The Collecting Gene

In searching for the right word to describe the predominant color of this unlabelled op art tie, I settled on "mustard." That could actually cover two of the three colors; I've never seen a blue mustard. And speaking of mustard--my father collects mustards. At one point he had over 700 different kinds, but after a refigerator failure (one of his two dedicated mustard fridges) he had to get rid of a lot, so now he's down in the 200-300 range. He is a true aficionado, and has donated many jars of exotic mustard to the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum (possibly the only collection larger than his, with over 4,300 different mustards). Once or twice a year my parents have a mustard party; all the mustards come out of the fridges and are placed on trays around the house by category: plain mustards, Dijon mustards, herb mustards, fruit mustards, horseradish mustards, garlic mustards, hot pepper mustards, alcoholic mustards, etc., to be sampled on little pieces of bread with various meats and cheeses. It's always a great time, and is much anticipated by family and friends. So that should put my tie collecting into context: I can't help it, I inherited the Collecting Gene.