Here is a selection of my Christmas tie collection. This is not the entire collection by any means, but apparently these are the ones I managed to wear to work during the season last year. I'm not sure if these genuinely qualify as "vintage" (given the name of this blog) as the majority of them were undoubtedly manufactured during the decade of the '90's. Is that vintage? It's 20 years ago, now. 

According to an online definition: "Furniture and small appliances tend to be considered vintage anywhere from 25 to 50 years old and beyond. The term vintage, however, is highly subjective. Vintage clothing, particularly couture styles, might be less than ten years old."

So, according to that definition, most of these ties could probably be described as "vintage," although these ties are hardly "couture!" The ties depicting snowmen could be of a more recent vintage. In that last sentence, the word "vintage" is merely used as a synonym for "age."

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Square-ended tie closeups

The problem with posting my "off the wall" tie pictures (taken while the ties are hanging on the outside wall of my work cubicle) is that you don't get a good idea of what the designs and patterns really look like close up. So this post is an attempt to remedy that for the ties shown in my previous post. This group of pictures shows close-up views of each tie. In at least a couple of cases, there are a couple of images for a particular tie. Getting these pictures to line up in decently arranged rows is incredibly tricky in Blogger.

More Square-Ended Ties

 These pictures show a major portion (though not quite all) of the REST of my collection of square-ended ties, besides the classic J.B. Ernst ones featured in my previous post back in September. Actually, starting from the right (that's the order in which I wore these ties to work), the first 5 ARE Ernst brand ties, then there are 3 Ernst "wannabe's" two more genuine Ernst, and one more Ernst imitation.

The Ernst ties shown here deserve some explanation. The three wide examples, one gold, one orange, with a plain brown example between them, are quite clearly ties from the decade of the 70's, wide, polyester, with big knots when tied. Since Ernest Beale sold his company in 1970, he almost certainly had nothing to do with the design of these ties. They probably represent an attempt to conform to the style of that era, and (in my view) a vain attempt to take the company in a new direction without the influence of Mr. Beale himself.

The tie on either side of the 3 wide 70's era monstrosities, are examples of Ernst ties with patterned fabrics, unlike the more typical horizontal stripes featured in my previous post. These may be Ernst's own designs, or not; I really have no way of knowing for sure.


The next 3 ties are what I assume to be a rival attempting to mimic the unique Ernst style.Then, 2 more Ernst, the first one patterned, and the last narrow, blue one, one of the VERY few ties I've ever seen with purely vertical, albeit, somewhat subtle stripes. I'm afraid they don't show up very good in the picture.

The rest of the ties are "just" other square-ended ties that I've found and acquired over the years. Some are classic 60's design. Others are woven, usually of wool or cotton blends. Some have interesting features, most of which are difficult to observe in these photos.  

 The first tie in this picture, for instance, starting again, from the right, silvery in color, has two red spiderish creatures depicted on it. Virtually impossible to pick out here. The next two ties, the first blue, and the second, plaid in shades of tan, both feature glitter in the fabric. Quite stylish!

There you have it. I've been wearing these ties to work ever since I previously posted the classic Ernst square-ended ties. Now the wall is full again, so it's time to take these down and start over. Between now and the end of the year, I'll be wearing my Christmas ties. Look for the next post showing those sometime early in January.

 The plain colored knit ties in this picture and the next one probably date from the 1980's, when knit square-ended ties had a resurgence. I even bought knit ties of this sort during that time period, but these are probably some that I picked up later, as they're slightly fancier than most, sometimes with linings sewn into the back of the ties.

J.B. Ernst Square-Ended Ties

This picture shows my collection of J.B. Ernst square-ended striped ties. J.B. Ernst (aka Ernest J. Beale) flourished in San Francisco designing his unique ties from 1952-1970. I have been a fan ever since I stumbled upon my first Ernst tie in a Seattle thrift store back in the late 1970's. I wore that tie for years before I ever found any more, or learned anything about the designer. 

There is some information about Ernest Beall on a web page that I found, via Google of course. With lots of pictures. I wasn't really able to start my own collection in any serious way until the advent of eBay.

 Also, my sister-in-law and her husband live in Santa Cruz, CA, and whenever I visit, I'm usually able to find a few Ernst ties in vintage clothing stores, or even in the local Goodwill. I found three that way this past summer. One in the Goodwill, for which I paid a mere $3.50, and two in a vintage clothing shop, for which I paid $7.00 each. On eBay they go for varying amounts. I haven't been buying many lately, as I probably have too many already.

Once in a blue moon, I find one in a thrift store in this area, but it's rare. They are much more common in Mr. Beale's original back yard, so to speak, near his original San Francisco locale.

So I wear a different tie to work each day, and (providing I don't forget), before I leave for the day, I remove the tie, and hang it on the outside of my cubicle wall. I keep on until the wall is full. I take pictures, and then take the ties home, and start over with another collection.

As a tie collector, I never run out of different ties to wear. The ties depicted here represent about half of my J.B. Ernst tie collection, but the other half are mostly more traditional with the standard pointed end, and the stripes run diagonally across the face of the tie, as is typical with most designers. The design of the stripes is often quite original, however, and the color combinations are sometimes unusual, although always very well thought out.

These pictures don't really do full justice to the colors and patterns in these ties. I brightened up the shots somewhat with a photo editor, but many of them still look dull compared to the real thing. And others are too brightly colored. For example, the tie in the picture to the immediate left of this block of text, should be more red, than orange.

The green tie near the middle of this picture, is one of the ones I found this past summer; the one I picked up at the Santa Cruz Goodwill for $3.50. It features very fine, almost hairline stripes in various shades of green. It is one of only a few I have in this particular style, described in more detail on the page I linked to, titled Ernest Beall, Prince of Ties. Look for the picture with this description: "Some of my favorites are Ernst’s hairline-stripe ties with hundreds of different colors of thread."

The brightly colored tie in shades of blue and turquoise located on the right side of this picture is one of my favorites. It is fabricated from raw silk. Two more raw silk ties are found in the first closeup picture. The third in from the right, and the last one depicted in full length on the left side of the screen. Mr. Beall was not partial when it came to choice of fabrics. His ties feature various combinations including wool, cotton, polyester, and, of course, silk.

The widths vary a little, but the majority of the square-ended ties depicted here are about 1 & 3/4 inch in width at their widest point. The next picture down on the page depicts the widest and narrowest square-ended ties in my collection. The widest ones, one in a combination of turquoise and a spring green, the other orange, darker green, and pale blue, are about 3 1/8 inch in width. The narrowest one, in olive and brown, at the far right in the picture, is 1 & 1/8 inch wide.

The left-most tie in this picture, in dark green and orange, is the original Ernst tie that I owned and wore.

So I realize it's been several years since I posted any pictures here on my vintage tie blog. I'm thinking I'll post more of my cubicle wall shots in future, as I find the time. Maybe more will show up once I get around to retiring from my full-time job. We'll see. I hope you enjoy!