Blue Jean

Blue Jean

Levi Strauss and Blue Jeans

Levi Strauss was born on February 26, 1829 in Bavaria and moved to New York with his mother and two sisters when he was sixteen years old. There, he was reunited with two of his brothers and joined the wholesale company they had founded called ‘J. Strauss Brother & Co.'

Early in 1853, Strauss made his way to San Francisco to follow the Californian Gold Rush and opened up his own branch of the family business which he called ‘Levi Strauss' (renamed Levi Strauss & Co in 1863).  He sold imported goods such as clothing, fabric, umbrellas and underwear to small stores that were rapidly appearing all over the West to meet the needs of the prospectors.

By the mid 1860s, Levi Strauss was a successful businessman and well known and respected among the San Francisco business community, however he remained down to earth and always insisted his employees called him Levi rather than Mr Strauss.

In 1872 he received a letter from a regular customer of his, a tailor named Jacob Davis, detailing the way he made pants for his customers. Most of them worked for mining companies or prospecting for gold which took its toll on the fabric of their cloths. In a bid to make them last longer, Davis was placing rivets on points of strain on the pants, in particular the pocket corners and at the base of the fly.

The two went into business together and were granted a patent on May 20, 1873, giving birth to Blue Jeans and changing the clothing industry forever.

About the Author

Auron Renius has been involved in the study of the past for over ten years and gained a bachelors degree in history from the University of Wales, Newport in 2007. Since 2008 he has been writing articles online and has a number of blogs and websites. His latest website is called The Primary Sourcebook and is a collection of interesting primary sources of history covering all ages, from the earliest civilisations through to the twentieth century.

How do I get a blue jean stain off my daughters Pink Converse?

My daughter wore her new converse today and her jeans got wet since it rained and the blue jean stained them in diffrent spots of her pink converse? Anyone know how to get it out I put Spray and wash and left it on a while but some of it is still there is there another method so they won't be ruined she just got them on Saturday.

Try OxyClean as a paste on the denim stain. Let it sit a few minutes then rinse clean.

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