For me I find it funny when I meet someone for the first time and they ask me “What nationality does your name come from?” My answer always is “Croatia”. “Croatia where is that?”; “Never heard of it.” would follow my answer every time. Unless they express interest on where Croatia is I would just leave it at that. For the ones that do express interest I tend to drop some “Did you knows” on them to see how much they would like to know about Croatia.
Sure I tell them that Croatia is on the north part of the Adriatic Sea and shares the water with Italy to give them a geographic idea of where it is in Europe. But, I like to tell them things that they know of such as the necktie.
For me everyday when I walk the streets or go to work and see someone wearing a necktie and I am reminded of my homeland. Just like a player in the NFL that sees someone wearing their team’s jersey they take pride in seeing that. Even if the person has no idea of what that jersey represents. Let’s face it sometimes when you see someone wearing a Detroit Lions jersey that they might have gotten as a gift they might not know the symbolic meaning of what they are wearing. Same for me when I see someone with a necktie on.
Many events in the history of mankind eventually fade into oblivion, but others leave their indelible marks upon the world. More than almost 400 years ago, Croatians initiated one such influential event. Yep, you got it the necktie. One of many things that originated from Croatia it tell them.
Croatia has been around many, many, many years. Origins of many things that we use and see today comes from Croatia. Neckties is just one of them. One of the most common gifts of gratitude to a Dad has been the necktie just as it has been for many years in Croatia.
A national custom of giving a scarf to the chosen man and even to tie it around his neck in love is the reason that Croatian soldiers were wearing tied scarves in general. In the 17th century it was recognized in Paris (France), the capital of fashion at the time.
Encyclopedia Britannica, with the noun cravat states that it derives from Crabate, Cravate, Croatian and they date its appearance at 1656. In his book, La Grande Historie de la Cravate (Flamarion, Paris, 1994), Francoise Chaile tells us about the appearance of this article of clothing and how it became fashionable.
"... Around the year 1635, some six thousand soldiers and knights came to Paris to give their support to King Louis Xlll and Cardinal Richelieu. Among them were a great number of Croatian mercenaries, who, remained in the service of the French king.
These Croats aroused interest because of the traditional picturesque scarves tied around their necks in a distinctive manner. The scarves were made of various cloths, ranging from coarse material for common soldiers, to fine cotton and silk for officers. This elegant "Croatian style" immediately enamored the French, who were delighted by the new article of clothing, which until then had been completely unknown in Europe.
Good links on this subject....
Wikipedia - necktieRoyal Cravattes – Kravata Croatawww.Croatians.comwww.Croata.comwww.ForeignBankers.nlwww.Jolique.com
