Olive and Burgundy Arabesque

This tie was purchased in California, at an antique store in downtown Santa Cruz, if I remember correctly. That would have been in 1996 or 1997, whichever year ALA (the American Library Association) held its annual conference in San Francisco.

Arline and I went, my trip paid by my employer of the time, Amigos, and Arline getting at least part of her expenses paid by her employer, SMU (Southern Methodist University). We stayed on for a week after the conference, and after spending a couple of days doing the tourist thing in San Francisco, traveled on down to San Jose by train, where Arline's sister Kathy and her husband Ken, picked us up and took us over the mountain to Santa Cruz, where they still live to this day.

Arline had seen this tie when she had been there a year before, but had selected a different one to buy for me as a gift. When we visited the store again (again for them, first time for me) this tie was still there, and I coveted it, and so bought it, rather than risk breaking the 10th commandment.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the scanned image will allow you to see the brocade pattern which consists of closely spaced circular dots of variing sizes. They are mirrored by the maroon circular patterns contained in the rectangular boxes. The tie has a label which reads "made and styled in california for Penney's".

Rust and cream swirl

This tie gains excitment via its dramatic rust and cream swirl on a background of basic brown with a horizontally flowing linear brocade pattern. It is a relatively recent addition to my collection meaning that I acquired it sometime within the past decade or so, rather than early in my collecting career.

Beyond that, there's not really much to say about it. I don't remember the exact particulars of where and when i acquired it. It might be one that my wife found in her peripatetic perigrinations through the second-hand shops and antique venues in whatever towns we found ourselves inhabiting or visiting. Junk stores, we call them, and checking them out has always been one of our forms of entertainment.

The green label reads "BROTMAN'S Men's Wear Stores Chicago" while the black one elegantly asserts "SIBONEY Cravat."

Navy with lighter blue and yellow

This is my favorite navy blue exemplar. Why? Several reasons:

• The light blue patches make it easier to match it up with an outfit: light blue shirt, navy slacks, etc.
• The yellow spots make a nice contrast to the blue, and help give the tie definition against the shirt
• The lovely abstract brocade woven into the fabric is an especially nice touch

It's just a beautiful tie all the way around.

BTW, the blue blob in the lower left corner is the tie's label. If you click on the image, you'll get a slightly larger version in your browser, but the label is still difficult to read. The label states

"Resilient Construction"
"Towncraft DeLuxe Cravat"
"Fabric Loomed in U.S.A."

Light blue floral

This is another of my wife's favorites. Mine too, for that matter.

What makes it unique is the lighter blue shade which predominates. By far the vast majority of vintage blue ties I own are deep dark navy blue. Deep blue and red together (as in Dad's red and blue paisley) are a typical combination as well. But lighter shades of blue are less common, at least in MY collection.

This tie poses a problem for modern wardrobes. It is really difficult to find a shirt color that it goes with, other than pure white. Of course, in the 40's, when these ties were designed and manufactured, white was the just about the ONLY color of dress shirt worn by men. But nowadays, I personally try to avoid white shirts as much as possible. So wearing this particular tie is always a challenge. But definitely worth the effort.

Teal and Orange

This is my wife's favorite tie from my collection. It's certainly one of my favorites, too. I chose to load it this week be-
cause it is sort of the color reverse of last week's exemplar. While last week's tie was orange with a teal highlight, this one is teal with orange highlights!

It's certainly a gorgeous tie, with a rich brocade background pattern of floral bells and dots, with comple-
mentary sprays at the ends of the stylized orange floral design.

Orange Swordfish

Actually, it's the tie that's orange, not the swordfish. I refer to this tie as the "orange swordfish" tie because it (the tie) is orange, and it has a swordfish on it. The swordfish is more of a teal or turquoise color.

This is definitely one of the more brilliantly colored, some might even say, garishly colored ties in my collection. Originally, it was even more gaudy than it is now, in that the fish was covered with glitter. Over the years, most of the glitter has worn away, and it no longer has quite the sparkle it must have once boasted. Nevertheless, it still manages to shock the eyes, at least a little.

Shades of Purple

This was the first tie I ever purchased as I was beginning my vintage tie collection. During the summer after my high school graduation, my Mom and I went into Portland to find a used typewriter for me to use during college.

Across the street from the typewriter store was an antique store of some sort, perhaps a vintage clothing store, I don't recall. At any rate, this tie was one of a pair of vintage beauties displayed in the window.

I persuaded my Mom to let me go in and buy both of them. I don't recall exactly how much they were, but I'm guessing not more than $3-$5 apiece.

The other tie, a brilliant red one, I later lost. But this one remains one of my favorites, and is almost the only vintage tie I own that comes in shades of purple. You can see that it, too, comes with a beautiful floral brocade pattern woven into the background fabric.

The labels read as follows: "Wilson's W Shirt Shop Inc. 536 Broadway at Alder Portland, Oregon. Fashion Craft SN Cravats" (the "SN" is enclosed in a diamond shape, probably indicating a logo). This is the same "makers mark" label as Dad's blue and red paisley! Most of my ties that HAVE labels, have two: one representing the venue in which the tie was sold, the other indicating the manufacturer or designer.

Dad's Red and Blue Paisley

I became interested in vintage ties during high school, when a fellow classmate showed off his father's incredible tie collection by wearing them to school. As I recall, he even had some zoot suit ties, which were literally as wide as the front of your shirt, and incredibly brilliantly colored.

I promptly went home and asked my Dad if HE had any old ties. And lo and behold, yes, he did! This red paisley on a navy blue background was one of them, and remains one of my favorites to this day. You can also see quite clearly the gorgeous floral brocade pattern in the background.

I had never seen my father wear any of these vintage ties; he had long since given them up for the conservative look of the 50's and 60's. It has always been hard for me to imagine him as a stylish young buck, decked out in a tie like this!

As I recall, there were about a dozen or so. I took them all off to school, and wore them with pride. Later, my mother suggested I let my two younger brothers have some of them, and I reluctantly divided them up between the three of us. Unfortunately, both of them were still living at home when the old farmhouse burned to the ground, and only the three I had away with me were saved for posterity.

The tie's labels read "DOUPE BROTHERS Ilwaco, WN." and "Fashion Craft SN Cravats."

Chess brocade

This is my brand new blog devoted to showing off images of my vintage necktie collection. I plan to post about one tie per week. At this rate it will take several years to showcase my entire collection.

This particular tie is one of the more flashy examples I have been fortunate enough to acquire. It is fully 4 1/2 inches wide at its widest point, and has a gorgeous background brocade pattern of chess pieces, which may not be as visible as one could wish in the scanned image. This is a classic 1940's era tie at its best.