I get asked all the time why I use the bow ties on my figures when dressing them and the answer is simple. As a youngster I watched Jerry Mahoney and he always wore a bow tie. Also my mom, bless her heart, dressed me as a young child with bow ties.
In the 1950’s the clip on bow ties were very popular with youngsters dress. I guess the adult men also wore them quite a bit. I remember my father tying his own bow tie.
Anyway I went hither and yon and purchased many clip on bow ties so that I can usually match one to any outfit that I dress a figure in and to me they just look right.
I do have a few that wear long ties but that is because they are in the outfit that was original to the figure and the long tie was what the figure was wearing so I didn’t change it.
Do you have a preference? Please leave your comments below.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2012 by Dan Willinger
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I think it depends on what you’re doing with the figure. If, like yourself, you’re a collector and want to keep the figure dressed in period clothes, then by all means, put a bow tie on the little guy.
If you’re using him in performances, bow ties are mostly out of date and, in my opinion, should be dressed with a proper suit and tie, assuming he’s wearing a suit. (I don’t think a tie of any type would go well with jeans, tee-shirt, base-ball cap and jacket, or even a turtle-neck.)
Of course, another factor is where you’re performing. I “perform” almost exclusively in churches, so we both wear a suit and long tie. Sometimes, like for a VBS or camp, we will dress to fit the theme of the VBS or camp.
Again, these are just my opinions.