Neckties have been around at least since the sixteenth century. There have been many variations over the years, but it appears that the neck tie, as we know it today, originated in the 1920’s.
From the first grade through the eighth, I attended parochial schools. We wore uniforms that consisted of a white shirt, blue pants, and a blue striped tie. I won’t argue this one way or the other, but it did remove any peer pressure surrounding how one would dress for school. The ties we wore back then were all clip on, so being able to tie it was not an issue.
Over the years there have been many variations in regard to color, width, thickness of material and types of material. I think I was in college before someone actually showed me how to tie a Windsor knot. I have since mastered that skill, as long as I am looking in the mirror. I can also demonstrate how to tie the knot as long as I am standing behind the person needing help. If I face him, everything is backwards.
When I first got out of college, I worked in farm management. The work I was doing required no tie; from there, I taught school and seldom wore a tie. When I went to work for McDonough Power Equipment, ties were common and, for twenty years, I wore one on a regular basis. In that environment, conversations sometimes centered around who had the best looking, highest quality tie. I have quite a few ties that were high quality for their time.
When wearing a tie, it is important that it be tied correctly. The tip of the tie should be even with the center of your belt. In order to get the length correct you must be willing to untie and start over if you miss the mark. Varying thicknesses of the material makes it so that no two ties are alike. We all know that the shortest distance between your neck and your belt is a straight line. So now I have to allow for the fact that this is no longer the case.
After twenty years of tying ties, I mastered that skill. When the last generation of managers took over the company, we no longer wore ties. I am now approaching twenty years of not wearing a tie. Today, if I put on a coat and tie everyone seems to be shocked. They do not expect me to dress like that. Not wanting to put anyone in shock, I seldom wear a tie.
In the movie “Quigley Down Under,” our hero declares, early in the movie, that he has no use for handguns. At the end of the movie he outdraws and shoots the villain with a handgun. As the villain fades away, he has a shocked look on his face. The hero declares “I said I didn’t have any use for them, I never said I didn’t know how to use one.” I guess this describes how I feel about neckties.
