J. Peterman is perhaps best known as the eccentric owner of the J. Peterman catalog sales company and Elaine's boss on the television show, Seinfeld. However, J. (John) Peterman and the J. Peterman catalog are real. J. Peterman talks like the character in the show and, as portrayed on the show, the catalog is spiced with tangential prose in the descriptions of the products--hard-to-find clothing and accessories.

The J. Peterman of Seinfeld fame was portrayed by John O'Hurley. After a somewhat serendipitous series of events--A boom, a bust, a buy-out, a buy-back and, finally, a meeting between Peterman and O'Hurley--the fictional J. Peterman now sits on the real J. Peterman board of directors.

See also: Seinfeld characters and culture

External links

• J. Peterman
• Story about J. Peterman in The San Francisco Chronicle