Green Geometrics

Here's a fairly ordinary forties era tie from my collection. 100% silk fabric (according to a label), but other than that, not very fancy or special. Why do I say that? Because the fabric is fairly thin, and has no brocade patterns woven into it. This was probably a fairly inexpensive tie in its day.

The tie has two labels, which in this case (somewhat unusually) are sewn into the back of the large end of the tie, rather than the small end, which is more common.

One label reads:

The Men's Store
Carson Pirie
Scott & Co.

The other label simply reads "All Silk"

Red and Gray Scenery

Here's a nice tie that may have originally been a bit wider than it is now. When you look at the point of the large end, you can see how off-center it is. And if you could see the back side, you'd notice that it is folded almost all the way across the entire back side at the base. I'm fairly sure that someone refolded it, and ironed in new creases at some point. Probably in the early fifties, as tie widths started to narrow again.

The design is somewhat unusual, as it seems to consist of several different and separate sets of scenery. The one just up a bit from the point appears to depict tree trunks, and foliage. The next one, up in the middle of the tie, appears to show a body of water, perhaps, although what the gray splotches are supposed to be, I'm not quite sure.

The tie also has a brocade polka-dot pattern, with circles of various sizes scattered about. You can see them most clearly in the solid red areas.

The tie boasts two labels, shown on the small end of the tie, which read as follows:

Miller's Men's Shop
Santa Monica, Calif.

And

De Luxe
Hollyvogue
Made in California

Abstract in Shades of Brown

Here's a nice abstract design in shades of brown, white, and rusty red. The red doesn't show very clearly in the scan. The fabric has a brocade pattern with geometric shapes. Again, the brocade isn't very visible in the scan.

The tie has two labels, shown in the scan. The seller's label reads:

Kelleher & Browne
716 Market St.
San Francisco, Calif.

The maker's label reads:

Creveling
of California.

I really need to get my act together, and post ties on a more regular basis, as I have quite a few more in my collection to display.

Red with streaks of gold, tan, and blue

This is awful! Terrible! Shameful! The last time I blogged a tie was back in November, 2010, and the last time before that, and the last time I regularly blogged several ties was in September. I'm sure that anyone who ever paid attention to this blog (and there were never that many to begin with, this being a topic of fairly limited interest), thought it was dead, dead and gone, dead and buried.

Well, here I am, finally, blogging my first tie in 2011, and it's almost the end of February! I hope this attractive specimen that I present today will go a small ways toward rectifying my past deleteriousness (my dictionary doesn't think that's a word, but I don't see why not).

I obtained this tie not quite a week ago. On President's day, we stopped in at Value Village in Lacey, WA, just a hop, skip, and jump from where we reside here in Tumwater. I always enjoy my visits there, as they have ties displayed all along one wide expanse of wall, behind the rest of the men's clothing, and it is easy to peruse the collected assortment and look for any bargains.

It's rare to find many truly vintage ties at Value Village, but on this visit I hit the big time with this vintage forties era beauty. It was only $6.99, plus ALL clothing was 50% off that day, so I actually paid only $3.50 for a tie that is worth (on the going eBay marketplace) a minimum of $9.99, and worth more, if it strikes some collector's fancy.

The tie is a shade of deep crimson red, enhanced by a stylized floral brocade woven into the fabric. On top of the red appear a series of scribbles, jagged lines, with the vertical ones in a tan clor, and horizontal ones mostly in gold, with a few blue ones near the bottom of the tie, with more blue appearing on the small end.

The tie has two well-preserved labels, fastened to the large end of the tie, which is slightly unusual, though by no means unheard of. Tags are more often fastened to the small end, and I often include them in the scan when that is the case. The first tag is the seller's label, which reads

M. Hyman & Son
215 No.Clark St. Chicago

The manufacturer's label features an escutcheon topped with a crown, and with the head of an elephant on the shield, trunk and tusks raised aggressively. The label reads:

Burma
All Silk

So there you have it. I'm glad to be back, and only time will tell if I'm able to post ties on a more regular basis in future. My time is often at a premium these days. I have good intentions, but don't always manage to follow through on them Mea culpa.