Quote Originally Posted by Retro Red
That style of tie is called a Continental. As Troy mentioned, it became somewhat fashionable in the late-50s/early 60s, & is considered an acceptable substitue for a bowtie with a tuxedo (of course, you'd need to wear a laydown collared tuxedo shirt with the Continental rather than the more common wing-tip collar tuxedo shirt). It's also sometimes referred to as the Crossbow tie. I'm not sure of the origin of the tie, but it has long been popular with the western-wear crowd (as well as Arizona's official state tie, the bola tie). Personally, I've always considered it a classy looking tie.
Thanks for the info and pics, Retro Red.

I used to wear the tie quite a bit when I was hanging around on the rockabilly scene. I was also known to wear a Texan bow on occasions, and had a small collection of bolos. I'm a bit of a sucker for the classic 1950's look.

Keep on rockin',

Troy