Bolo tie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A bolo tie (sometimes bola tie) is a type of necktie consisting of a piece of cord or braided leather with decorative metal tips or aglets (aiguillettes) secured with an ornamental clasp or slide.

In the United States bolo ties are widely associated with Western wear, and are generally most common in the western areas of the country. Bolo tie slides and tips in silver have been part of Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni silversmithing traditions since the mid-20th century.

The bolo tie was made the official neckwear of Arizona in 1971. New Mexico passed a non-binding measure to designate the bolo as the state's official neckwear in 1987. On March 13, 2007, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson signed into law that the bolo tie is now the state's official tie.^[1]

In the United Kingdom, bolo ties are known as bootlace ties. They were popular with 1950s Teddy Boys, who wore them with drape suits. ^[2][3]

Along with other 1950s fashions, bolo ties were revived as part of the Rockabilly look in the 1980s.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Famous bolo tie wearers 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Origins

Silversmith Victor Cedarstaff of Wickenburg, Arizona, claims to have invented the bolo tie in the late 1940s, and later patented^[4] his slide design.

According to an article in Sunset:

Victor Cedarstaff was riding his horse one day when his hat blew off. Wary of losing the silver-trimmed hatband, he slipped it around his neck. His companion joked, "That's a nice-looking tie you're wearing, Vic." An idea incubated, and Cedarstaff soon fashioned the first bola tie (the name is derived from boleadora, an Argentine lariat).^[5]

Boleadoras or bolas (from Spanish bola, "ball") are throwing weapons made of weights attached to the end of cords.

It is also said that the bolo tie is a North American pioneer creation that dates back to between 1866 and 1886. There is a bolo tie on display at a trading post in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, said to date back that far.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Famous bolo tie wearers

• Gene Roddenberry^{[citation needed]}
• Bill Richardson - Governor of New Mexico
• Fritz Zwicky - Famous Astronomer and Physicist
• Norton Hintz - Famous University of Minnesota professor
• Isaac Asimov^{[citation needed]}
• Colonel Reb^{[citation needed]}
• Hans Seigfried, prominent German-American philosopher and scholar^{[citation needed]}
• Abraham Simpson (fictional character)
• George Balanchine^{[citation needed]}
• Ben Nighthorse Campbell^{[citation needed]}
• Brian Schweitzer[1] - Governor of Montana
• The Mayor (The Nightmare Before Christmas)^{[citation needed]}
• Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction)^{[citation needed]}
• Edsger W. Dijkstra^{[citation needed]}
• Brandon Flowers[2]
• John Wooden
• Jonathan K. Stubbs, Law Professor and Constitutional Scholar, University of Richmond School of Law[3]
• Boris Johnson
• Eva Brann - St. John's College tutor and philosopher
• Pedro and Lyle of Napoleon Dynamite
• Jimmy Carter - United States president
• Lou Q - Immuno-Cowboy extraordinaire
• Creighton Duke - Bounty hunter of Jason Voorhees
• Dwight Yoakam - country music singer
• Bruce Springsteen - Rock Singer

[edit] See also

• Bolas

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Interview transcript dealing with the bolo tie.
• Montana Leader Defends Bolo Ties
• "Man in the Moon" bolo tie by Haida artist Donnie Edenshaw, 2003, in wood, argillite, abalone shell, shell, and leather, in "Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest", American Museum of Natural History exhibit, 2004-2005