Who Is The Father Of Jeans

By Author: kinhomchan
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When news of the California Gold Rush made its way east, Levi1 decided to emigrate to San Francisco to make his fortune; not by panning gold, but by selling supplies to the throngs2 of miners who arrived daily in the big city to outfit themselves before heading off to the gold fields. In January of 1853 he became an American citizen, and in March he arrived in bustling, noisy San Francisco, establishing a dry-goods business under his own name and also serving as the West Coast Representative of the family's New York firm.

The first address where Levi conducted business in wholesale dry goods (that we know of) was at 90 Sacramento Street, and the name of his firm was simply, "Levi Strauss. In 1863 the company was renamed "Levi Strauss &Co. Levi moved the headquarters to larger quarters at 14-16 Battery Street in 1866, where it remained for the next forty years.
In his mid-thirties, Levi was already a well-known figure around the city. He was active in the business and cultural life of San Francisco, and actively supported the Jewish community. Despite his stature as an important business man, he insisted that ...
... his employees call him Levi, and not Mr. Strauss.

He knew that demand would be great for these riveted "waist overalls" (the old name for jeans), so Levi brought‘Jacob Davis to San Francisco to oversee the first West Coast manufacturing facility3. Initially, Davis supervised the cutting of the blue denim4 material and its delivery to individual seamstresses5 who worked out of their homes. But the demand for overalls made it impossi¬ble to maintain this system, and factories on Fremont and Market Streets were opened.
As the end of the 19th century approached, Levi stepped back from the day-to-day workings of the business, leaving it to his nephews. David Stern had died in 1874 and his four sons-Jacob, Sigmund, Louis and Abraham-came into the business over the next few years. In 1890-the year that the lot number "501 (g)"6 was first used to designate the denim waist overalls-Levi and hi! Nephews officially incorporated the company, though by this time he had be-gun to concentrate on other business and philanthropic7 pursuits.

In 1875 Levi and two associates purchased the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills from the estate of former silver millionaire William Ralston. Much of the mill's fabric was used to make the Levi Strauss &Co. "blanket-lined" pants and coats. In 1895 he and a number of other prominent San Franciscans provided funds to build a new railroad from San Francisco to the San Joaquin Valley (a project which unfortunately failed). And in 1897 Levi provided the funds for twenty-eight scholarships at the University of California, Berkeley.

During the week of September 22, 1902 Levi began to complain of ill health but by Friday evening the 26th, he felt well enough to attend the family dinner at the home on Leavenworth Street which he shared with Jacob Stem's family. He awakened briefly in the night, and told the nurse in attendance that he felt "as comfortable as I can under the circumstances.8" Then, peacefully, he died. His death was headline news in the Sunday, September 28 edition of the San Francisco Call. On Monday, the day of his funeral, local businesses were temporarily closed so that their proprietors9 could attend the services. The eulogy10 was read at Levi's home by Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger of Temple 236 Manu-EI; afterward, company employees escorted11 the casket12 to the Southern Pacific railway station, where it was transported to the Hills of Eter¬nity Cemetery in Colman (now Home of Peace), south of San Francisco.

Levi's estate amounted to nearly $6 million, the bulk of13 which was left to his four nephews and other family members. Other bequests14 were made to the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum", the Home for Aged Israelites16, the Ro-man Catholic and Protestant Orphan Asylums, Eureka Benevolent Society and the Emanuel Sisterhood.

In summing up Levi's life and the establishment of his business, the San Francisco Call stated; "Fairness and integrity in his dealings with his Eastern factors and his customers and liberality toward his employees soon gave the house a standing second to none17 on the coast. An even more fitting testimonial was pronounced by the San Francisco Board of Trade in a special reso¬lution18:"the great causes of education and charity have likewise suffered a signal loss in the death of Mr. Strauss, whose splendid endowments to the University of California will be an enduring testimonial of his worth as a liberal, public-minded citizen and whose numberless unostentatious acts of charity in which neither race nor creed were recognized, exemplified his broad and generous love for and sympathy with humanity.