Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 (edited) Just thought I'd pass along a couple pics of some good "Rooster" band ties from the late 50's and early 60's. All of them have (had) square bottoms, and were pretty thin (usually about 2 inches in diameter). Unlike "pointy"-end ties, the sides of the tie were parallel for most of the tie, until you got to where you started to tie it around your neck. I've seen pictures from the 50's, of both Gil Evans and Gunther Schuller wearing what are probably Rooster ties (or at least what they're wearing are narrow square-bottom ties that sure look like Roosters to me). If I can find the pics of Evans and Schuller on-line, I'll be sure to post 'em. Edited December 1, 2003 by Rooster_Ties Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 (edited) Here's a music-theme Rooster, complete with the tag visible... I've got about 50 or 60 of these, with all kinds of themes. And for the most part, I haven't worn a traditional "pointy"-end tie for about 6 or 7 years. Edited December 1, 2003 by Rooster_Ties Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 The picture of Schuller in a Rooster tie (look for the pic of him conducting) is in the notes to this album... I don't have a scanner, but if anyone else has a scanner, and also has this CD... Quote
Jazz Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Those things are stylin! Where do you get a hold of those? Quote
BruceH Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Yeah, where?? I love skinny, square-end ties! (Really!) Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 Vintage stores usually, or occasionally I'll find one at a thrift store (Salvation Army or Goodwill), or occasially at estate sales. Sometimes on eBay, or some other on-line "vintage clothing" stores. Quote
AfricaBrass Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Those are cool ties. I'm glad I finally know the origin of your name, R/T. I have to admit I was curious. Quote
Jazz Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Thanks! Whenever I get a decent income, I think I'll want to dress sharply most of the time. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for some. Is Rooster a brand name of ties, or is it the name for the square end style? Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 This particular tie is somewhat less than top-drawer, but it includes a better shot of the "Rooster" tag. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 Is Rooster a brand name of ties, or is it the name for the square end style? It was a brand name. There were some other brands that also made square-bottom times, "Ernst" being probably the second best in quality. "Tina" was another brand, and there were some others too. But "Rooster" had the best designs, by far. Muted colors, often dark or medium in hue. Multi-color Batik fabric with some really interesting designs. I don't have any kind of set-up to photograph my collection, but as I encounter on-line images, I'll post some more of them here. Quote
Jazz Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Very awesome! Thanks for making me hip to these. I'll probably try and make it down to some Goodwills in my area sometime soon. You know, I think one of my friends actually found a Gavardine in a Goodwill once, so you never know... Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 Vintage clothing stores and eBay are probably my best sources. I'll go months and months without seeing any, and then out of the blue - I'll stumble on 5 or 10 eBay auctions, usually all from the same seller. Or I'll be out of town, and walk into a vintage store with a dozen or more high-quality Roosters. But more often than not, my searches come up dry. If you go to quite a few vintage stores, you tend to find which ones have the highest chance of having any. There's two Vintage stores here in Kansas City that occasionally get them in. And there's one good store in St. Louis. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 These aren't the best examples ever, but they give you an idea of the range of Rooster ties that were made... Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 WARNING: Rooster made ties on up into the 70's, and they got wider too!!! Some were 3 inches wide, and even as wide as 4 inches!! The colors got more noisy and bold, and these "wider" Roosters are of much less interest to me. (I have one or two, but I never wear them.) The trouble is that you often can't tell the width of Rooster ties just by looking at the pictures. These are 3-inches wide. Notice how the colors are louder? - and the designs are usually less subtle too. Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 (edited) Couple more REALLY ugly "wide" Roosters from the 70's. Also, I think they must have given up on the "flat bottom tie" thing sometime in the 80's, or sold their name, or something. When I do eBay searches for "Rooster" ties, I do get hits on totally conventional "pointy"-end ties too. Wierd. Edited December 1, 2003 by Rooster_Ties Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 In the late 50's and early 60's, Rooster had "plainer" looking square-bottom neckties too. I have more of these than I really want, but back when I first was collecting them, I got whatever I could find - which more often than not - were the "plain" striped ones, like these... Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 Most of mine (or at least the one's I have that I REALLY like), look pretty much like this bunch (same pic at the very first post in this thread). I probably have 30 or 40 of this quality, in terms of nice colors, and cool themes. Quote
Jazz Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 Are you into other types of "vintage" clothing at all? I'd like to be a sharp dresser, but I barely know how! Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 1, 2003 Author Report Posted December 1, 2003 Are you into other types of "vintage" clothing at all? I'd like to be a sharp dresser, but I barely know how! No, not really into any other vintage clothing. I mean, I certainly appreciate lots of what I see, but I can't really pull it off myself. At 5'11" and about 225 lbs, I'm an "XL" kinda guy. And finding "XL" vintage clothing is pretty darn hard to do, or at least finding something you actually want, and in good condition - is difficult. Can't tell you how many cool vintage shirts I've noticed over the years, only to look at the label and find they're medium or small size. I do have one vintage wristwatch that I'm quite proud of. It belonged to my Dad, and dates back to the 40's. He wore it for nearly 40 years, but all it needed was a good cleaning, and otherwise runs like a dream. I used to have one vintage suit that I bought back in college (not because it was vintage, particularly, but simply because I needed a good suit, and found one I liked that actually fit. Of course that was 15 years and 50 lbs ago). I am always on the lookout for short vintage tie-clips, meaning those that are about 1.5 to 1.75 inches in length. Nearly all the tie-clips you find (new, or vintage) are aways for much wider ties. All my Roosters are about 2 inches wide, so I'm always in the market for nice but short tie-clips. Quote
jazzbo Posted December 1, 2003 Report Posted December 1, 2003 I've got some of the square bottomed ties too, in stripes and color weaves, and I like these a lot. I've a Rooster or two, but most of mine are not Roosters. I have one old tie I really like that is a "Button Through Smoothie." You can secure it to your shirt on a button. . . very very hip! It's really skinny, and a red and black paisley type design. . . don't get to wear it much these days! (I'm 5'11+" and coming down from about 215 myself, so skinny flashy ties don't work on me these days!) Quote
chris olivarez Posted December 2, 2003 Report Posted December 2, 2003 A friend of mine has this outrageous selection of ties from the 1940's he calls them "Jazz ties" and if I was going to wear ties it would have to be something like that. Quote
Jazz Posted December 2, 2003 Report Posted December 2, 2003 RT - I can definitely sympathize, being 5'5" in height. I'm pretty short, so the whole vintage clothing thing kind of presents a few problems for me as well. It doesn't help that I'm not too fond of clothes shopping either! But, for some reason, I really like the idea of wearing a suit most days or at least dressing up a little every day. That watch sounds like a dandy! I have nothing vintage or keepsake-y to speak of, but I guess it's just as well... Quote
Rooster_Ties Posted December 6, 2003 Author Report Posted December 6, 2003 Yippie!!!! I just won the eBay action with these very ties!!! (Yeah, the image I gave all of you in the very first post of this thread was an eBay auction that hadn't closed yet. ) Got all 10 of them for less than $3 per tie (even factoring in the shipping costs). Often Rooster ties of THIS quality (and there are plenty that AREN'T of this quality), go for more like $5 to $8 per tie, sometimes even closer to $10 (two or three years ago, when the economy was better). I haven't gotten many ties on eBay for quite a while (close to a year), but this particular lot was so great, I couldn't help but give it a shot. Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.