Bright as a New Penny

The name of this design, printed on the small end of the tie, tells you what it's all about. "Bright as a New Penny," it reads. So the bright yellow coin-shaped circles are obviously intended to represent the bright and shiny new penny, with the other circular objects looking like less shiny pennies, or just spin-offs from the original bright and shiny one.

Meanwhile, similarly gold-colored lines criss-cross the tie, dividing it into diamond-shaped quadrants. A rich shade of blue provides an appropriate background against which the rich gold colors stand out strikingly.

There you have it. There's not much more that needs to be said about this tie. It has no labels, other than the printed on name of the design. A previous owner seems to have inked his name onto the lining of the small end. "Loewe," it reads. The "L" has a long tail that extends horizontally under the other letters.

I suppose it could be a manufacturer or store label, but it appears hand-written. There is a frayed hole in the label just above that area, which could be where a label was ripped out from having been sewn onto the tie, as they generally are.

This tie shows its age a bit, in that the blue background appears darker in some areas, and may be stained in places. The fabric is less expensive than that of many of my ties from this era, in that there is no brocade, and it has a more matte surface, rather than the shinier, glossy look of what I assume were the more expensive ties. It just looks like a cheaper tie to me. Still, it's nice enough, and the design title, telling us what the designer had in mind, is a nice touch.