The Bolo Tie Was Born in Arizona

The bolo tie was invented in Arizona in the late 1940s by Victor Cedarstaff, a silversmith from Wickenburg, who lost his favorite hatband while out riding and improvised by looping it around his neck, held in place with a decorative slide. He liked the look, patented the design, and the style caught on across the Southwest. Arizona made it the official state neckwear in 1971, the first state to do so. New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming have since followed suit. In 2011 a bill was even introduced in the U.S. Congress to make the bolo the national neckwear of the United States, though it didn't pass.