• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Clever Outdoor Gear

The best in outdoor gear, equipment, and apparel reviews.

  • Clever Outdoor Gear
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Recent Reviews
  • Gear
    • Camp Kitchen
    • Camping Gear
    • Climbing Gear
    • Car Camping
    • Hydration
    • Knives
    • Technology
  • Lifestyle
    • Clothing
    • Book & Food Reviews
    • People
    • Ski Gear
    • Toiletries
    • Travel
    • Water Sports

J. Peterman

March 21, 2014 By Chas Bruce

J. Peterman Counterfeit Mailbag

“The secret thoughts of an entire country were once carried in leather bags exactly like this one. Except this one, a copy, isn’t under lock and key…”..yada,, yada, yada…

J Peterman Mailbag
J. Peterman Mailbag

When I first came across this bag I was concerned that I had heard after years of being parodied on Seinfeld, the J. Peterman Company had gone under. As it turns out there is a story there. J. Peterman was started in 1987 by a Lexington Kentucky native and second baseman for the Pittsburg Pirates, John Peterman. With $500 and a lone product, the iconic J. Peterman Duster, the J. Peterman Company was born in the pages of the New Yorker with a simple ad. The ad, of course, used a battered drawing and cozy familiar copy to sell these dusters to New Yorker readers that never went near a horse nor sagebrush. Success came to J. Peterman and they regularly issued their clever catalogs with the hand drawings and the digressive and quirky writing. Things purred along until 1995 when Seinfeld and friends got their hands on the whole smarmy concept and began to satirize it. Sales skyrocketed and J. Peterman decided to go the bricks and mortar route. Even with sales of $75 million, the growth was too much, too fast. They did go banko in 1999. The name was bought up by another retailer. J. Peterman folded his duster for the last time. But like a Larry David script, that was not the end of it. The retailer who had forced John Peterman out then himself went bankrupt. The name was there to be recaptured. John Peterman called in Seinfeld’s J. Peterman, the actor John O’Hurley, and with some other investors, brought the fabled J. Peterman company back to life.

So needless to say there is still a J.Peterman Catalog for you to peruse and dream of your African Safari wearing, of course, your well worn J. Peterman Safari Jacket. I was disappointed to find no mention of a duster, though.

Oh, the Mailbag. Not a bad carryall. Truly a good copy of the now discontinued US Mailbag. Made of heavy cowhide with a raw finish that ages quickly.

J Peterman Mailbag
J. Peterman Counterfeit Mailbag

15″ long x 12.5″ tall x 7:” wide. One cavernous interior pouch and a small 5 x 8″ zippered pocket. Nice sturdy leather strap with heavy duty buckles.
Sling it on and make your rounds.

$295

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: bags, J. Peterman

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Holy Caballo Blanco!
  • Tim Winton’s “Breath” — Novel and Film
  • Basic SUP
  • GRIPPED UP with Grip Pro
  • Going Places: Women Only

Get the latest reviews

Loading

Categories

  • Book & Food Reviews
  • Camp Kitchen
  • Camping Gear
  • Car Camping
  • Climbing Gear
  • Clothing
  • Hydration
  • Knives
  • People
  • Ski Gear
  • Technology
  • Toiletries
  • Travel
  • Water Sports

Tags

backpacks bags Baladeo Knives belay system BioLite Black Diamond boots buckles cameras camp furniture carabiner cases coffee cups flashlight flasks folding knives Gerber Grand Trunk headlamps Klean Kanteen lighting Metolius Climbing multi-tools Princeton Tec Sea to Summit Sierra Designs skis sleeping bags Snow Peak snowshoes SOG Knives solar Stanley stoves tents Thule trekking poles UST utensils vests water bottle water purification water storage Will Leather Goods

Footer

Get Our Latest Outdoor Gear Reviews

Loading

Contact Us

Hikers at Falls, photo by John Laptad

Copyright © 2023 Clever Outdoor Gear · WordPress Website by Waterlink Web