No, this isn’t about the hilarious 80’s sitcom, it’s all you’ve ever wanted to know about my ties. It always seems to be the #1 subject people ask about, so let me try to answer some of the popular questions.

WHERE DID/DO YOU GET YOUR TIES?

.....About 2/3 of my ties were a gift from my Dad about 6 years ago. My dad taught art in a Pennsylvania middle school for 30 years. He always dressed professionally, but liked to have a colorful twist to his attire in the form of a neat tie. After a few years, the popularity of his ties grew and everyone, even the students, would give him ties as gifts to add to his collection. Needless to say, it was quite a collection after several years!
.....After my dad decided to retire about 7 years ago, he asked me if I wanted them, since he no longer had a need for them. Of course I said, ‘yeah!’

HOW MANY TIES DO YOU HAVE?

.....Just for this blog, I decided to organize my ties and get an official count…

.....As of 4/22/2008, I have 467 ties. Now, that number does NOT include duplicates (I do have a few) and does NOT include plain ties, like those with a simple pattern or solid color (I have about 3 dozen of those in a closet somewhere).

.....Of those 467 colorful ties:

- 73 are various cartoon characters/comic characters
(18 Disney, 17 Looney Tunes, 6 Snoopy, 5 Simpsons, etc.)

- 66 are holiday related
(32 Christmas, 8 Halloween, 8 Valentine's Day, 6 Patriotic (4th of July, etc.))

- 60 are SPORTS-related
(26 Golf, 8 Baseball, 6 Fishing, 6 Football, 4 Basketball, etc.)

- 20 are GAMES/TOYS-related
- 31 are FOOD related
- 27 are ANIMALS/NATURE related
- 22 are ART/SCHOOL SUPPLIES related
- 16 are KID DRAWN TIES
- 14 are TRAVEL related
- 14 are BEATLES related
- 10 are MONEY related
- 9 are TOOL related
- 9 are CAR related

.....Don’t bother checking the numbers, they won’t add up to 467. There is a LARGE group of miscellaneous related ties, such as a tie that says ‘Go Ask Your Mother’ and another with a rubber chicken on it…

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TIE?

.....I actually have several that I’d consider my favorite. It’s so hard to choose, so here are a few of them...

1.) A tie my wife made with stamps of Penny’s feet all over it
2.) A pink tie that was embroidered with the words ‘It’s a Girl’ that I wore in the delivery room
3.) A tie that has street signs all over it (I loved signs when I was a child!)
4.) Spongebob Squaretie – yeah, you heard me!
5.) A tie with a Scrabble board on it

WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR TIES?

.....If you look at the pictures on the page that I’ve posted, you’ll see that they’re all hung on three hand-made racks. A couple of 2 X 8’s and a couple dozen dowel rods help hold around 420 of the 467 ties. Sadly, I now need to build a FOURTH rack just to keep them all displayed! The computer room/den is the only room I’ve been allowed to hang them (orders from the better-half).

HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON YOUR TIES EACH YEAR?

.....Typically the answer is zero. Once in a great while, I’ll see a really unique one I need to get, especially if I’m somewhere I don’t visit often. Despite that, I’ve gained about 70 ties since last year at this time. About 50 of those are from my mom and dad. They’ve become great tie bargain hunters and send me a tie a week from Pennsylvania. The other 20 were either gifts from co-workers or friends or from viewers who have been nice enough to send me some of theirs!

HAVE YOU ALWAYS WORN YOUR TIES WHILE DOING THE WEATHER?

.....No. In fact, my first job was in Sioux City, IA at KMEG-TV. My News Director FORBID me from wearing any tie that was colorful or unique. She told me that ties made me look ‘immature’ and ‘unprofessional’. To her I say (in a taunting child-like voice), ‘na na na na na nah’. I was told when I left that ‘no station is going to want you to wear those things.’ Guess they were wrong…