The Arrow Collar Man or The Myth of The Distinguished Gentleman

I have an hour to kill so im going to do a quick response post to your last comment.

You mentioned your interest in the work of Leyendecker. You described his subjects as looking "distinguished"

In doing that you have essentially validated Leyendecker's work itself. In the early 1900s Leyendecker was hired by the Arrow Collar company. This is back when our shirt collars were sold separately from our shirts (which, might I say, was a GENIUS albeit inadvertent retail aspect) To sell their collars Arrow had the idea to invent the perfect customer. The ideal man. The Arrow collar man had to be distinguished. He had to be a representation of the perfect man of the times. He had to seem thoughtful without seeming aloof, confident without showing arrogance and worldly while being down to earth. Men had to look at the Arrow Collar Man not with envy. They were not meant to resent his perfection but rather strive to attain it.

The real kicker to all of this is of course the fact that the Arrow Collar Man is just not real. Society was striving to imitate an invention. Ironically, even though the Arrow Man was considered the ideal man of the time, the model for every illustration was Leyendecker's lover Charles Beach. Perhaps this is the reason illustration will always have a place in the advertising world. You just can't quite lie with a photograph like you can with an illustration. So anyways, lets spend some time in appreciation of the Arrow Collar Man and his many iterations.

Here he is dancing with a gorgeous woman that he could give less than two shits about. He seems more concerned that her nail polish will leave a stain on his white gloves. On that note, how was there a time where it was "cool" for guys to wear gloves to a formal event for the ENTIRE night? How would women not immediately think that was fucking creepy?

Ok this is hilarious. This to me is the 1920s equivalent to surrounding yourself with a bunch of guitars and saying that obviously you love music. First of all, his finger is place-holding at the very front of the book. Second, what is he so distressed by? What act of casual reading leaves someone with so much concern? I guess more importantly; what did you read in the first page of your book that caused you to stop and think like this? Jarring publishing information? I wont even bother asking why he decided to sit on top of his desk. My guess is that his absurdly ornate desk cost him so much he couldn't afford a chair.

This one wasnt for Arrow but it has to be brought up. It depicts a young man dressed in a full suit playing a four string banjo on what appears to be a headstone. Need I say more?

 Ok, Leyendecker loves this fantasy world where two gentlemen are setting in a lavishly decorated room together, engaged in almost impossibly mundane tasks and seemingly oblivious to each other's presence. What happened in your hangout that thoroughly inspecting golf clubs was the most engaging activity you could conjure up. Also, what the fuck is that guy wearing? Double breasted? Really? He looks like he is about to go on a fancy safari.



Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this brief Arrow Collar Man retrospective.