Monday, March 1, 2010

Tuesday Trivia Tie-in #2


Welcome to Tuesday Trivia Tie-in. Each Tuesday readers are invited to share a blog post about one of their collection and a bit of related trivia.

My posts will be about one of my ties. This feature was inspired by a great deal I got on an entire rack of ties at a flea market. You can read all about it here.

My tie this week is an Orvis Original Fish Tie that features mainly freshwater fish, including Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Grayling, Bream and Roach, along with 2 types of Perch, 3 types of Trout and 4 of Salmon. It is 100% cotton, and made in the USA.











This is the point where one might expect me to post some trivia about fish, or fishing. But the neat thing about Tuesday Trivia Tie-in is we get to be flexible and post the unexpected, so...

Here is some interesting information about Orvis.

Orvis is a family-owned retail and mail-order business specializing in high-end fishing, hunting and sporting goods. Established in 1856, Orvis is the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States. Today they send out over 40 million catalogs per year. They have 16 stores in the USA, 4 in the UK, and over 500 affiliate dealers worldwide.



Charles Orvis Patented the first Fly Reel in 1874, revolutionizing fly fishing in the USA. He produced the most popular bamboo and lancewood fishing rod of his time, and had a reputation for customer service that included replacement, even if his product was not at fault.



In 1876, Charles hired a leading fly tyer to teach his daughter Mary and five other women how to tie flies. Mary not only headed the fly tying unit, but was largely responsible for standardizing the industry, so a "Grizzly King" or a "Ferguson" fly would look the same no matter where it was tied. By 1892 her catalog, the first ever to include standard illustrations, held 434 different flies.



Within days of the attack of Pearl Harbor, in 1941, Orvis received a special call from the Office of Procurement for the US Army, and suspended the production of bamboo fishing rods, so they could make bamboo ski poles, painted white for camouflage and used by the first ever US Ski Troops, deployed in the Aleutian Islands.



In 1989 the Orvis Fishing Rod was named the "No. 1 Best Made Product of The United States in the 1980's" by Tom Peters author of the bestselling book In Search of Excellence

So now, knowing the rich history of the Orvis Company, it puts my simple fish tie in a whole new light.



Orvis ties sell on their website for $40-$195.
Mine of course, was at a thrift store for... do I dare admit it? $2.99!
But it was blue tag day, so I paid $1.50.

When I was getting ready to take pictures, I realized that my fishing poles and tackle are all in our trailer about 200 miles away. So, I would like to thank Bill and The Crew at The Bottom Line Bait & Tackle and Archery Shop, in Brownstown, Michigan for letting me use some of their fishing gear for my pictures.


This post is linked to:


Ruby Tuesday
at Work Of The Poet



2nd Time Around Tuesday
at A Picture is Worth 1000 Words


And
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays
at Coastal Charm


Ok, Now it's your turn. Lets see one of your treasures, and hear some related trivia. And like I stated above, it's OK to be flexible.

Enter your link below. Make sure you link to your post and not just your main blog.

Be sure and join me each Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia Tie-in, where readers are invited to share trivia and show off their treasures.

For a complete list of the rules, click here.

10 comments:

  1. Love that tie! My Mister is a big fan of Orvis and loves their clothes. Cool post and great info.

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  2. It was very interesting to read about the Orvis company history...thanks for the info. I came over from Linda's Nifty Thrifty party. I'll have to do a combo post for next week and link to your party too.
    Jane

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  3. Troy,
    Great info...I loved reading about the ORVIS history...they have awesome things! Thanks for linking up to my NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAYS party...I hope to see you here again:)

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  4. You are going to look so cute with this fis tie when we go fishing this summer!

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  5. Hi! I'm visiting from Coastal Charm. I really enjoyed reading this post!....And I like that tie! Great price on that, and it looks like it's in great shape. Thanks for the education.
    Mary Lou

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  6. Great tie and great trivia! My in-laws love Orvis and I learned so much about their company's history, very cool!

    Kat :)

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  7. All new to me, so great to learn so much again!

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