Blue Jean Baby

Levi Strauss, originator of America’s best-known contribution to the fashion industry, was born on February 26 in 1829 in Bavaria, Germany. At the age of 18 he immigrated to New York City to join his brothers, who had already established a family owned and operated wholesale dry goods business known by the name “J. Strauss Brother & Co.”  This was the era of the California Gold Rush, and Levi—a trained tailor—saw the potential to make his own fortune by producing tents and wagon covers for the hundreds of “49ers” heading West to seek their fortune. Unfortunately the demand for such items was limited, and Strauss was left searching for another way to make a name for himself in the new American frontier.

In 1850 he headed west, to San Francisco, the heart and soul of the California mining scene, to establish a West Coast branch of the family dry goods business. He opened the store in his own name, and tried a variety of locations near the waterfront, until 1866 when he settled at 14-16 Battery Street and formally named the store “Levi Strauss & Co.”

Strauss, who preferred to be called “Levi” by everyone including his employees, was becoming a well-known and active member of the San Francisco community. He was a supporter of Temple Emanu-El, the first synagogue in San Francisco, and numerous charities that provided care for orphans. He was thought of as an honest businessman and a good person, an image that he valued and hoped to perpetuate.

In 1872 a Reno, Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis contacted Strauss regarding a type of men’s work pants he had been making for the miners, farmers and laborers that were his customers. Davis was a regular customer of Mr. Strauss, and had been purchasing bolts of heavy blue denim fabric—known as “jeans”—to make pants that could withstand the kind of abuse that came with manual labor. Davis had developed a way to make the pants even stronger by placing metal rivets at the “points of strain” on the pants; the corners of the pockets and the base of the button fly. The pants were hugely popular with his customer base, and Davis was interested in patenting them, but knew that he needed a well-established businessman to help market and produce them successfully. Strauss was intrigued by the idea, and eager to be involved. So it was that on May 20, 1873 Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received United States patent # 139121 that called for the use of copper rivets to strengthen the pockets and fly of denim work pants. It was the birth of an American icon: the blue jean.

What followed was, in a word, history. The American Industrial Revolution had brought about a dramatic increase in labor and manufacturing jobs. The need for durable and affordable work clothes grew with the work force, and Strauss and Davis saw their business flourish. While the company sold a variety of riveted denim products, the most popular item was the basic riveted denim “waist overall,” known as the “XX.” It wasn’t until 1890 that Levi Strauss & Co. gave the pants a lot number, “501,” the name that is so famous today.

Levi Strauss never married, and had no children, but hoping to keep the business in the family he encouraged his nephews to join him and they ultimately had the business incorporated in 1890. By then Levi Strauss was a widely diversified and successful businessman, and a very active philanthropist. He was a charter member and served as the treasurer of the San Francisco Board of Trade. He served as a director of the Nevada Bank; the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company; and the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. He was a major donor to the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home; the Eureka Benevolent Society; and the Hebrew Board of Relief. In 1897 he provided the funds for twenty-eight scholarships to the University of California, Berkeley. His reputation for being an honest businessman and a good person had never wavered, and he instilled those same values in his company.

In 1991, nearly 90 years after his death, Levi Strauss & Co. became the first company to establish a “corporate code of responsible contracting,” known at the Terms of Engagement. It clearly defined the work place standards required by both the Levi Strauss & Co. company, and by the companies that manufactured the products used by Levi Strauss & Co. They were the first company to establish standards to ban the use of sweatshops, and to this day remain vehemently opposed to such poor work place conditions.

In a statement about the Terms of Engagement, Levi Strauss & Co. chairman Robert Haas—the great, great grandnephew of Levi Strauss—said of the business, “A company is also the values that shape its conduct in the marketplace.” This was a deeply held belief of Levi Strauss, and a testament of his character. Upon his death in 1902, Strauss was remembered by the San Francisco Board of Trade with a fitting statement:

“ . . . the great causes of education and charity have likewise suffered a signal loss in the death of Mr. Strauss, whose splendid endowments . . . will be an enduring testimonial of his worth as a liberal, public-minded citizen and whose numberless unostentatious acts of charity in which neither race nor creed were recognized, exemplified his broad and generous love for and sympathy with humanity.” 

—Carrie Carter 

Related titles from Libraries collections:

501: this is a pair of Levi's jeans: the official history of the Levi's brand, written and produced by Lynn Downey, Jill Novack Lynch, Kathleen McDonough; photography, Jon Zax.

Denim: an American legend, text by Iain Finlayson.

Jeans: a cultural history of an American icon, James Sullivan.