Person Blogger: Pierce Davison
Person/Figure: Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was born in Bavaria, Germany to a Jewish family in February of 1829, and he later was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States where he would found the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His company was Levi Strauss & Co., which he began in 1853 in San Francisco, California. Overall, Strauss was one of the many merchants who were very successful and made large sums of money during the US’s westward and territorial expansion and during the Gold Rush. However, Strauss was one man who success’s far exceeded those of others and whose company and name still lives on throughout San Francisco and America today.
At the age of 18, Strauss, his mother and tow sisters set sail for the U.S. to join his two brothers who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City, with this, the family decided to open a West Coast branch of the family dry goods business in San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the California Gold Rush. Chosen to represent his family, Levi caught a steamship for San Francisco after becoming and American citizen in January of 1853. He would end up arriving in San Francisco in March of 1853.
Levi Strauss was turned to by Jacob Davis, a Reno, Nevada tailor, in 1872, who wanted to patent his process of making men’s work pants with metal points of strain for greater strength. Davis bought a lot of his fabric from Strauss, and together they received a patent from the US for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets of denim work pants. Levi Strauss & Co. then began manufacturing the famous Levi’s brand of jeans using fabric from a company in New Hampshire.
The double arch stitching, or “Arcuate,” on the back pocket of Levi’s jeans is also a trademark of his which the company has repeatedly defended in legal circumstances or in court. However, later during World War II the US Government deemed this stitching to be decorative only so this design ended up being hand-painted onto the pockets.
Essentially, the newer, studier pants that Strauss was making were suitable and very appropriate for the many migrant families and male migrant workers who desired and needed something like what Strauss was making. Therefore, the economic principle of supply and demand weighed greatly in Strauss’s favor, for there was an enormous demand, and a smaller supply. With this, for a time Strauss could make as many jeans as possible and still be able to sell them for a substantial profit.
Strauss’s success in the merchant and business area of society during this time were representative of the success many merchants had during this time of territorial expansion and in particular the California Gold Rush. For there were far more average hopeful people than wise merchants, thus the merchants saw what was wanted and needed among the many migrants and made these things knowing that there was little competition and a lot of demand.
Also, Strauss’s actions helped many people with their work making it easier to do the physically demanding and exhausting work that the many migrants would be doing. His actions also helped in creating a working economy out in the new territories and in the West, by beginning the production and manufacturing of goods and products in the new territory. On top of this, Strauss’s goods, jeans, and brand still live on and are synonymous with the San Francisco area and the California Gold Rush movement.
Strauss died on September 26, 1902 at the age of 73 having never married, so he left his business to his four nephews. He also left his bequests to a number of charities, and his fortune was estimated to be around 6 million dollars. Ultimately, he was buried in Colma, California. However, his legacy still lives on through his continuing company, his museum is maintained in Buttenheim, Germany, located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born, and also in a number of historical exhibits.
-Works Cited (MLA Format):
"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>.
"PBS - THE WEST - Levi Strauss." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 04 Nov.
2011. <http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/strauss.htm>.
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