TAKOS, Peter G.

Peter Takos with chairs he created in his antique and furniture store. Photo courtesy: Darryl and Terry Mozena

TAKOS, Peter G. (Farnari, Greece-Dubuque, IA, Sept. 29, 1976). Takos came to the United States in 1918 and became a United States citizen in 1936. (1) He worked for a local ice cream business before founding the PETER TAKOS & COMPANY in 1922. He became renowned for his company's restoration of antique furniture and his specialty of restoring and repairing old musical instruments. A cabinet maker might rebuild a frame, specialists in finishing were consulted, and upholsters completed the project.

Example of a table created by Peter Takos. Photo courtesy: Darryl and Terry Mozena.

Takos' reproductions were beautiful and precise copies of vintage pieces, but were never sold as antiques. He specialized in side chairs from Early Americana though the Victorian era and pie crust and drop leaf tables made of walnut, mahogany, and cherry. One commission involved reproducing tables, chairs and benches for a century-old state house for which few of its original pieces existed. (2)

Stories about some of the projects involved the origin of the materials. A Victorian dining room set of ten chairs, large drop leaf table, extension table, and a breakfront were created from a single walnut tree. A couple had asked Takos to use this particular wood because it came from a tree under which their children had played. Another assignment involved converting an old bed belonging to one of Dubuque's first bishops into an altar and kneeler. The ornately carved head of the bed was fashioned into the front of the altar; the foot of the bed became the kneeler. (3) It is believed some of Takos' earliest furniture was made from gun stocks which were no longer needed by the military after WORLD WAR I. (4) His perfection led to the company's trade area expanding from the local area to 1950 when a majority of its business came from outside Iowa.

Pale pink furniture cream created with real rose oil, bottled in glass, and sold by Peter G. Takos. Photo courtesy: Darryl and Terry Mozena.

A proud member of the Greek community in Dubuque, Takos was a charter member of the Greek organization AMERICAN HELLENIC EDUCATIONAL PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION (AHEPA). (5) His barber bottle collection was considered one of the largest in the United States. In September, 1976 an exhibit of some of his furniture and antiques was held at the CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Peter Joseph TAKOS, his son, served as the mayor of Dubuque.

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Source:

1. Darryl Mozena, interview, March 1, 2018

2. Black, Judy. "Takos Has Coast-to Coast Trade, The Antique Dealer, February 1950

3. Ibid.

4. Mozena

5. "Greek-Americans Here Organized," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, June 5, 1930, p. 41