On this day 166 years ago (May 1st 1853) Levi Strauss & Co. was founded in San Francisco by Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss & his brother in law David Stern. Jacob Davis was a Latvian Jewish immigrant based in Reno, Nevada. A tailor by trade who frequently purchased bolts of cotton duck cloth & denim fabric from Levi Strauss & Co.'s Dry goods wholesale warehouse. Davis had an idea to use copper rivets to reinforce the points of strain on work pants similar to how they were used to reinforce leather harnesses & horse tack. Placing rivets on pocket corners and at the base of the button fly proved extremely successful. Davis did not have the money required to purchase a patent to secure his design, so he wrote to Strauss suggesting that they go into business together. Levi accepted Jacob's offer & the pair were granted U.S. Patent 139,212 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for ‘Fastening Pocket Openings’ on May 20th 1873. The patented rivet was then incorporated into the company's design for a work pant & the ‘Levi Strauss & Co. Waist Overalls’ were born, the Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaddy of those @levis.vintage.clothing 501 XX’s in your closet 👖 #onthisday #levisstraussandco #levisstrauss #levis #jacobdavis #vintagedenim #denim #vintageworkwear #levis501 #501xx #bluejeans #jeans #vintageadvertising #vintagesign #menswear #mensstyle #womenswear #womensstyle #vintagestyle #vintagemenswear #ruggedstyle #rrl #vintagephoto #history #formfollowsfunction #anoldiebutagoodie https://www.instagram.com/p/B_psA-ejfxg/?igshid=ry0tgz0a1893
