Phallic Symbolism ?

She strongly insulted his sensitivities as a man, but it revealed vulnerability in her character as well that she was offended by a man who refused her charm. The incident probably repeated itself in Howard's subconscious mind and encouraged his curious advances toward Helen.

hmmmm, you set me thinking, ronm1945 - interesting theory about that short tie!

That length of tie was the style back then. It looks funny now!

What we have here is failure to communicate!

The person who cleans my house is a man, and he does a damn good job of it!

And sometimes a necktie is just a necktie.

I thought that the delivery boy was done for before Mrs Gordon intervened. Howard seemed to show respect for the teenage girl who emasculated him. That must have backed up his self-loathing in his mind. I think it was the patronizing that Howard couldn't stand. Patronizing was equal to lying in his book.

Howard's short tie looked a bit off even if it was the fashion at the time. I noticed the phone engineer wore a cute little bow tie. I wondered if men who went out on home service calls wore those then as non-threatening symbolism? Because it was usually the woman of the house who was in when they called.