Peerless

Peerless Master Cleaners was listed as “Peerless—103 W. Jones St.” under “Tailors” in Raleigh from 1947-1949 and as “Peerless—516 Fayetteville St.” under “Tailors” in Raleigh from 1950-1955.¹

Peerless Master Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. was a multi-branch, white-owned dry cleaning business that advertised in the Green Book in the early 1950s. The business was chartered in 1938 and its incorporating partners were Clairborne J. Barbee of Morrisville, R. J. Ray of Raleigh, and B. Staton Inscoe of Raleigh.²

Peerless’s original (and main) branch was located at 516 Fayetteville Street. The business expanded quickly and new branches were opened on Morgan Street by 1938; the corner of Glenwood and Peace Streets in 1939; and Hillsboro Street in 1941. The Jones Branch, advertised in the Green Book from 1947-1949, opened in 1945.³

Claiborne J. Barbee was the President of Peerless during the time that it was advertised in the Green Book. His wife, Annie E. Barbee, served as the company’s Secretary-Treasurer. The Jones Street branch of the business was open until at least 1955, although the address listed in the Green Book was changed to the business’s main branch on Fayetteville Street from 1950-1955.⁴

The Jones Street branch of Peerless Master Cleaners closed in the late 1950s. State Shoe Service was open in the space by 1959.⁵

Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2024

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1947 Green Book, 65; Green, 1948 Green Book, 63; Green, 1949 Green Book, 57; Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54; Green, 1953 Green Book, 54; Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 54. 
2. “New Corporations,” The News and Observer, January 8, 1938, p. 13), accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Two New Concerns Are Chartered In This State,” The Charlotte News, January 17, 1938, p. 10, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
3.  “Peerless Master Cleaners” (advertisement), The News and Observer, February 1, 1938, p. 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Peerless Master Cleaners” (advertisement), The News and Observer, November 28, 1938, p. 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com; (“Peerless Master Cleaners” (advertisement), The News and Observer, December 4, 1939, p. 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com; (“Peerless Master Cleaners” (advertisement), The News and Observer, April 9, 1941, p. 16, accessed from www.newspapers.com; “Peerless” (advertisement), The News and Observer, October 1, 1945, p. 10, accessed from www.newspapers.com.
4.  Hill’s 1948 Raleigh City Directory, street listing, alphabetical listing; “Hold Up Suspect to Face Superior Court,” The News and Observer, March 22, 1955, p. 3, accessed from www.newspapers.com. 
5.  “State Shoe Service” (advertisement), The News and Observer, October 21, 1959, p. 12, accessed from www.newspapers.com.