The Lowdown on Denim

The Lowdown on Denim is written by Tanya Lloyd Kyi.

Did you wonder how "jeans" came into being? In the 1860's 24 year old Levi Strauss came from New York to California to make it rich selling supplies to the gold miners. One of his biggest selling items was heavy duty pants. The miners needed something that would hold up under stress. By the time the gold strike was over Levi had gotten well on the way of making his fortune.
In the 1870's silver had been found in Nevada and Jacob Davis was trying to figure out a way to make the work pants wear longer. He came up with the idea of putting rivets at the pockets seams. He was afraid some one would steal his idea and he did not have the money so he  talked to Strauss and together they  got the patent . They were called waist -High overalls.In 1890 they sold for $1.50 a pair.In 1891 the patent ran out and other companies started giving them competition. Among them was Lee, In 1911 Lee started making Jackets and dungarees similar to overalls today. He them made Lee Union alls. A shirt and pants together. During WW1  the soldiers were shipped out with Lee union-alls. After the war Levi came out with the  101 Cowboy pants. In 1926 they started putting zippers in the pants instead of the button fly. They call them Whizits
In 1930's John Wayne came into view and people wanted to dress like him.
Through out the years jeans have came in many styles and are still a popular item in peoples closets