestingly, is reverse stitched in white inside a bright red butterfly-shaped bit of embroidery. If I had more time, I'd scan a copy, but my list of other things that need to yet be accomplished this Sunday evening is still long. Until next time . . .