Rectangles of salmon and gray on a forest green background

It's been way too long since I last posted a tie. It's hard to believe it's been two months! And this may well be the last tie I have time to post until 2011. It's a busy time of year, and a busy life that I seem to lead.

This is a relatively recent acquisition. It's a nice example of an originally inexpensive (in all probability) forties tie, with a pattern that wouldn't particularly stand out today. Patterns of small geometric shapes evenly distributed over the surface of the entire tie are commonly found in tie designs from that time to this.

Here we have patterned rectangles on a forest green background. Each rectangle itself has a tiny forest green rectangle (same color as the background) embedded at the very center, surrounded by another rectangle neatly divided on the diagonal. The lower half is a salmon pink sort of color, while the upper half is a pale shade of gray. This divided rectangle is itself surrounded by a thin white rectangle which acts as a kind of frame.

The tie has one label, sewn into the narrow end, which reads:

Arrow
Made in U.S.A.

Uncle George's Autumn Leaves

In honor of the autumnal equinox marking the beginning of fall this past weekend, and in remembrance of my Uncle George, recently deceased, to whom this tie belonged, I present these beautiful autumn leaves.

George was my mother's oldest brother, a WWII veteran, and an honorable man, beloved by those who knew him. His son, my cousin, did me the honor of letting me select ties for my collection from those that he left behind, as something to remember him by.

This is a gorgeous addition to the large number of 1940's era ties that I have which depict autumn leaves, and I am grateful to add it to my collection. The tie has four leaves, two depicted in a purplish brown color, and two that are of a more reddish hue, shown a against a beautiful creamy yellow shade background, which sets them off in a striking manner.

Higher up on the tie, where the knot would have been tied, the background color turns a darker brown, matching the leaf color, and tiny oak leaves march across the tie in uniform rows, displayed in the yellow color which serves as the backdrop for the rest of the tie. Tied, this would create a striking contrast in the knot, making for a dramatic and stylish effect.

There is a seller's label, badly faded, and worn, sewn sideways onto the back of the narrow end, and visible in the scan. The label reads:

Hollywood Pants Shop
1630 San P___ [illegible] Ave.
Oakland, Cal.

Scrolled Pattern

"Scrolled Pattern" is the name I've given this tie, for lack of a better. The pattern features a series of light colored dots, each centered within a square outlined in the same color, each square sitting sideways, balancing, so to speak, on one of its points.

This design, featuring a background color of a rich brick-red color, is set off by a series of scroll-like patterns down each side, drawn with the same light color, alternating with a darker brown, which forms the outside background color of the tie as well.

One interesting thing about this design is that it is not centered. That is, the swath of brown background color is wider on one side of the scrolled design than on the other side. The patttern itself is so symetrical, that one would expect it to be placed symetrically on the tie as well, but it's not.

It is possible that the tie was resized at some point, folded and made narrower as styles changed. A point in favor of this argument is that the tie itself is off-centered. That is, the distance from the point to the beginning of the straight sides is longer on the right (3.25 inches) than on the left (2.75 inches). However, looking at the back of the tie, there isn't any obvious overfolding as one so often sees. And the overall width of the tie seems to argue against the idea also. The tie is fully 4 inches wide at its widest point, and most ties that have been cut down or refolded are more like 3.5 or so inches in width, in my experience. Why go to the trouble to make the tie narrower, if you're still going to leave it 4 inches wide?

It's a mystery, and one that I have no easy way to resolve.

The fabric of this tie has a luxuriant brocade woven into it, which is not readily visible in the scan, although you can see it better on the back of the short end, as shown in the scan, than you can on the front of the tie. The brocade pattern, which you could see better, were I to take the time to scan and post the back side of the wide end, consists of vaguely floral or leaf shaped whorls or swirls, almost circular in nature, but with layers of long thin lines flying off the circles, almost like rays from the sun, or like the outer bands of a hurricane, as it rapidly rotates.

The tie has one label, sewn onto the inside of the wide end, which has the word "Wembley" stiched in white letters inside a bright orange butterfly-shaped embroidery style patch.

Maroon and Gray Geometrics

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted a tie. I was on vacation for a couple of those weekends, and out of town on another as well, so in between there just wasn't any available time for the leisure activity of blogging. Well, finally, I'm back.

Here's a nice 40's era tie, with a typical geometric design in shades of maroon and gray.

I sent this tie to the dry cleaners after I obtained it, not too many months ago, and they really did a number on it with their pressing. Pressed it so flat that it almost feels like paper, instead of fabric. I've got to tell them NOT to do that. It goes too far!

