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.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I too posess a Timberline Cravats neck tie. It is a ordinary rayon blend with a minimalist tulip motif. It looks like crosstitch, but the stitches are actually printed (dyed) not sewen. Like you I suspect Timberline might have been a local manufacturer or brand. I also live in Portland. I think your Timberline Cravats was customized to include the feathers by the second label. Thanks for sharing.