Long ago HP was "Hewlett-Packard" to most of its HP 3000 customers. In those days Bill Hewlett or Dave Packard were still on the scene, around the offices, managing by walking around, if only in the boardroom. And back in those 1980s, HP offered some customer retention gifts and awards you can't see the likes of today.

But here, perhaps 15, maybe 20 years after HP introduced them, are some of those gifts. They are on offer, as the British would say, for the modest cost of a donation to a favorite charity of mine.

We use the British term because these ties come from the archives of Dave Wiseman, a long-time friend to the HP 3000 community who was associated with many 3000 vendors and enterprises. ScreenJet, one of our founding sponsors for this blog, came to the community through his help and efforts, along with his partner Alan Yeo.

We have seven of these available to our readers. Make a donation to the Hill Country Ride for AIDS charity — a favorite 50-mile cycling event of mine, to raise money to help AIDS survivors — on a secure Web page to claim yours, which we will send you one postage-paid, as the old-school offers once said. Add a note in your donation to identify which tie you'd like. E-mail us if you'd like more detailed pictures.

These silk and rayon blend garments remind us that not all of HP's "ties that bind" come in the form of license agreements in perpetuity. HP's dreamed up some other gimcracks (or gems, if you prefer) to keep up the faith in the 3000 community. Reach out for these sweet antiques if you want to to fasten up your customer archive — and enjoy a bit of evidence that says, "I knew HP when I thought of it as Hewlett-Packard."