Levis Strauss – An Amazing Immigrant Wonder
Levis Strauss was born to German-Jewish parents on the 26th of February, 1829. His birth place was Buttenheim, Bavaria. After the death of his father in 1845, his two elder brothers traveled over to New York City to join the Jewish community. Levi came over accompanied by his two sisters and mother and began to work in the dry goods business run by his brother. In 1853, Levis became an American citizen and shifted base to San Francisco in an attempt to become a part of the California God Rush. This was his first step towards becoming a millionaire. The miners out here required a robust pair of trousers to survive the mining conditions and this is how Levis came out with the denim fabric. By 1870, Levi emerged as a millionaire with Levi Strauss & Co.
An European immigrant tailor and a customer of Levi, Jacob Davis, approached Levi and wished for a patent in 1873. Davis had been involved in the strengthening the pocket corners of Levi’s denim fabric. Davis offered to share the patent with Levis if he placed the money for the patent application. In the same year, Strauss and Davis attained the patent after a deal was struck between them. In 1890, the lot number 501 began to be used to identify the legendary 501 blue jeans. Strauss passed away in 1902 and the charities and scholarships propounded by this illustrious man still live on.
Written by srini on September 4th, 2009 with
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