The History of Blue Jeans
Blue Jeans
We all know what they are. We see people wearing them to almost any occasion, nearly every day. No item or style of clothing has ever been worn for as long as blue jeans. Looking around, you could probably easily find multiple people wearing them. Over the past century, blue jeans have grown to be one of America’s greatest shining icons, as well as one of the greatest clothing fashions in history. They are worn by celebrities, sports athletes, and the working class alike. And blue jeans are worn by almost everyone around the world.
We have seen jeans of many kinds through the course of history. But they have all originated from one man’s company known as Levi Strauss. Well, not quite. But Levi Strauss did completely change the way that overalls and waist overalls were designed. On May 20, 1873, the birth of the waist overall was born. Much later, these waist overalls would become the denim blue jean. It was on that day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent for putting rivets in men’s work pants for the very first time.
Of course, denim workwear had been around long before Levi Strauss. But it was the adding of the rivets to the workwear that made them last. It revolutionized the overalls, leading to modern-day jeans. The workwear continued to be referred to as overalls or waist overalls until the 1960s when they became known as jeans.
Strauss died at the age of 73 on September 26, 1902, at his home in San Francisco. He will always be remembered for the impact he brought to society with his durable invention with Jacob Davis. Davis had the idea, and Strauss had the means. On a handshake, they moved forward, obtaining a patent that would change workwear and fashion forever.
Well, that was over a century ago. Blue jeans are clearly still around and thriving more than ever. So how are they able to make it this far?
From Overalls to Waist Overalls
It all began in 1873 when two brilliant men in San Francisco named Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis started a business, took some denim, thread, and some metal (rivets), and created the revolutionary pair of waist overalls that could withstand the wear and tear of the hard-working miners. Never before had rivets been added to clothing. It made the overalls sturdy and long-lasting.
Loeb Strauss to Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss, the inventor of the iconic American garment, the blue jean, was born with the name Loeb Strauss (Löb Strauß) in Buttenheim, Germany (the Franconia region of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the German Confederation) on February 26, 1829. He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and his second wife Rebecca Strauss. At age 18, Strauss traveled with his mother and two sisters to the United States to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City called J. Strauss Brother & Co.
Young Loeb soon began to learn the trade himself. Levi became an American citizen in January 1853. In March 1854, Levi arrived in San Francisco to open a branch of the family business. Levi established a wholesale dry goods business under his own name. It was stores like Levi’s that helped outfit miners of the gold rush and eventually the new families beginning to populate the western region. He imported the dry goods from his brothers who were still in New York.
Levi Strauss grew to be a very successful dry goods merchant, building his business into a very successful operation over 20 years. And he made a name for himself as a respected businessman. One of Levi’s many customers was a tailor named Jacob Davis. Jacob Davis thought of a way to make work pants more durable by adding rivets in places of stress. Prior to this invention, the miners ripped apart every pair of overalls or work pants that they owned. Davis thought that if rivets were added to the pockets and other stress points that the work pants would last longer. His idea was brilliant. But Davis did not have the ability to create these new products on his own. He knew that Strauss was a great businessman and had the means to create the product. So Davis went to Strauss and presented his idea. On a handshake, the men moved forward.
Back Story
One day the wife of a local laborer asked Jacob to make a pair of pants for her husband that wouldn’t fall apart. Jacob tried to think of a way to strengthen his trousers and came up with the idea to put metal rivets at points of strain, like pocket corners and the base of the button fly. These riveted pants were an instant hit. Jacob quickly decided to take out a patent on the process but needed a business partner to help get the project rolling. He immediately thought of Levi Strauss, from whom he had purchased the cloth to make his riveted pants. Holding this patent meant that Levi Strauss and Co. was the only company allowed to make riveted clothing until the patent went into the public domain. This made Levi Strauss and Co. the only seller of riveted clothing in the world for over 17 years.
Levi Strauss and Co grew with this advantage. This gave them a large amount of business and got the company off to an incredible start.
Thus, in 1873, Levi Strauss and Co. became a big name in the dry goods industry. Levi Strauss continued to make metal riveted pants made of denim, which became an asset to the miners and workers in California. The protective aspect of the strengthened work pants helped to minimize injuries, lowered the need to constantly buy or repair their pants, and gave the consumer lasting value. This strength in jeans is still noticeable today.
Over the course of the late eighteen hundreds, everyone simply called jeans overalls or waist overalls. The name blue jeans had not originated yet. They continued to change with different rivet patterns, buttons, and pockets.
Changes in fashion and consumer requests led to changes like these to come about in 1890, the Rivet pattern, Strauss and Davies’s patent had gone into the public domain, making Levi Strauss and Co. no longer the exclusive manufacturer of the riveted clothing. The jeans Levi made were assigned the number 501, which they still bear to this day. The patent expiration led many different jean manufacturers to originate. They all began imitating the original idea made popular by Levi Strauss and Co.
While they did take their idea from them, the new companies made their own styles and revered designs on the pockets. These new companies, competing with Levi Strauss and Co. have only really caught up with the success within the last 50 years.
Levi Strauss ended up passing away peacefully at the age of 73 in 1902. His nephews took over the business and their descendants still run the company to this day. However, only four years after his death, something tragic happened to the company.
In 1906, one of San Francisco’s largest earthquakes in history destroyed the headquarters and factories of Levi Strauss and Co. The large earthquake drastically brought the economy down. Many deep cracks covered the streets, and many homes and companies were completely demolished. Lucky for Levi Strauss and Co., a new factory was built at 250 Valencia Street in San Francisco and opened as early as November of that year.
Through the early 1900s, changes were made to the overalls in order to comply with the rules set by the War Production Board for both World Wars and the conservation of raw materials. The jeans stitching design, the companies became registered as a trademark in 1943 during the war, which helped Levi’s company get back up to speed much more swiftly.
During the 50s, work overalls were slowly being manufactured in many different versions. This included a new zippered version since people on the East Coast were unfamiliar with the butterfly at the time.
When the 60s came along, the word overalls was finally replaced by the word jeans and advertising and on the packaging. Originally, in the 1930s, denim pants for boys were called jeans, but they’re top of the line. Five by one overall did not get this name until teenagers started calling them jeans. The name is grown on all of us ever since. And in 1966, Levi Strauss and Co. aired their first commercial to spread awareness.
Women’s Market
1981 was a big year for Levi Strauss and Co. Blue jeans were finally introduced to women during a slew of new famous commercials. Mind you, women had been wearing men’s Levi’s jeans for a long time. But this was the beginning of Levi’s specifically designed for women. And, of course, marketing went after the female demographics. Interestingly, many women balked at the idea of changing from wearing the men’s jeans that they had become accustomed to wearing. Other women were glad for the change. This fashion for women has grown enormously popular, so much so that blue jeans have become a huge part of the American culture ever since.
The durability of blue jeans has never failed to be remarkable for workers and even the creative.
The next time you see someone wearing a pair of Levi’s jeans, remember that they are direct descendants from the very first pair made back in 1873. All it took was two visionary men who were able to turn denim and a little threaded metal into one of the most popular and innovative apparels of all time. The impact they have brought to our culture is astonishing, to say the least. And within a short time, they have become the essential American fashion. From the Vancouver Olympics to fictional game characters.
For the past one hundred and thirty-seven years, blue jeans have grown to be one of the greatest clothing fashions of all time. We all love them for all the right reasons, and they will continue to be worn by millions of people of all ages as the primary style of comfort and strength, including today’s hard workers. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis will always be remembered for their inspiring story and their incredible clothing that has changed people’s lives.
