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KEARNS — Forget the Muffin Man— do you know the Bow Tie Guy?
Max Leslie Moser, known as Mr. Bow Tie by friends, neighbors and colleagues, is not your typical 91-year-old. Moser, never without one of his iconic bow ties, is a paragon of his community.
“Max has been somewhat of a local celebrity. He is not someone you would ever forget once you have had the pleasure of his acquaintance,” said Shawn Wilson, Moser’s friend and neighbour. “He is rail-thin with an iconic, curled-up white mustache, and at least once a week you will see him dressed to the nines, many times with a fedora, but always with his ties: large, colorful, wild, wonderful bow ties.”
According to his own estimate, Moser has approximately 600 bow ties of all different styles: insects, polka-dots, shamrocks, leopard print, paisley, herringbone, yarn, troll dolls, etc. But his favorite is a bow tie in the shape of a mustache that looks suspiciously like his own.
Moser’s unique sense of fashion (and love of bow ties) began years ago when Moser was asked to move from the company warehouse, where he worked, to the office.
“They moved me into the office and I had to kind of dress up, you know. So that’s probably what started the bow ties,” Moser said. “Now I’m known as Mr. Bow Tie. Some of my customers that I’ve talked to on the phone for 30, 40, 50 years, they’ve never seen me, but they know me as Mr. Bow Tie.”
It’s not only Moser’s bow ties, however, that have garnered him the admiration and love of his community. According to Wilson, Moser has a personality as colorful as his fashion.
“(Max) is the guy that’s always looking out for his neighbors, always (at church) on Sundays, knows what’s going on with people, and the guy that’s welcoming you,” Wilson said. “Max is quick with a joke or a quip, often calling out to the local teenage boys, ‘Good morning, ladies!’ When the young men try to correct him to their gender, Max will respond, ‘Sorry, I’m colorblind.’”
Moser and his late wife, Sherma, moved to Kearns in May 1954 when Moser’s brother told him they were building cheap housing there. Moser picked up his family and moved, surprising his wife with their own home when they arrived.
“I was paying rent in Magna and I wanted to surprise my wife," he said. "They wanted about $125 down at the time for the house. She didn’t know I had this money put away, but every payday I would put away a little bit more and a little bit more. And I surprised her when I pulled out my wallet and paid for (the house).”
As the years passed, the community built up around the Mosers as they welcomed new faces. Nearly two years ago, Moser’s family and friends threw him a birthday party to celebrate his 90th, and displayed his collection of bow ties on the walls of the local church cultural hall. The community then rallied around him and brought even more.
Moser’s friend Wilson even decided to create something unique for the occasion and made Moser a wooden bow tie, a project that would eventually inspire him to start his own wooden bow tie company: W.K. Wilson. The company seeks to create products that reflect Moser’s style and personality.
Though Moser will turn 92 on Oct. 23, his wisdom is as timeless as his fashion.
“Do the best you can and then do a little bit better,” Moser said. “Focus on the positives instead of the negatives… we’re all God’s children, we’re all alike.”
Liesl is a student at Brigham Young University and currently works as a news writing intern for KSL.com. You can email her at lieslnielsen@gmail.com.
