Blue Strawberries

Strawberry season is already past, more or less, here in Western Washington, although there should be another season for the late berries. We were on vacation most of that time, as I recall.

Anyway, here's a tie that appears to depict strawberries, even though they're a fairly unusual blue color. And some of them are on top of leaves, although they don't look exactly like strawberry leaves to me.

The background color of the tie is a deep maroon color, sort of a wine color, and unusual shade. In the scan, it probably doesn't come through well. Right now, on my screen, it looks more of a chocolate brown color. The fabric doesn't have any brocade, but has a shiny, silky, sheen to it, like so many ties from that era.

The tie has two labels, shown in the scan. The first one, which I assume to be the retailer's label, reads

Armstrong's
"Quality is economy"
Cedar Rapids

The second label, which I presume to be the manufacturer's label, reads

Cahama
California
Swagger

Red & Yellow, Silver & White

I know, I know. It's been three weeks since I last posted a vintage tie here. Mea culpa. We were on vacation the first two weeks, and then the next week we were trying to catch up from having been gone so much. There often just aren't enough hours in the day or the week to go around.

But I'm back. And I hope you enjoy this tie. It's a classic forties era design, quite colorful, with a lively design.

I'm not really sure how to describe the design. I'm almost tempted to just refer you to the title I gave this post, and leave it at that. Except that it's probably more maroon than red. Red only in a very general, generic sense.

But to just call it abstract would be a cop-out. If you look carefully, the large maroon blob could be a leaf-like shape, I suppose. It almost looks more like a large toothy saw blade, with the yellow and silver ripper blades around the edges. And lower down on the tie is another smaller version of the same thing.

Instead of a saw blade, it could be some sort of amoeba blob thing, I suppose. I think my imagination may be getting a bit carried away. Let's go back to something tamer, like a highly stylized leaf or flower, maybe a sunflower! or something. Or something else altogether? You decide.

The tie has one label, sewn into the small end which reads as follows:

Ward & Ward INC.
Phila. PA.