Pelaco was an Australian clothing manufacturer based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Pelaco is best known for its men's shirts. The

Pelaco sign The Pelaco Sign is a heritage-listed neon sign located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Richmond. It was erected in 1939 as an advertisement for local shirt manufacturer Pelaco. Melbourne-based rockabilly group, The Pelaco Br ...

over its former factory in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

is a

Heritage Victoria Heritage Victoria is a branch of the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning. It is the regulator responsible for administering the Heritage Act 2017. The Heritage Act provides for the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage ...

listed landmark.

Foundation

The Pelaco brand was founded in the 1910s by James Kerr Pearson (born 31 July 1881 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

— died 2 October 1950 in Richmond, Victoria) and James Lindsay Gordon Law (born 21 January 1881 in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

— died 18 February 1963, Fitzroy, Victoria). The company name came from the first two letters of its owners' surnames.

Products

From its inception, Pelaco's main product has been men's

shirts A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...

Industrial relations

The Pelaco company under Lindsay Law has been described as innovative in its approach to industrial relations. Saturday morning work was discontinued in its predecessor business in 1908. The company management appointed an "industrial relations officer" to mediate with employees in 1928. Pelaco was one of the first companies in Australia to employ an industrial psychologist. Lindsay Law came into conflict with unions and arbitration courts over the issues of

piecework Piece work or piecework is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time. Context When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations of m ...

wages and

child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

Business head office and factories

In 1922, the company moved its head office and factory from elsewhere in Richmond to Goodwood Street, Richmond. The " Pelaco"

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

over the Goodwood Street factory was erected in 1939. At the company's peak in the 1950s, it had ten factories across Australia.

Cultural references

Australian football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

player

Royce Hart Royce Desmond Hart (born 10 February 1948) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Regarded as one of the greatest centre half-forwards to ever play Australian r ...

was recruited to

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

from

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

n team

Clarence Football Club The Clarence Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Tasmanian State League, based in Bellerive, Tasmania. Before 1947, they existed as Bellerive Football Club. The Club play their home game ...

with the promise of "a new suit and six shirts". The "six shirts" were "half a dozen Pelacos".

References

External links

* {{official website Companies established in the 1910s Clothing brands of Australia Manufacturing companies based in Melbourne Australian companies established in 1915 Clothing companies established in 1915