James Landreth

If Ties could Talk   no. 2

Autobiographical reflections on my tie collection.  From left to right.

1. Golf putting tie, one of the many ties I received as a gift.  When my son Mark was in high school he decided to take up golf as a hobby.  He was tall and strong and could hit the ball a mile, often in the fairway.  So I decided to join him in this recreation and bought clubs for both he and myself.  In high school and later in the first two years of college, when he attended Saint Louis University here in Saint Louis, we would often, as the occasion permitted, head out to a course, often a par-three, after an early dinner and play a short round before sunset.  I think we both enjoyed this companionship and gradually improved, although, he much more than myself.  This one was given to me by my cousin Mary Frances Discenza, nee Walsh, as sort of a gag gift.  In the old days, a tie was a relatively safe gift to give a man.  Nowadays, since almost no one wears ties any more, such presents are now quite unheard of.
2. American Flag Tie.  This one was worn, at most, twice a year.  At Fourth of July events that were more formal such as a neighborhood picnic and perhaps for Memorial Day.  There might have been the rare occasion of some patriotic event, though those must have been rare.
3. Irish Setter Tie: This one is hard to see.  These are Irish Setters on a green background.  I probably gave it to my father and then re-inherited it from him.  It was commonly worn on Saint Patrick’s Day at work or other occasion.  The significance of this is that my dad got an Irish Setter soon after we moved to the suburbs in 1956.  There we had about an acre of land and had a fenced in yard.  The dog’s name was Shane.  My dad trained him to be a “working” or a field dog for hunting.  He also trained him to be a national field trial champion.  He was also my dog in the pre-adolescent and adolescent years of my youth.  He lived to a ripe old age of about 16.  With Shane, Dad became involved in the Irish Setter Club of America and participated in many field trials with other Irish Setters fanciers but dad never owned another dog.  I think of Shane as waiting at the Rainbow bridge for me.

Right, the AKC certificate

• Pheasant Tie.  Appropriate to this discussion of hunting dogs and Pangbourne, the last is the pheasant tie, with a common pheasant or Chinese ring-necked pheasant emblazoned thereon.  This tie was often worn because of the dark blue color and its association with the following story. Pheasants were introduced to North America in 1773 and have become well established east of the Rockies.  They are a common game bird and it is typical to hunt them with dogs.  It is commonly “farmed”, that is, raised as fowl for hunting.  My dad had a friend, shall we say a “business associate”, who had a game farm in lower Bucks County in Pennsylvania, along the Neshaminy Creek and who raised pheasants, a Mr. Walter Pangbourne.  He would often invite my dad to his farm in the fall to hunt.  This was something my dad surely enjoyed.  On occasion I would be invited to participate.  It was not unusual to have pheasant instead of turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

Above, Shane “on-point” at Pangbourne’s place and showing us where the bird lay.

• Running Skeleton tie.  This tie would work for either to two occasions: one, for a radiology function such as a meeting or presentation of a talk or a paper, two, for Halloween.   Both occasions were utilized for this one.