The Story of Blue Jeans

In May of 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for the process of putting rivets in pants, and modern blue jeans were born.

Strauss started making pants from the canvas, but miners complained that they chafed. Strauss switched to a softer twilled cotton cloth, originally made in Nîmes, France, called "serge de Nîmes" (de Nîmes turned into "denim") and did brisk business.

In 1853, in the middle of the California Gold Rush, a 24-year-old German-Jewish immigrant named Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco. Strauss’ brothers ran a dry goods business in New York City, and he headed west to open a California branch. He brought plenty of rough canvas for making tents and wagon covers, but his early customers told him he should have brought pants, since a good strong pair was hard to find in mining towns.
Strauss started making pants from the canvas, but miners complained that they chafed. Strauss switched to a softer twilled cotton cloth, originally made in Nîmes, France, called "serge de Nîmes" (de Nîmes led to "denim") and did brisk business selling these pants to miners.

Jacob Davis was a regular customer of Levi Strauss. In 1870, a woman came to Davis’ shop asking for a pair of pants for her husband who tended to wear his pants out quickly. Davis decided to reinforce the pocket corners with some of the copper rivets. The woman and her husband liked the pants, so Davis decided to make more and market them. Within eighteen months, he had sold over 200 pairs of riveted pants and was beginning to worry that someone might steal his idea. He needed a patent, but didn’t have the $68 needed to apply for one, so he sought out a business partner. In 1872, he wrote to Levi Strauss, described the success of riveted pants and asked if Strauss would like to apply for, and hold, the patent with him. Strauss agreed, and on May 20, 1873, the two men received a patent for the process of putting rivets in pants, and modern blue jeans were born.

TRIVIA:

• The double row of stitching across the back pockets of Levi’s jeans has been there since the earliest pairs made in 1873. For a few years, the design was hand painted on the pockets of each pair of pants when the government rationed certain materials, like thread, during WWII.

• A pair of Levi’s 501 jeans is composed of 1¾ yards of denim, 213 yards of thread, five buttons and six rivets and requires 37 separate sewing operations during manufacture.

• In 1997, Levi Strauss & Co. paid $25,000 for a pair of 100-year-old jeans found in an old Colorado mine. This oldest known pair of Levi’s jeans went on display in the company museum.