953 nut 57,532 #1 Posted February 26 While everyone may have worn a pair of Levi’s jeans at some point in life, they may or may not know about Levi Strauss Day on February 26. A day dedicated, of course, to the founder of the jeans brand that we all love — Levi Strauss. No wonder it is celebrated on his birthday. Levi Strauss & Co. is the first company to make blue jeans. The history of this iconic brand spans over two centuries. Strauss opened his wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco. Strauss sold merchandise from his brothers in New York City. These included clothing, bags, napkins, bedding, and even combs. He moved on to tents before getting to jeans. One of his customers, Jacob W. Davis, went into business with Strauss to produce blue jeans, making him an inventor of the riveted denim pants in 1871, before patenting the style of pants in 1873. But, how did Davis get in the picture? Davis was a tailor himself, who came up with the design after a request by a lady that she needed some solid working pants for her woodcutter husband. He produced pants from the denim purchased from the Levi Strauss shop, using copper rivets to strengthen the stitching. This trendy new garment traveled through word of mouth, increasing demand to a point where Davis was up to capacity and unable to handle the demand and needed to patent his design. Strauss stepped in financially; he helped Davis patent the jeans and issue the license, which finally made them business partners — and successful ones at that! 2 4 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyperPete 424 #2 Posted February 28 (edited) Yep, I've been wearing Levi's, almost exclusively, for a good 50 years. One thing the are LOUSY for is detailing vehicles. The very rivets that they are famous for do not mix well with vehicle finishes. Edited February 28 by Pete D 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
953 nut 57,532 #3 Posted March 1 2 hours ago, Pete D said: The very rivets that they are famous for do not mix well with vehicle finishes They didn't play well with wallpaper either. Growing up on the farm in central New York we needed to warm up coming in from the fringed winter weather. The furnace was directly under the kitchen so we would stand over that register. My brother and I both got new Levi's for Christmas one year and within a few weeks there were little rivet tracks in the wall paper over the kitchen register. Those were the last Levi's jeans I had until I was out on my own. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
