Museum of Corporate Neckties


The Beginning

(you may click on any necktie photo to see detail; a few ties do not have this detail)

Many years ago, I worked for a company whose name then was the Pennwalt Corporation. One year, and I believe that was the only year, they achieved one billion dollars in sales. To celebrate that accomplishment, they gave each and every male employee a necktie enblazened with the corporate logo all over it, while the ladies each received a small clutch purse with the logo embossed into the plastic cover. That was my first corporate necktie! And I actually used to wear it often. But a couple of my colleagues had the attitude "The corporation earned $1,000,000,000, and all I get is this lousy tie!" One of them cut his Pennwalt tie in small pieces and scattered it about his office; another was about to throw his in the wastebasket when I said I would take it, so now I was the "not particularly proud" owner of two of these neckties.

I want to sincerely thank Jean Hubsch, a former Pennwalt colleague, for the donation of these two tie tacks. The tie tack on the left commemorates the 100 year anniversary of Pennwalt's Pharmaceutical Division, which started as Strasenburg Laboratories in the 1870's. The figure is a Medicine Man and represents the history of medicine. The tie tack on the right belongs to the entire, very diversified Pennwalt Corporation, which was headquartered in Philadelphia; both the keystone shape and the Quaker are Pennsylvania symbols. (click on the picture to see details.)

A short time later I was wearing one of these Pennwalt neckties during a meeting with a friend who was a partner at Price Waterhouse. He admired the Pennwalt tie, and when I told him I had another one and offered it to him, he accepted my offer. In exchange, he gave me a Price Waterhouse necktie, with their "P W" logo on it. So now I had two corporate neckties to wear, and it was almost like the beginning of a collection.

I offer an amusing (at least to me) side story: one day at Pennwalt, I was wearing the newly acquired "P W" Price Waterhouse necktie. Another of my colleagues asked about it. Being a bit of a joker and trouble-maker, I told him it was the second Pennwalt necktie, and asked if he had received his in the mail yet. I convinced him the PW "obviously" stood for Pennwalt. Over the next few weeks, I continued to ask if he had received his second Pennwalt necktie yet (and of course he hadn't). I wonder if he is still waiting for it, even though the corporation no longer exists.

Some time later, at a different company, one of my colleagues came to work wearing a necktie with the Schweppes logo on it, you know the folks that make tonic water and other carbonated mixers and beverages. I have no idea where he got it, but I admired the tie each and every time he wore it to work, and eventually he gave it to me. Now, with three corporate neckties, this was officially a collection! But the question was how to expand it.

My lovely and usually patient wife was working on a craft project, and to find materials for this, we would visit (haunt) thrift shops in the general area near our home. You know, those shops that sell second hand items you and I donate to help the needy, e.g., the Disabled American Veterans, Goodwill or the Salvation Army. While she looked for the materials she needed, I wandered around just looking. Lo and Behold! I found a necktie with the McMahan’s name on it. Writing on the back suggested that it had been given to an outstanding salesman at a McMahan's furniture store.

Sometime later, I discovered eBay, and the fact that if I searched on the term "necktie", hundreds of neckties were for sale at any one time. All I had to do was scan the list of available neckties and look for ones that might have a corporate name or logo on them. The potential for expansion of my corporate necktie collection seemed to be limited only by the availability of spare money and my wife's patience. Thus, over time, the collection grew and grew to the point that it contains more than 350 corporate neckties. If you are interested in viewing them, please check out the links below. I have attempted to categorize them by the nature of the companies, and of course, there will be some that will end up in the "Misc." area.

Beverages


Computers, Electronics and Software


Financial


Food, Feed and Food-related


Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, and Chemical


Transportation: because of the large number of ties, I offer these sub-topics of transportation.


-----Airplanes and Aerospace


-----Automobiles, Trucks and Trains


-----Other transportation-related companies


Miscellaneous

Tie-tacks, Tie-clasps, Tie-bars


Other necktie-related items.


Andy Drummond is a writer living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Please read the amusing and enjoyable short story he wrote, entitled "Big Horace’s Tie Collection". Can you believe that he did not know of this website when he wrote that? Check out Andy's website to read some of his other delightful short stories.


Necktie inspired humor


-----Some necktie inspired cartoons


-----Some necktie inspired jokes


Help Needed !! Can You Identify these logos?

If you have a corporate necktie or a corporate tie tack/clasp that you would like to donate to the museum, please send me an email





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