Maroon Nobility

Just two weeks ago I was apologizing for presenting another thirties tie when I had previously thought I was all through with that era. In the meantime, I discovered another thirties tie hidden in my own collection, special in a fairly unique way, at least for my collection, but that's not the one I'm presenting today. That one will have to wait a couple of weeks.

Instead, this new thirties classic was added to my collection just today! After church today, one of the parishioners, a friend, told me he had a bag full of ties for me, out in his car. They come from his father-in-law, who, at 82 years of age, is in declining health, and is not going to be needing them any more. So, totally out of the blue, I had a bunch of new old ties to look through.

And lo, and behold, when I sorted them out, there were at least two genuine thirties era beauties in the bag. Lots of ugly big wide polyester seventies ties, to be sure, but in with those, a few real treasures, including this lovely example.

It has all of the typical thirties characteristics that I've enumerated so many times in the past. Off center folding and stitching in the back, and the design woven directly into the fabric. I'm not quite sure how to describe the design. They could be vaguely floral shapes, irregular concentric circular patterns, somewhat reminiscent to me of the lines indicating steep terrain on a topographical map. However you describe them, they are very nice.

You may recall that back in July, when I thought I was finishing off my thirties collection, I described the prevalence of maroon among my ties from this era, and provided a set of links to all of the thirties maroon examples previously blogged. Now here is another to add to that collection!

The tie has one label, shown in the scan, which provides the impetus for the title I've given this entry, "Maroon Nobility." The label reads as follows:

Nobility
Custom
Tailored
Resilient
Construction

Handpainted Autumn Leaves

In recognition of the first day of Autumn, which occurs at the autumnal equinox tomorrow, I present my newest tie depicting autumn leaves. I'm afraid this is probably the only autumn tie I'll be able to blog this year, as I've already shown off all the others in past years. I'm fresh out of vintage autumn leaf ties, except for this one.

To see all of my earlier vintage autumn ties, visit September, October, November, and even December (1 tie) of 2007, plus September (1 tie), October, and November of 2006.

This tie also shares characteristics with another group of ties which I posted early on, starting with the last tie posted in March, 2006, and continuing with three of those posted in April of that year. I described these ties as having a "brushed, matte style surface," and they are all handpainted, I believe, though I'm not 100% positive. There is one additional tie of this sort on the blog, a very special tie that I posted for Father's Day in 2006. If you look at any of those ties, you'll see why I put this one in the same grouping, style-wise, anyhow.

This tie shows its age by the fact that it has some stains on it, stains which didn't come out when I had it cleaned. I got the tie this past summer in Santa Cruz, California, while on vacation there. It was in a vintage clothing store, I believe, that we found it, for not very much money. It has one good size label, sewn into the large end of the tie, which reads as follows:

Made and
Hand Painted
in California of
Acetate and Nylon
by Richley

Orange with Interlocking Squares

Everytime I glance at this tie, before my eye/brain combination has time to parse just what it is that I'm seeing, I think for a split second that I'm looking at a bunch of those giant E's that optometrists make you look at. "Which way is the E pointing now?"

But when I look more closely, I realize, of course, that these are NOT giant letter E's. They are pairs of interlocking squares. One of each pair is always white; the other alternates between black or a paler orange than the background of the tie.

The tie also has an interesting brocade, which includes large circular patterns, and also sweeping groups of curved lines, suggesting motion. It's certainly a dramatic and colorful tie, with a lively, fluid design.

Definitely forties era. The tie measures 4 1/4 inches at its widest point, just before it begins narrowing to the point. The tie has one label, sewn sideways into the small end which reads as follows:

Resilient Construction
Towncraft Deluxe Cravat
Fabric Loomed in U.S.A.

Stripes in Silver, Black and Grey

Oops. Back at the end of July when I posted the latest addition to my collection of thirties era ties, I indicated that I thought (which I did at the time) it was the last one I had. No more thirties ties until I find and buy another one, I thought (and wrote). Then this week, going through one of my other vintage tie racks, what do I find? What appears to be yet another thirties tie that I had forgotten I had, and which has not yet been posted here!

You see, until recently, I didn't have my thirties collection separated out from the rest of my vintage ties. I had my vintage collection sorted by color. One rack for red, one for blue, one for orange, and one for green. Except, I didn't have enough green ties to fill that rack (each rack holds at least 24 ties, and more, if you put two to a slot) so I filled it out with brown, silver, grey, in other words, other neutral colors.

And the thirties ties were just scattered among all of the above, based on whatever color they were. And this tie was hidden in the middle of that rack, where I had obviously forgotten about its existence. It's a lovely tie, superficially simple in appearance and design, but actually more sophisticated than it first appears.

Recently, though, I moved all the thirties vintage ties to their own rack, or so I thought, except that I had missed this one. Who knows, maybe there's still another one lurking somewhere in my closet! I doubt it, though.

First, establishing the vintage. Look at the small end, which I scanned back side up, not only to show the label, but also to show the construction. Note the off center fold, especially as you near the wide end. This is typical of all the thirties era ties. And if you look at the very bottom, where you can see the back side of the fabric, you may be able to see that the design is woven directly into the fabric itself, another typical characteristic of that era.

I described the design as "superficially simple," because it's just stripes, after all. What could be more ordinary than that? In my book, ties with ordinary stripes are tedious beyond belief. You'll never catch me wearing typical boring stripes on a tie. But these stripes are more glamorous than many, what with their bright silver lines ensconced between black for better contrast.

Furthermore, although it is almost impossible to see in the scan, the wider gray spaces between the sets of double and triple silver stripes are blessed with a shiny almost iridescent surface, with numerous small round bubble shapes floating about. You may be able to see a few of them if you examine the image closely, but not nearly as many are as actually present.

OK, on to the label. It reads as follows:

READ & WHITE
Dress Clothes Renting
Boston, Mass.-Prov., R.I.

There is a smaller label sewed onto the larger one. It reads:

Hand
Tailored
Resilient
Construction

So the first label, especially the "Dress Clothes Renting" part makes me wonder if this wasn't originally a tie designed to go with formal wear, like a "morning suit" or something. It kind of has that look about it. Just for the record, the tie is 3 1/4 inches wide at its widest point.