This is an interesting silk ascot made by W.A. Brophey for the Royal Montreal Golf Club. It’s kind of hard to imagine that there would even be such an item, but I guess that golf clubs were a lot more formal back in the day. For sure, the Royal Montreal is not your ordinary club - it is the oldest golf club in North America, founded in 1873 and granted its Royal warrant by Queen Victoria in 1884, so its social life was probably more formal than other clubs. The maker, W.A. Brophey, has an interesting history himself. After working for Tooke for 20 years, he founded an umbrella company, but returned to Tooke seven years later. Ten years later, he started up his umbrella company again, the W.A. Brophey Co. Ltd, which also produced neckwear, such as this ascot. Brophey died in 1938, but the company continued production, undergoing a name change during the early 1960s. It’s difficult to date this ascot, but I would think 1940s to 1950s era. It measures 46” in length and has a width of 6” at its widest. It is in very crisp condition - looks to have seen little, if any, use.
This is a wonderful golf collectible or just a very nice quality ascot to wear - not your typical golf item, but a reminder of golf social norms off the course in past times, especially those at an important Canadian golf club!