The tie has no labels to record, so that's it for now.

Steps and Circles

Here's another nice forties tie. Nothing fancy, no brocaded fabric, but a rather striking desing of red and white concentric circles, and red and white stair steps alternating against a dark navy blue background.

The tie has two labels, visible in the scan. The first reads:

Lee Semon
Men's Wear-'That's All'

The second reads:

Fasion
Craft
Cravats

and has the initials SN enclosed in a diamond shaped box.

Until next time, enjoy!

Fancy Fifties Feathers

I think this is the first time I've put up ties two weeks in a row for quite some time! A major accomplishment for me, these days.

This is a nice examplar of fifties design. Are they really feathers? They could be leaves I suppose. The colors are shades of brown, red, and tan.

The background is solid brown, with no brocade. So it's not a fancy tie, just covered with those fanciful feathers. Probably not a terribly expensive tie when it was new.

The tie has one label, which reads:

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

Rising Discs

Here's another vintage 40's-era tie, a relatively recent acquisition. How to describe it?

The basic background color is a kind of mauve (is that a shade of purplish gray, or a shade of grayish purple?). Yellow-gold colored roughtly v-shaped stripes go marching up the tie, and at the center of each, a round red disc shaped object, with a smaller yellow center circle, are rising out of the v.

These circles remind me very much of the old LP (long-playing) record discs. For those who remember that obsolete technology (though these days, I understand that LPs are making somewhat of a comeback, and they have always had their supporters).

It's not in the best shape, with noticeable wear here and there, and some minor staining. The tie has no labels extant for transcribing.

Until the next time . . . !

Red and Gold Corners

OK, we're back to forties era ties. No more thirties, at least for now. This is quite a gorgeous example. I call it "red and gold corners" because the stripes all turn a corner near the bottom of the tie.

On top of this pattern are scattered pieces of smaller boxes (smaller than the size of box implied by the one corner that is visible), with scalloped edges.

This tie has a lovely brocade woven into the fabric as well. The brocade pattern is somewhat strange also. Vaguely diamond-shaped patterns with heavily rounded edges slightly resemble Caspar or some othe friendly ghost. Each one has four dots, like giant buttons, down the front.

This tie was part of an eBay purchase within the past several months. Unfortunately there are no labels to transcribe. Just a beautiful forties exemplar. Enjoy!

Red Blobs

Blobs, that's not a very attractive name for this tie's design, but it's the best I could come up with. I mean, this tie is covered with blobs on several levels. There are big red and maroon blobs all over the tie, and those blobs are filled with smaller blobs.

Blob is an interesting word. Change one letter, and you've got blog, which is the medium in which I'm writing. According to one definition I read on the web, a blob is "an indistinct, shapeless form." So maybe these aren't blobs at all, since they do have shape. Most of them are at least vaguely circular in shape.

And they are fairly distinguishable. You can tell where each blob (if that's even what they are) begins and ends. So if they aren't blobs, what are they? Spots? Who cares? Let's talk about the tie, which frankly, is more interesting than those blobby spots that cover it.

What era is this tie from? I'm thinking it might be from the thirties, but frankly, I'm not sure. Why thirties? Because it's thinly constructed, with a very narrow seam around the edges, and no lining. And it's about the right width.

But, the pattern is NOT woven directly into the fabric, as most of my thirties ties are. And the construction on the back is almost (not quite) centered, not overlapping, or off centered like so many thirties ties. The small end is somewhat off centered, but the large end is only slightly so.

There are two labels, which provide some clues that could possibly date the tie more definitively. The first one is the seller's label, which reads:

Herbert Men's Shops
Stores All Over Town
Chicago

The second label is presumably the manufacturer's label, which reads:

"Beau Brummell"
Imported
Ties the best
Made by Hand

Trademark reg.
Resilient
U.S. Patent 1447090

A little Google searching on Herbert Men's Shops found ads listing them in a 1954 Life magazine, via Google Books, and a story about one located in Downer's Grove, Illinois, closing. The story is dated Sept. 13, 2007, but that particular Herbert Men's Shop opened in 1940. There are lots of other hits, which I don't have time to follow up on now.

The fact that a particular example of this men's clothing store chain opened in 1940 doesn't mean that others in the chain weren't open in the thirties. More research is needed. But I think it is safe to say that if this particular tie isn't from the thirties, then it is probably from the forties, or possibly even the fifties. One could check the patent number, and see when it was issued. That would give a "can't be earlier than" date for the tie.

