I know this sounds like splitting hairs but I am planning on tying some Quill Gordon's for some friends as part of an annual fly swap ritual. I want to tie them as closely as possible to either the EXACT Gordon recipe or the version tied by Harry Darbee or Walt Dette. Unfortunately when I had the pleasure of meeting Harry & Walt way back when I was young & dumb; I was too stupid to buy a few flies.

In any case I know the important stuff but I have two simple but nit-picky questions regarding thread color & ribbing. Again I am trying to find out the preference of Theo, Harry, or Walt:
  • #1 - I've seen recipes saying black, cream, or yellow thread, so far. Does anybody know what color the representative tyers used?

    #2 - To rib or not to rib the quill body? If so, did any of the three tyers do it and if so did they use wire or thread and what color.
I realize that many may think it is stupid to worry about such trivial matters and on normal flies I don't worry so much; but to me half the fun of tying a classic fly is trying to do it with accuracy in regards to color & construction.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!