Hi all, I found this 21 club scarf at an estate sale yesterday and I'm trying to nail down in which year it was made. I'm just learning about the history of these scarves and have a guess that it's from either the late 60s or early 70s -- it's numbered XVI and the best I've been able to find so far is that they began giving them as gifts to their regulars sometime in the 50s. I've also found literally nothing on the Keyheart Scarfs company referenced on the tag. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Lauren
Sorry! Yes, it's a restaurant that has been around since the early 1920s and it was a speakeasy during prohibition. It's one of those restaurants where celebrities have regular tables and US presidents go there to eat. They started this custom of giving scarves to their regulars at Christmas time each year -- they were never for sale, so they're apparently coveted by collectors.
I am on my iPad, so I can't see or look up the full citation, but I found a link to the 1964 Official Gazette of the US Patent Office that says: "Andrew Geller, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed Dec. 20, 1962. AD LIB KEYHEART For Ladies' and Misses' Shoes. First use Dec. 11, 1962. For Ladies' Bonnets, Hats, Hoods, Shrugs, Dickies, Boleros, Scarves, Mufflers, and Jackets. First use Mar. 1, 1962 on ladies' scarves. SN 160,818. I don't know if the Andrew Geller at the beginning and/or the SN number at the end are run-togethers from other patents. I will try to look it up when I am back at my desktop computer tonight.
I found an image of the Keyheart logo and it looks like the Ad Lib was a run-together from another patent on the same page, and to the left. I took a screen print of the logo (just block letters) with my iPad, but I don't know if I can post it here from the iPad. I forgot to mention that I find it very odd that your label doesn't spell the plural of 'scarf' correctly.
This link notes that that Keyheart scarf was made in Japan, which would explain the "scarfs": http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-neiman-marcus-keyheart-all-silk-267691983 [NOTE ADDED LATER: I didn't notice the "Japan" on your label when I posted this]
This scarf in a different colorway is illustrated in The Scarf, by Andrew Baseman. According to him, they began giving out the scarves in the early 1950s, so that would make your number 16 be in the mid to late 1960s. 21 is still there on 52nd Street and here is the Google maps street view.
That is a wonderful scarf. I have been fortunate enough to have dined at 21 a few times in my life. I admit I did not catch the reference of "The 21 Club" in your post, as we usually just refer to it as simply "21". As in "meet you later at 21". I did not know about the scarves. How neat!
Here is the 1962-64 trademarked logo for Keyheart. Note the "R" and "S" at the top of the 'key.' You can see that Ray Strauss Unlimited, Inc. owns the Keyheart logo. In a quick look I saw ads for Ray Strauss scarves around the late 1960s-early 1970s. Ray Strauss' daughter's wedding announcement noted that her father, Ray Strauss, "...is president of Ray Strauss, Unlimited, designers and manufacturers of women's scarves and representatives for foreign scarf makers." That is obviously the Japanese connection.
WOW. Thank you all so much for this help. Learning experiences like this are exactly why I love vintage. Ikranieri, thanks especially for doing so much in-depth research. I'd seen Ray Strauss's name mentioned as a particularly coveted era for these scarves, so it's wonderful to have that connection drawn for me. I really appreciate the work you've done to help me solve this mystery!
