Levi Strauss

Essay by irishangel0513High School, 11th gradeA, April 2004

download word file, 3 pages 3.4

Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, near the German-Austrian border in the Bavarian Alps. He was the youngest of his six brothers and sisters. Lob Strauss, Levi's real name ,was a peddler of dry goods for most of his childhood. Two years after his father died, Strauss immigrated to New York City. There in the docks of New York Harbor Lob became Levi and as some would say the most famous name in the clothing buisness. In 1847 Levi Strauss moved to Louisville,Kentucky. He made a meager living by selling thread, needles, yarn, thimbles, and combs on the frontier. Still hoping to make money, Strauss began peddling man's pants made from a light cotton imported from Genoa, Italy. People called these pants "Genovese" which later was shortened to jeans. These pants looked nothing like the jeans we wear today, they were simply plain cotton trousers. For several years he traveled the hills selling his jeans to farmers.

In 1853 (during the gold rush) he moved with his brother in law,David Stern, to the mining towns lured not by the prospect of gold but of selling his cloth to miners who were lured by gold. Straus and Stern ended up selling so much fabric on the way there that all they had left was the cloth that they had planned to sell to the tent makers. But when a miner wanted a pair of pants that would not rip, Levi sent the cloth to a near by tailor. The tailor fashioned a pair of pants that had large pockets that could hold nuggets and tools. The miner was pleased and levi received a six dollar sale in gold nuggets. Soon other miners came to Strauss wanting a pair of sturdy pants also.

At first, Strauss sold his pants by climbing through...