Many symbols have become icons for the United States. People can readily recognize the national flag, the White House and even some of our famous leaders like Abraham Lincoln. One thing invented in America that has taken the world by storm is the denim jean. People today take jeans for granted. They are ubiquitous as casual and work clothing. In some countries, however, they are prized symbols of American culture. People sometimes pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of authentic American jeans made by Levi Strauss. There have even been auctions of jeans that were a hundred years old where bidders paid an outrageous price just to own a pair of the originals.
The way that jeans look and fit today is the result of a long history of trial and error. The story begins with an immigrant from Bavaria named Levi Strauss. He decided to head out to San Francisco, California in 1853. He was responding to the demand for new and innovative supplies from miners involved in the Gold Rush. Strauss arrived in the area and started making clothes from what he had. The strongest material he owned was woven tent fabric. That worked well although he eventually switched to denim. He decided to have everything died indigo in order to hide irregularities in the fabric from southern France. The blue jeans were a hit and soon became standard workwear.
Jeans could be seen everywhere. They were worn by miners looking for gold, cattle ranchers and average citizens just doing labor around the city. The original jeans had pockets with liners and tight stitching. Strauss eventually met a tailor working out of Reno, Nevada. The Russian tailor had invented a way to make the stitching on jeans even tougher. Strauss paid the man $69 to buy the patent from him for the technique. The patent showed how to add rivets to the fabric in order to strengthen the seams so that they would not split or fall apart due to wear. The original Levi Strauss jeans had rivets in the crotch area and on the rear. Those were later removed because the crotch rivet caused chaffing when riding the horse. The rivets on the rear would scratch up furniture.
It took until 1880 for the jeans to become what we know today. The stitching became more elaborate. It was done with orange thread. The name jeans became popular at this time because sailors in a city called Genoa would wear all blue just like the indigo dye Strauss used. Jeans is a slang mispronunciation of the city name. Jeans started to appear in different forms. A new model with a front bib was invented. Strauss met a man named Henry David Lee and together they added zippers to the jeans. Bib overalls became the preferred attire for anyone doing a dirty job. Jeans soon became an emblem of America and began appearing overseas.
A feature left over from the 19th century origins of denim jeans is a small pocket located on the front right side of the pants. This pocket is present in almost all jeans today regardless of the manufacturer. Some people use it to hold change or keys. It seems to be too small to do much with beyond that. This is why so many people wonder exactly why that pocket was placed on the jeans all those years ago. The answer is that it is a watch pocket. People in the 19th century had to carry a small watch on a chain since wristwatches were not in existence yet. That pocket made it simple to keep your watch handy while working or walking around.