Well, that's more than enough about this tie for today. I have places to go, things to do, chores to complete. See you later . . .

Matched Pair -- Maroon and Violet

Here are a matched pair of slightly plainer patterned thirties era ties. And what is especially unique about these is that one of them at least, the purplish one, has apparently never been worn, since it still has the original packaging label on it.

The other one is frankly in better condition, however. The purple one appears to be faded, most likely from exposure to sunlight. You can see that the wide end of the tie, facing toward the top of the picture, fades toward a much lighter shade of color.

The label has a top hat, and a cane, depicted against a city skyline. The top hat itself has the words "Smart Style" on it. The center band of the label reads "Schulco Brand" and below, the label says "Selected Fabrics For Longer Wear." At the bottom left, across the end of the cane, is an eschutcheon device with the letter "S," presumably for "Schulco" on it. The ties have no other labels attached inside or out, just this one.

The ties themselves are classic conservative thirties design. The design is woven directly into the fabric, and the construction is very off-centered in back (not visible in the scan. The design itself is what I'm calling conservative, consisting as it does of thin stripes criss-crossing at 45 degree angles. in the scan you have to look closely to see the second set of stripes on each tie, the primary ones being considerably more prominent.

The bright dots on each tie are where the stripes intersect. On the purple tie, some of the paired dots are bright red, not really visible in the scan. Others are silver, and some are a pale blue. On the marroon tie, the paired dots are bright green, silver again, and the same marroon as the rest of the tie.

What's fun about these, of course, is having a matched pair. Many ties through the decades have been made with the same exact pattern in various colors, but these are more difficult to find and collect for historical ties, since rarely did one individual buy more than one color at a time. There are other examples here on the blog, but I don't have time today to link to them all.

Jewel Toned Stripes of Red and Black

When I saved this scanned image to my computer disk, I named it "Blobby Red Stripes" but now that I'm posting it, "Jewel Toned" sounds so much classier, don't you think?

The tie is quite opulent in appearance, but restrained. That is, it appears ordinary and somewhat monochromatic, almost dull, from a distance. It's only when you see it up close that you can appreciate it's gem-like qualities.

In the right light, at the right angle, the brighter blobby red stripes literally shimmer and shine, glimmer and glisten. Even the duller stripes in between are covered in many small black and red dots, contributing to the overall effect.

I presume that this is another thirties-era tie, as the pattern appears to be woven directly into the fabric, and the construction is off-centered in back, as is typical of that era tie. However, the tie is lined, which is less common.

Finally, I suppose I ought to comment on the fact that it's been a month and a half since I last posted a tie here on the blog. I've used this excuse before in previous years, which doesn't make it any less applicable now. As an active church musician, organist, pianist, choir accompanist, March and the first part of April was a very busy time, leading up to Holy Week and Easter, one of the busiest times in any church musician's schedule. So I just didn't find the time to scan and post any ties. I hope I can do better in future, as I've got quite a few new ties to post!

Red and Blue Amoeba-like Blobs

When I started typing the title for this post, I inadvertently typed "blogs" instead of "blobs." Kind of a Freudian slip, I suppose, though don't ask me what it means.

This is another gorgeous tie from the thirties. Red and blue blobs, vaguely amoeba shaped, float about on a background of—guess what color? Maroon, of course. With silvery sparkles imbedded throughout.

I'll have to count up one of these days, but it seems like well over half the thirties ties I own have maroon as their primary color.

Each amoeba blob is paired with another smaller one, and one or the other of the blobs is cross-hatched. Sometimes it's the larger one, sometimes the smaller. The red blob is always bigger, the blue one always smaller. But whichever blob is cross-hatched, blue or red, also has a small silver dot, kind of like an eye.

Except that amoebas don't have eyes. Well these aren't really amoebas after all. Just blobs shaped vaguely LIKE amoebas. The blob which isn't cross-hatched, the lesser (not necessarily smaller, mind!) blob is mostly maroon in color, only without the silvery sparkles, with only a thin crescent edge to show that it is a blue (if smaller) or red (if larger) blob, as though it were in a kind of eclipse behind the more significant, cross-hatched blob with the silvery dot/eye on it.

What does this mean? What is the symbolic significance of this ornately realized design? Who knows? Does anyone care? Does it matter? What is the significance of life? Who knows? Does anyone care? Does it matter? Are these questions existentialistically significant? Who knows: Does anyone care? Does it matter? Is "existentialistically" really a word? Who knows? Does anyone care? Does it matter?

