Think you’re smart? Then see if you can figure out the cryptic meaning of this vintage Chipp emblematic necktie. Pictured are four motifs. They are:
A clock reading 3:55
An empty whisky bottle
A woman with one breast exposed
A toilet
What does it mean? Hint: It’s about baseball.
Give up? It’s really quite simple:
Clock = 5-4
Whisky bottle = Bottom of the fifth
Exposed breast = One out
Toilet = No one on
This testament to the wit of the legendary Chipp — the company that popularized patch madras and put Kama Sutra linings inside conservative suits — might still be available from Paul Winston. A sure-fire conversation piece, and just the thing to wear to the ballpark in honor of the days when men got dressed up to head down to the yard. — CHRISTIAN CHENSVOLD
This post sold at least one tie. The head of my law firm is a huge baseball fan. His daughter always complains about him being impossible to buy for, so I sent this her way. I’m sure she’ll sit on it until Christmas, but I’ll probably see it a lot next year. Very cool, and I’m not even a baseball guy.
I can’t imagine a setting where I’d wear a tie showing that wardrobe malfunction 1 out.
I suspect that it’s quite subtle from a distance – you probably would even have to point it out to someone – and thus would be just the thing at certain cocktail parties or dinners.
I bought the tie – I am not so sure my dad’s girlfriend will appreciate the tie – but I think he will get a good kick out of it….I am looking forward to the phone call when she picks it up this week! Thanks again Jason!
This is hilarious…and I would certainly knot this up for the simple fact that it would get plenty of conversations going.
What a wonderful tie! I have at least 2 Chipp “Cryptic Message” ties that I liberated from my father. One shows a snake slithering through a patch of grass and the other, a bright kelly green affair covered with a white sheep…..and one black one. Classic.
As an extra layer of obscurity – the tie refers to Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in game 3 of the 1932 World Series. Bottom of the fifth, one out, no one on base, score was 4-4 (look closely at the time). While the Cubs heckled Ruth mercilessly, he pointed to center field, and on the next pitch, hit a home run right where he’d pointed.
This tie says “Heckle all you want. I’m just going to calmly hit a homer.”
I totally get how, at a circa ’65 party at a coastal New England yacht club, this tie would have been a hit with Kip, Buzzy, Snotty, and even the wives. But wow, the times-they-have-been-a-changin’. And so: easy to see how any advocacy of this sort of frivolity (again, granting it was a-lot-of-laughs for some way back when) would lead to either divorce, a break-up, or sad single men remaining both sad and single. Just go with mallards, golf clubs, lax sticks, or whales.
Thank you RT! You just closed the circle for me. By just saying 5-4 they were just random things. Even though you could tie it to baseball, there was no narrative.
SE
I know liberal feminists who have senses of humor. They don’t spend their days searching for ways to be offended. They just go try to kick ass like everyone else.
They know I’m on their side despite my ribald, politically incorrect jokes. And puns. Lots and lots of puns. Maybe it’s a Texas thing. Or the alcohol.
The score is indeed 4-4, but if it is a reference to Ruth they got one thing wrong.
The game was at Wrigley Field and the Yankees batted first. I suppose it is harder to have a picture for “top of the fifth”.