Vintage very early 1960s Ernst adjustable self-tie bow tie features ultra-skinny blades and a green, indigo, black and sky blue cotton batik print.

Labelled “Ernst Handcraft”, the reverse of the satin ruler-style neckband is printed “Adjustable to Your Size” (it can be adjusted to a size 16 neck).

The founder of Ernst, Inc. was Southern-born Ernest J. Beall, who moved to San Francisco in the early 1950s and officially opened for business after his society friends demanded he make them versions of the ties he had designed for himself. He changed his name to Beall J. Ernst and sold his ties nationally through the 50s and 60s, to high end stores like Gump’s and I. Magnin.

Ernst Inc. began producing skinny, square bottom ties and bow ties in hand-screened cotton batik prints (as well as in silk-screened and wool options) in the late 1950s, employing notable screen-print artists at home as well as out of state. By 1961, the company produced such an extensive variety of prints that one store ad offered 3 free Ernst ties to any customer who could find two of the same print on its shelves, while another declared that Ernst ties were meant: “"for characters, kooks, non-conformists, fashionable men, 'in' men, men who won't look like anybody else no matter what".

With 1.5” wide blades and measuring 33.25” end to end, this distinctive Ernst bow tie is in excellent condition.

Proud Member of the VFG Vintage Fashion Guild