Now if any of that nonsense I've just written makes any sense to you, you're probably even battier than I am. And just how batty is that? Who knows? Does anyone care? Does it matter? Enough, already.

This tie has one label, sewed into the small end, as can be plainly seen in the scanned image. The label reads:

Orris
Chicago-Park Ridge

Who knows? Does anyone care? Does it matter?

Brown and Silver Thirties Era

Here is another 30's era tie. What I like about these is the opulent effect of the bright and glossy pattern woven directly into the fabric. Even when the colors are fairly conservative, as in this example, the sheen of the fabric, and the almost embossed look of the pattern create an impression that I can only describe as opulent, rich.

This one is basic brown, designed to go with any brown suit, with a contrasting color of silver, which is an unusual combination. If I were thinking of combining a metallic color with brown, it would more likely be bronze or gold than silver. But it works.

My wife tried to persuade me that the patterns repeated across this tie were paisleys. But I don't think so. They could be described as "almost" paisley, perhaps. They also resemble abstract ying and yang symbols, or perhaps a swirling galaxy, or a cosmic dust cloud forming into a star or planet.

This tie has the characteristic off-center stitching in the back that is characteristic of thirties tie construction, as well as the even more characteristic feature of having its design woven directly into the fabric, as I mentioned above. Slightly less characteristic is the fact that the tie is lined, which many in this style are not. It's width is still conservative, under 4 inches, about 3 3/4 inches at its widest point, te be exact.

The tie has no extant labels to record. One reason I chose this particular tie to scan and blog this week is that I actually wore it to professional meeting on this Thursday past. The first and only time I've ever worn it, as it, like the others posted in the past few weeks, is a relatively recent acquisition.

Silver, Green, and Red, on Maroon--Thirties Era

Here's another thirties beauty. Maroon is the primary background color, like so many others. I'm not sure if maroon was really a favorite color for men's ties in that era, or if it's merely a coincidence that so many of the thirties ties I have managed to collect are basically maroon.

This one has lightning-edged blotches of red and green imbedded in silver all over the tie. Like so many of my ties from this era, the pattern is woven directly into the fabric. The fabric has its own sheen, making it look rich and opulent.

If you look closely at each of the square-shaped blotches (that's what I'm callin them for lack of a better term), you'll see that the red or green starts bright, then fades toward a darker shade, and in fact, ends up the same maroon color as the background on the tie.

The short end of the tie has one label sewed in, which reads:

Normandy
Hand Tailored

Circles of Grapes

I described last week's tie as possibly transititional between the thirties and the forties. So I decided to continue with some additional thirties era ties that I have acquired since last posting any thirties ties.

This one I'm calling "Circles of Grapes" because it looks like clusters of grapes encircled by circular patterns. The basic color scheme is maroon, which seems to have been a favorite for the era, unless it is merely a coincidence that so many of the ties I have from the thirties are that color.

I don't have much time, so that's about all I'm going to say about the tie. It does have one extant label, which shows in the scan, but is upside down. It reads:

Cheney
Cravats
Resilient
Construction

Baroque Beauty

Well, it's certainly about time that I got started posting ties again. One of the problems I've had is that my regular computer crashed a few months ago, and I still haven't gotten everything rebuilt back to the way it was. For example, my all-in-one printer, scanner, copier had never been installed. I couldn't find the CD-ROM, so I had to go to the Brother printer support web site, and download the driver from there, and reinstall it.

So now I can at least scan the ties. I had been scanning them on my older computer, and then moving them across. A pain. Now that I've got the scanner installed, I hope to be able to post ties on a more regular basis. We'll see if I manage to actually do so.

So what about this tie? It's one that I acquired sometime this past year in an eBay purchase. It's quite dramatic in its own way. I don't know the era for sure, but based on its style, it looks to me like a transitional tie, somewhere between the thirties and the forties. The pattern appears woven directly into the fabric, and the construction is way off centered (you can't see this in the scan; I'd have to scan the reverse side of the tie for that), both of which are typical thirties characteristics. However, the tie is lined, which is more characteristic of the forties.

So why did I call it "Baroque Beauty"? I don't know. That's just what came to mind when I tried to think of a title. I'm using "baroque" here in the generic sense of "ornate, intricate, decorated, laden with detail," (definition from Wiktionary) which particularly describes the rosy maroon and silver stripes across the tie. The tie has no labels to record.