Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss, born on February 26th 1829 in Buttenheim Germany, was a German-Jewish immigrant who made a fortune during the 1849 gold rush to California by creating the blue jeans. His company, Levi Strauss and Co., was then founded 1853 thus launching one of the largest clothing manufacturers in America. At 18, Strauss, his mother and two sisters sailed for the United States to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City called J. Strauss Brother & Co. Over the years the Strauss family business in New York started to become very popular and the company began to stockpile extra money. When news of the California gold rush made its way east to New York, J. Strauss brother & Co. decided that they wanted to open up a second shop in California and appointed Levi to head the new shop. In 1852 Levi began the journey to San Francisco like so many others at the time, but Levi instead sought to make a fortune by selling supplies to the large amount of miners who arrived daily in San Francisco to outfit themselves before heading off to the gold fields. In 1853 he finally arrived in San Francisco and established the dry-goods store. This time though he named the business after himself calling it Levi Strauss & Co. To make his store feel more modern and stand out in the city Levi installed gaslight chandeliers, a freight elevator and other luxuries to the new location. His store had moderate success and quickly became a well-known figure around the city. He actively supported the Jewish Community helping them build the first synagogue and was a contributor to the gold medal given annually to the best Sabbath School student. Then in 1866 Levi moved the headquarters to larger store at 14-16 Battery Street, where it remained for the next forty years. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector famously said, "You should have brought pants!," saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last. Seeing the business opportunity Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. The miners often complained about chafing so, Levi Strauss substituted in a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes." The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans for their color. He then hired a famous tailor, David Jacobs, to finalize the design where during this process Jacobs added the signature pocket stitch design that would help their product stand out. On May 20th, 1873 Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor David Jacobs co-patented the design and began manufacturing the new pants. The demand for the sturdy yet fashionable pants skyrocketed thus forcing them to open two factories dedicated on just producing these pants. By the end of the 19th century he had shops and factories in almost every major city thus creating his blue jean empire that still stands today.

Works Cited

"Inventor of the Week: Archive." MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/strauss.html>.

"Levi Strauss - The History of Blue Jeans and Denim." Inventors. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventors/a/Levi_Strauss.htm>.

"Levi Strauss." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. Web. 04 Nov. 2011. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Strauss.html>.