# J. Peterman Closes—Sackcloth and Ashes for Eve . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 19, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560 "2000-10-19T18:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/1 "2000-10-19T18:11:33Z")
Dammit, dammit, dammit. My favorite clothing store—I used to get a suit and a few skirts every year from them. Great stuff, really good fabric and workmanship, and the kind of designs you couldn’t get anywhere else. Suits designed from 1930s and '40s patterns, skirts from the 1910s. The company went into bankruptcy last year and was bought by Eddie Bauer. The wonderful catalog was discontinued, but there was still a huge Peterman store right across the street from my office—just this month I bought a nice black wool skirt, a (lined!) gray corduory traveling skirt and a pair of red silk lounging pyjamas. Well, today, I breezed on by and saw the store was BOARDED UP AND CLOSED. Dammit. I need a pill. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/2 "2000-10-19T18:30:26Z")
Poor Elaine. Where is she going to work now? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/3 "2000-10-19T18:51:41Z")
The prison laundry room? ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/4 "2000-10-19T18:54:08Z")
I always liked their catalog, too. Never bought much, though, because of the prices (high). Always thought “Someday…” Guess I snoozed and lost. (IIRC it wasn’t lack of catalog sales that forced them into bankruptcy, it was over expansion into the “bricks and mortar” retail market. A classic tale.) ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/5 "2000-10-19T19:02:42Z")
OH, that’s so sad ☹ But- never fear! Check E-bay! I found 39 items under a search of J Peterman and 13 more under J. Peterman. (with a period) everything lives on through E-bay! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2000, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/6 "2000-10-19T19:04:34Z")
(IIRC it wasn’t lack of catalog sales that forced them into bankruptcy, it was over expansion into the “bricks and mortar” retail market. A classic tale.) —You’re absolutely right. Also, they were so successful that they over-expanded into things like furniture and over-priced evening clothes that NO ONE is going to buy from a catalog. They should have stuck with their good sportswear and suits. Idiot. I hope he gets gored by a rhino. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/7 "2000-10-20T01:12:23Z")
Oh God, I always loved their catalog. I envy the english-majors who got those jobs. What fun! A pen and colored pencil drawing of a 125 buck straw hat, and: “Bombay sunset, waiting on the netted-off back veranda of the Prussian Consulate in the humid shade of the baobab trees. The native waiter hums a Cab Calloway tune as he politely offers a glass of aquavit-- chilled glass, no ice. The prop planes fly overhead, as they always do. The sunset. The hat. . .” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/8 "2000-10-20T03:13:20Z")
I was hoping they’d have their Titanic Movie line for less… Gotta get those CLOTHES… ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/9 "2000-10-20T05:33:24Z")
This is the honest to goodness truth. I’ve purchased J. Peterman’s PC. As you may know, J. Peterman was headquartered here in Kentucky – in Lexington to be exact. And, Yes, Virginia, there is a J. Peterman. When the company went bankrupt, they liquidated and the computers were sold. My friend bought one. It turned out to be J’s own Sony. Apparently, there were some personal (but fairly innocuous) files on the hard drive which confirmed this. I’ve now bought this computer from my friend. Although I have yet to pick it up since it’s intended to be a Christmas present for my daughters, it is mine. So there. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/10 "2000-10-24T00:51:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by M.K. \* > \*\* > “Bombay sunset, waiting on the netted-off back veranda of the Prussian Consulate in the humid shade of the baobab trees. The native waiter hums a Cab Calloway tune as he politely offers a glass of aquavit-- chilled glass, no ice. The prop planes fly overhead, as they always do. The sunset. The hat. . .” \*\* Identify the five impossibilities in this paragraph, win a J. Peterman dress for **Eve**! ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/11 "2000-10-24T02:03:47Z")
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s all about being evocative, not accurate. You’ll never sell leather woven Greco-chilean sandals with that attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/12 "2000-10-24T13:40:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by M.K. \* > \*\*“Bombay sunset” \*\* Impossibility No. 1: The sun never sets on the British Empire! ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/13 "2000-10-24T14:36:56Z")
they didn’t get Rockall, though! ---
**Author:** ![Sxyzzx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sxyzzx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sxyzzx)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2000, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j-peterman-closes-sackcloth-and-ashes-for-eve/37560/14 "2000-10-25T03:04:35Z")
Don’t worry, he got a gig hosting the new version of To Tell the Truth.