Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 22, 1992 TAG: 9203180253
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Tracie Fellers
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
\ 1492: Legend has it that the sails of Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, were constructed of denim. True or not, today the fabric is as identifiably American as baseball, apple pie and the Fourth of July.
\ 1600s: Denim was already a hot commodity in Europe. A London merchant's magazine advertised serge denims. In Italy, long-lasting denim trousers became popular with Genoese sailors. The French name for Genoa, Italy, is Genes - hence, "jeans."
\ 1850s: Levi Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant, moved from New York to San Francisco and crafted the first Levi's in heavyweight brown canvas. After a few years of selling the canvas trousers to gold miners, Strauss switched to denim and used indigo dye for uniform color. Once the Gold Rush economy settled down, those early Levi's sold for 22 cents a pair.
\ 1870s: In the East, James Orr, a sewing machine salesman from Wappingers Falls, N.Y., came up with standard overall sizes. He hired six seamstresses, set up shop and became "satisfyingly rich." Strauss and rivet inventor Jacob Davis, patented copper rivets that were used to strengthen stress points on Levi's pants. Copper-coated steel rivets still reinforce front pockets on Levi's today.
\ 1879: Levi's extra-heavy blue denim "waist overalls" - Strauss disliked the term blue jeans - sold for $1.46 per dozen.
\ 1880s: Levi Strauss & Co. became an established clothing firm, and incorporated on December 14, 1890.
\ 1902: Jeans had become the American working-class uniform. The Sears, Roebuck catalog that year offered five varieties, including Brownie overalls for boys, which sold for 35 cents a pair.
\ 1908: Strauss and Davis' patent on copper rivets ran out, opening the door for rival manufacturers - most notably Blue Bell Inc. of Greensboro, N.C., which makesWranglers, and H.D. Lee Company of Merriam, Kansas. Both are still Levi Strauss & Co.'s major competitors.
\ 1910s: Levi Strauss & Co. introduces the Koverall, a one-piece playsuit for children and the company's first nationally sold product. The company adapted Henry Ford's Detroit assembly line technique, its first reported use in the apparel industry.
\ 1930s: As the Depression ravaged America's economy, cattle ranches opened as "dude ranches." Vacationing Easterners bought Levi's 501 jeans (so named in the 1890s) to wear on the ranch and took them home for leisure wear.
In 1933, Walter Haas Sr., then-president of Levi Strauss & Co., personally requested removal of the crotch rivet on Levis' jeans, a design change cowboys had requested for years. On a camping trip to the Sierra Nevadas, Hass apparently crouched too close to a campfire and the flames heated the rivet. Ouch! The rivet was removed by a vote of the company's board of directors the following week.
In 1936, the Red Tab trademark was patented and added to the right-hand back pocket on Levi's jeans. And in 1937, back-pocket rivets were replaced with stitched bar tacking. Reason: to prevent scratching of school desks, saddles and paint on automobile hoods.
\ 1941-45: During World War II, jeans were declared an essential commodity, along with sugar, butter, bacon and cigarettes. After the war, the popularity of and demand for Levi's jeans outweighed the supply.
\ 1950s: Jeans became more tapered and the first zippers were introduced. Movie idols-to-be James Dean and Marlon Brando wore jeans in their films, projecting a new image for a new generation of jeans wearers: teenagers, college students, beatniks.
In this era of bobby socks and the birth of rock 'n' roll, Bing Crosby was denied access to a restaurant for wearing jeans. Levi Stauss & Co. heard the story and reacted by presenting Crosby with a custom-made denim tuxedo. Result: The Levi's tuxedo wasn't turned away. Bing got into the restaurant.
\ 1960s: Levi Strauss & Co. expanded internationally and introduced a number of new jeans: Levi's in white and other colors, Stretch Levi's and corduroy Levi's. Levi's jeans became part of the Smithsonian Institute Collection for the fist time. The company's overall sales reached $100 million.
\ 1968: Time magazine noted that the year's college seniors - "the most conscience-stricken, moralistic and, perhaps the most promising graduates in U.S. academic history" - wore faded Levi's under their academic gowns.
\ 1970s: The art of denim decoration reached such a peak that the American Crafts Council Museum in New York devoted an exhibition to the best designs. One piece in the exhibition featured appliqued elephants skidding down an embroidered rainbow on sequin roller skates.
It was a good decade for Levi Strauss & Co.: sales exceeded $1 billion and in 1979, doubled again to $2 billion. In 1976, Levi's jeans became a permanent part of the "Americana Collection" at the Smithsonian Institute.
\ 1981: Levi's 501 jeans cut especially for women were introduced.
\ 1984: As official outfitter of the 1984 Olympic Games, Levi Strauss & Co. clothed more than 60,000 people, including the Winter and Summer U.S. teams. The company also introduced prewashed and stonewashed 501 jeans.
\ 1986: Levi Strauss & Co.'s men's jeans designers discovered the whitewashed denim finishing process in Montreal, Canada, and were first to introduce it in the U.S. market. Whitewashed denim marked a breakthrough in new fabric finishing technologies and was a huge hit with consumers.
\ 1987: Levi Strauss & Co. posted total sales of $2.87 billion.
\ 1988: Fortune magazine included Levi's 501 jeans in an article titled: "100 Products That America Makes Best." And Landor Associates, a national research firm, named Levi's the fifth most powerful name brand in America.
Up to this point in its history, Levi Strauss & Co. had sold two billion pairs of jeans.
\ 1990s: Jeanswear generates over $6 billion in sales and denim shows no signs of fading in popularity. Overalls have been reintroduced and updated by hip, fashion-conscious teens and young adults. Chambray shirts have surged in popularity for men and women. For many men, the comfy shirts are even appropriate for office wear.
And fashion designers, like Donna Karan and Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld, have dressed up denim and used it in fresh, innovative ways. Over the years, the all-American fabric has woven its way into not only our wardrobes, but our lifestyles.
Sources Levi Strauss & Co., Blair & Ketchum's Country Journal (December 1985), Life magazine (September 1986), Jeanswear Communications.
by CNB