Peter's Tailor Made- Who Was Peter?

[Biff42]

Hey guys, I did a few hours of research and have found the full name from the famous (and ever elusive) Peter's Tailor Made.

Using their listed address of 3182 Mission Street in San Fran, I located this classified ad, which confirmed at least one year they were at this address:

The San Francisco Examiner​

Sat, Dec 23, 1933 ·Page 24

Next, I located a phone book from the area in 1933. As opposed to modern phone books, where we look by name, this was done by address back then, and it listed the name as part of the listing:

Then, finally, after a control F, several 3182 listings popped up, but this one for Mission Street was what I was after:

Additionally, the 9354 number matches that on the label. I forgot the phone was listed there too and used the 3182 instead:

I did some searching for Peter R. Chow and found a few listings. That said, I cannot be sure it is THE Peter Chow unless I do more digging through a genealogy search. Take these with a grain of salt:

The San Francisco Call ******in​

Fri, Jan 30, 1920

The San Francisco Examiner​

Thu, Sep 16, 1920

Marriage License:

If any FL member has access to Ancestry or another genealogy site and would like to help with research, please let me know.

 

[jeo]

This is some spectacular research!

 

[AHP91]

I think the good folks over in the ‘Chinese made leather jackets’ will find this news promising. I’m kidding, cool find.

 

[Biff42]

This is some spectacular research!

I wonder how Peter Chow would have felt if he ever learned how revered his work became, including a full-quality reproduction operation in Japan in his name.

I'm willing to bet he'd be quite pleased.

 

[Biff42]

I think the good folks over in the ‘Chinese made leather jackets’ will find this news promising. I’m kidding, cool find.

Or better yet, how are the guys running the Peter's shop in Japan going to feel?

 

[tuanhng614]

I think the good folks over in the ‘Chinese made leather jackets’ will find this news promising. I’m kidding, cool find.

The original owner of Johnson Leathers is of Chinese origin as well

 

[jchance]

Nice research, OP!

Chinese-origin Americans are held to American standard, it’s still made in USA, albeit by Chinese. That’s not the same as made in China, which is held to Chinese standard. It’s the country of origin, not the ethnicity, that defines the QC standard and quality of the garment, because the garment is meant to be sold locally and domestically, or if imported, still bearing the country of manufacturer, not the ethnicity origin of the maker. Not sure why y’all are surprised at the ethnicity origin of the maker.

 

[baldipino]

I wonder how Peter Chow would have felt if he ever learned how revered his work became, including a full-quality reproduction operation in Japan in his name.

I'm willing to bet he'd be quite pleased.

I'm sure Mr. Chow had zero idea his workmanship would be held in such high esteem. The best ones are all about the work, not the glory. Dude, this research is incredible!

 

[Biff42]

Hi, I wanted to close the loop on Peter's Tailor Made. I can confirm that Peter Chow was definitely the owner of Peter's Tailors. This is his draft card from the early 1940s with the business name and 3182 address listed:



Finally, and perhaps most sadly, Peter died in 1971 at the age of 72, likely without realizing how well-regarded and sought-after his work would become.

This was his family:

I pulled all this information from a simple search on the Ancestry website. I could not confirm that Peter Chow, the swimmer and tailor, was the same person.

 

[baldipino]

Hi, I wanted to close the loop on Peter's Tailor Made. I can confirm that Peter Chow was definitely the owner of Peter's Tailors. This is his draft card from the early 1940s with the business name and 3182 address listed:

View attachment 741084

Finally, and perhaps most sadly, Peter died in 1971 at the age of 72, likely without realizing how well-regarded and sought-after his work would become.

This was his family:

View attachment 741085

I pulled all this information from a simple search on the Ancestry website. I could not confirm that Peter Chow, the swimmer and tailor, was the same person.

Y'know, the TFL icon sure fits your gumshoe skills. You might've missed your calling, sir. Hats off!

 

[jeo]

Hey guys, I did a few hours of research and have found the full name from the famous (and ever elusive) Peter's Tailor Made.

Using their listed address of 3182 Mission Street in San Fran, I located this classified ad, which confirmed at least one year they were at this address:

The San Francisco Examiner​

Sat, Dec 23, 1933 ·Page 24


View attachment 740792

Next, I located a phone book from the area in 1933. As opposed to modern phone books, where we look by name, this was done by address back then, and it listed the name as part of the listing:

View attachment 740793

Then, finally, after a control F, several 3182 listings popped up, but this one for Mission Street was what I was after:

View attachment 740800


Additionally, the 9354 number matches that on the label. I forgot the phone was listed there too and used the 3182 instead:

View attachment 740810

I did some searching for Peter R. Chow and found a few listings. That said, I cannot be sure it is THE Peter Chow unless I do more digging through a genealogy search. Take these with a grain of salt:

The San Francisco Call ******in​

Fri, Jan 30, 1920


View attachment 740805

The San Francisco Examiner​

Thu, Sep 16, 1920

Marriage License:

View attachment 740806


If any FL member has access to Ancestry or another genealogy site and would like to help with research, please let me know.

Was wondering if you could find anything related to their other address on Mission st? (I believe this was their first location)

 

[Biff42]

Was wondering if you could find anything related to their other address on Mission st? (I believe this was their first location)

View attachment 742241

I couldn't find 3154 after a quick search. That said, he had other addresses (including 3154, four total) and worked well into the 60s, longer than Trojan was open for. He was probably around for 30+ years.

These leather jacket shops all moved around like crazy. I guess the light nature of their manufacturing allowed them to move.

 

[Biff42]

Was wondering if you could find anything related to their other address on Mission st? (I believe this was their first location)

View attachment 742241

Jeo, I found it:

Early 30's, possibly late 20's:

 

[cbez]

More importantly, did he hire only white girls?

 

[tmitchell59]

Had this hanging behind me.

 

[Biff42]

Had this hanging behind me.

View attachment 742656 View attachment 742658 View attachment 742659

That is amazing.

 

[jchance]

More importantly, did he hire only white girls?

I bet he hired mostly Chinese women. People of the same ethnicity looked out for each other, especially Chinese immigrants who didn’t speak English and were looking for jobs. And women were mostly in the sewing industry at the time, it wasn’t a men’s job.

Whether he actually advertised as such was a different story. Apparently it was ok at the time to advertise such a hiring racial and gender preference, as seen with Star Glove.

 

[ABCD]

Had this hanging behind me.

View attachment 742656 View attachment 742658 View attachment 742659

Looks like a 'Peters all weather sportswear' which I think is unrelated to Peter's.

 

[tmitchell59]

That is amazing.

It is delicate, has a 50s look. It is big. It may be unrelated or a more modern branding?

How long were they in business?

 

[Biff42]

It is delicate, has a 50s look. It is big. It may be unrelated or a more modern branding?

How long were they in business?

Peter's was in the local directories from about 1930-the early 60's.