February 26 1829 — birthday of Levi Strauss — Composer
To many, Levi Strauss is best know of all of the Strausses. Better known than Richard Strauss, Franz Strauss, Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss.
Composed by Levi Strauss
In 1853 Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant who had been working at his brother’s dry good store in New York, headed west to the California Gold Rush to open a dry good store in San Francisco.
On opening day a prospector walked in and asked what they were selling. Strauss told him they had canvas for tents and wagon covers. The the prospector said, “You should have brought pants, the pants around these parts are not strong enough.”
Levi Strauss had the canvas made into pants. They were called “waist overalls.”
Although miners liked them, they complained that the pants chafed. So Strauss switched to a twilled cotton cloth from France. The cloth was called “serge de Nimes.” The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans.
Starting n 1873 Strauss teamed up with Jacob Davis, a Latvian tailor in Reno, to develop a process that made the pants stronger by using rivets to secure pockets and other seams.
On May 20, 1873, they received U.S.Patent No.139,121 for tis process.. May 20 is now the official birthday of “blue jeans.”
The two-horse brand design was first used in 1886
The red tab attached to the left rear pocket was created
in 1936 — identifying Levi’s jeans from a distance
