OK, so, if you pay attention, you are probably aware that Levi Strauss was a real person. Strauss, an immigrant tailor, at the ripe age of 17, designed a pair of overalls out of canvas to sell to miners in San Francsico in the 1850s who were tired of their trousers wearing out. Then in the 1860s he switched from canvas to denim because, well, it was softer. But here's a few jeans facts you might not have known:
- Strauss died them blue to decrease the appearance of soil stains.
- Rivets were added to prevent full pockets from tearing at the seams until 1937 when schools were complaining that rivets on back pockets made gouges in school chairs.
- There was a "crotch rivet" to prevent the seam at the crotch from splitting open as miner squatted while panning for gold. Unfortunately, miners who didn't wear underwear (apparently more common than one would imagine) discovered that squatting too close to the fire caused, um, burns. That rivet was quickly abandoned.
- The word "jeans" originally referred to a cotton cloth milled in Genoa, (called Genes by the French) which was used to make work clothes.
I bet Brooke Shields would have had a problem with the crotch rivet, too. |
