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Bunting
Jacket
Patterns & Fabrics
for Men’s
Women’s and
Chidren’s Jacket
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Green Pepper Catalog $1.00
941 OLIVE STREET
EUGENE. OREQON 97401
(503) 345-6665
green
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We all wear’em. . .they’ve become an
American institution sort of like apple pie and
Chevrolet. In fact, they’ve made a hit throughout
the world, and are considered ultimate fashion in
Tokyo, London, Paris and Milan.
Alison Lurie, author of “The Language ol
Clothes,” even claims they subconsciously repre
sent American power and virtue to the contem
porary European teenager.
What are these magnificently influential,
patriotic items?
Levi’s.
The story behind Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans
dates back to 1853 when Levi Strauss booked
passage on a clipper ship from New York to San
Francisco. He traveled to the American frontier
with money on his mind: He wanted to market
supplies to the wealthy gold miners.
Included in his supplies were rolls of canvas
intended for use in tents and wagon covers. After
a short visit to the mining country, he realized the
potential for a different use of this material. You
guessed it...a stout pair of pants.
Strauss took his canvas to a tailor who
fashioned the world’s first pair of jeans. He called
them “pantaloons” and “waist-high overalls.”
His customers just called them “Levi’s.”
They were tailored from heavyweight brown
canvas, without back pockets or beltloops. The
number “501” was the lot number assigned to the
product.
During the 1850s, Strauss switched from can
vas to a tough cotton fabric loomed in Nimes,
France, called “serge de Nimes” — soon to be
known as “denim.” Strauss selected an indigo
dye for uniform color, and it became the standard
shade still used today.
The original 501 jeans were sold stiff and
oversized, and fit correctly only after they were
washed and dried a few times. Miners, cowboys
and farmers often shrunk their Levis by putting
them on and dunking themselves in a watering
trough. When the pants dried, they fit — snuggly.
Over the next several decades, Levi’s 501
jeans acquired the trademarks that made them
Vi
Photo by Hank Trotter
unique and identifiable. When “Alkali Ike,” a
Virginia City miner, complained that his pockets
kept ripping under the strain of “nuggets bigger
than your thumb,” a local tailor, Jacob W, Davis,
began riveting the pocket comers for added
strength. Davis told Levi Strauss & Co. about the
innovation, and the company adopted the idea
and acquired a patent in 1873.
The next significant design change to 501
jeans came half a decade later, in 1936, when the
red tab trademark was patented and added to the
right-hand back pocket .
Walter Haas Sr., then the president of Levi
Strauss & Co., personally requested another
design change. As the story goes. Haas, an avid
fly fisherman, crouched too close to a mountain
campfire one night, and the flames heated the
crotch rivet on his Levi’s. The rivet removal
modification was made soon afterwards.
World War II put a temporary halt to the
manufacturing of 501s. The production of the
jeans was considered an “essential industry,"
and only those engaged in defense work were
allowed to buy the jeans.
At the end of the war, Levi Strauss & Co.
prepared for the effects of the "baby boom” by
shifting its sales emphasis to young people.
The post-war generation saw a "cowboy
hero” emerge from the West. He rode in not from
the range, but from Hollywood, and his name was
James Dean. Emulated by thousands of American
teenagers, Dean's casual, moody, almost
rebellious behavior became a trademark. He wore
Levi’s 501 jeans.
Dean was succeeded by another hero shaped
out of the ’50s culture — Marlon Brando. Appear
ing in the 1954 film "The Wild Ones,” Brando
made a lasting impression wearing a leather
jacket and Levi’s, sitting astride a motorcycle.
Together, Dean and Brando helped fashion an im
age for a new generation of jeans wearers.
It's been almost thirty years and the excite
ment hasn’t wavered yet: The Levi’s legend lives
on.
Mike Duncan
NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY
EUGENE
SPRINGFIELD
2526 Willamette St.
683-1405
M-F 9-8. Sat. 9-7.
Sun. 11 -4
1920 Olympic Ave.
(Springfield Mall)
741-2887
Mon -Sat. 9-7
Shampoo and blowdry ai.o available.- at additional cost