Levi Strauss ( ; born Löb Strauß, ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California.

Early life

Levi Strauss was born to a Jewish family in

Buttenheim Buttenheim is a market town in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg (district), Bamberg and lies in the Regnitz Valley between Bamberg and Nuremberg, Germany. Buttenheim is Levi Strauss's birthplace: the future inventor of Jeans, blue jeans ...

on February 26, 1829, in the

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

region of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

in the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

. He was the son of Hirsch Strauss and Hirsch’s second wife, Rebecca Strauss (née Haas). In 1847, aged 18, Strauss travelled with his mother and two sisters to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

business in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

called J. Strauss Brother & Co., at 108 Liberty Street in Manhattan. After arriving in New York, Strauss worked as an itinerant peddler of goods from his brother's store: kettles, blankets and sewing goods.

Business career

Levi's sister Fanny and her husband

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

moved to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

, Missouri, while Levi went to live in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, and sold his brothers' supplies there. Levi became an American citizen in January 1853. The family decided to open a West Coast branch of their dry goods business in

, which was the commercial hub of the

California gold rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. Levi was chosen to represent them, and he took steamships for San Francisco via Panama, where he arrived in early March 1854 and joined his sister's family. Strauss opened his wholesale business as Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods from his brothers in New York, including clothing, bedding, combs, purses, and handkerchiefs. He made tents and later jeans while he lived with Fanny's growing family. Tailor Jacob W. Davis of

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, was one of his customers; in 1871, having invented a way to strengthen work pants using rivets, he went into business with Strauss to mass produce them. The next year, Davis asked Strauss to help him apply for a patent, and the patent (one-half assigned to Levi Strauss & Co.) was issued in 1873.

Death

Levi Strauss was never married, and died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco. His estate was worth about $30 million (equivalent to $ in ). Levi's nephew Sigmund Stern's only child, Elise Fanny Stern, married Walter A. Haas, the son of Abraham Haas, whose descendants are the current owners of Levi Strauss & Co.

Dramatizations

In 1960, the anthology series television series ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'' broadcast "The Million Dollar Pants", in which Strauss travels to San Francisco and establishes his business. The episode featured a likely fictional romantic interest, Yvonne Benet. In addition, the episode portrayed a likely fictional character, Patrick Mahoney, that was substituted for Jacob W. Davis.

Legacy

Levi Strauss, a member of the Reform branch of Judaism, helped establish Congregation Emanu-El, the first Jewish

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in the city of San Francisco. He also gave money to several charities, including special funds for orphans. The Levi Strauss Foundation started with an 1897 donation to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, that provided the funds for 28 scholarships. The Levi Strauss museum in

, Germany is located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born. There is also a visitors center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, which features historical exhibits. In 1994, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American W ...

of the

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...

References

External links

Biography of Levi Strauss
from the Official Levi Strauss Site.
Levi Strauss Museum in Buttenheim, Germany
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Levi 1829 births 1902 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American inventors American people of German-Jewish descent American manufacturing businesspeople American retail company founders Businesspeople from San Francisco Businesspeople from New York City German Jews Bavarian emigrants to the United States People from Bamberg (district) People of the California Gold Rush Brand founders Jeans Manufacturing company founders Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California) Jews from California Jews from New York (state) 19th-century American Jews