Thursday, February 4, 2010

History Of Levis 501 Jeans

History Of Levis 501 Jeans

Little did Levi Strauss know what a revolution his jeans would cause, or how much pleasure they would give to millions all over the planet. When you enjoy something like levis 501s as much as I do, perhaps it pays to know a bit about their history.

1853 Levi Strauss arrives in San Francisco and opens a wholesale dry goods business, serving retailers in the American West.
1872 Jacob Davis, a Reno Nevada tailor, writes to Levi Strauss, telling him of the process he invented to rivet the pocket corners on men’s pants. He suggests the two men take out a patent on the process together.
1873 Levi Strauss & Jacob Davis are granted a patent on the process of riveting pants. (May 20) The pants - called “waist overalls” - have one back pocket with the Arcuate Stitching Design, a watch pocket, a cinch and suspender buttons.
1870s Two factories are opened in San Francisco to manufacture the waist overalls, made with copper rivets.
1886 The Two Horse Brand leather patch is first used on the waist overalls.
c1890 Lot numbers are first assigned to the products being manufactured. 501 is used to designate the famous copper-riveted overalls.
c1902 The overalls now have two back pockets.
1902 Levi Strauss dies at the age of 72.
1906 The San Francisco earthquake and fire destroys the headquarters and factories of Levi Strauss & Co. A new factory is built at 250 Valencia Street in San Francisco.
1922 Belt loops are added to the overalls, but the suspender buttons are still retained.
1936 The Red Tab Device is first placed onto the right back pocket of the waist overalls. The word “Levi’s” is stitched in white in all capital letters.
1937 The back pockets on the waist overalls are sewn so that they cover the rivets. This is in response to consumers who complained that the rivets scratched furniture and saddles. The suspender buttons are removed from the overalls. Consumers are given snap-on buttons in case they still want to wear suspenders.
World War II Changes are made to the waist overalls in order to conform to rules set by the War Production Board for the conservation of raw materials. The crotch rivet and back cinch are removed to save fabric and metal. The Arcuate Stitching Design is removed as the thread is decorative only and not vital to the usefulness of the garment. In order to keep the design on the pants, LS&CO. sewing machine operators paint it on each pair. Some speculate that besides saving metal for the war effort, another reason for removing the crotch rivet was that while cowboys stood or crotched in front of the campfire, the crotch rivet would heat up and pass that heat straight through to, well, the inside. That could be uncomfortable!
1954 A zippered version of the waist overalls is introduced.
1960 The word “overalls” is replaced by the word “jeans” in advertising.
1963 Pre-shrunk Levi’s jeans are introduced.
1964 The jeans become part of the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
1966 The first television commercial for Levi’s jeans is aired.
1967 The rivets are removed from the back pockets and replaced with bar tacking.
1971 The word “Levi’s” on the Red Tab Device is now stitched in white with a capital “L” only; the “E” is changed to “e”.
1981 Levi’s 501 jeans for women are introduced, with the airing of the famous “Travis” television commercial.
1984 The renowned “Levi’s 501 Blues” television advertising campaign is launched at the summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
1992 Due to the interest in “vintage” Levi’s jeans on the part of consumers worldwide, LS&CO. introduces the “Capital E” jean in the United States. This also follows on the success of the vintage model created earlier by Levi Strauss Japan.
1993 Levi Strauss & Co. sponsors the “Send Them Home Search,” a contest to find the oldest pair of Levi’s jeans in the United States. The winning pair dates to the late 1920s.
1996 Building on the success of the Capital E product, a new series of vintage reproductions - called the Global Vintage line - is introduced in stores worldwide.
There–now you know a bit more about the jean that we all know and love.

3 comments:

  1. Skin tight Levis on a hot male ass make me nearly lose control! SMOKIN' HOT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I wear my 501's I like to leave one button open. This keeps it cool

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do like wear skin tight pocketless jeans.Riding my Horse with that jean puts me so Hot!!!

    ReplyDelete