Levi Strauss

Early life

Levi Strauss was born to a Jewish family in Buttenheim on February 26, 1829, in the Franconia region of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the German Confederation. 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 to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City 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 moved to St. Louis, Missouri, while Levi went to live in Louisville, Kentucky, 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 San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the California gold rush. 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, 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 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 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, that provided the funds for 28 scholarships.

The Levi Strauss museum in Buttenheim, 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 of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

References

References

1. Downey, Lynn. (2008). "Levi Strauss: a short biography". Levi Strauss & Co..
2. James Sullivan, ''Jeans: a cultural history of an American icon'' (Gotham, 2007).
3. Dinkelspiel, Frances. (2010). "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California". St. Johns Martin's Press.
4. (2002). "In an Influential Fashion: An Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-and Twentieth-century Fashion Designers and Retailers who Transformed Dress". Greenwood Press.
5. Dietze, Joachim. "[http://www.joachim-dietze.de/pdf/levis_aa.pdf Levi Strauss]" (family tree). joachim-dietze.de. Rebecca Haas, July 6, 1799–1869 San Francisco. Source: Levi-Strauss-Museum, Buttenheim. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
6. "[http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690108.2.38.1 Died]". ''Daily Alta California'' (San Francisco). January 8, 1869. Via California Digital Newspaper Collection. cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2019. "In this city, Jan. 6th, Mrs. Rebecca Strauss, mother of Levi Strauss, of this city, aged 69 years, a native of Bavaria."
7. Carey, Charles W.. (2002). "American inventors, entrepreneurs and business visionaries". Facts on File.
8. "Who Made America? {{!}} Innovators {{!}} Levi Strauss".
9. (February 26, 2021). "Levi Strauss, From Immigrant Peddler to International Icon".
10. Evans, Harold. (2004). "They made America". Little Brown.
11. Feldberg, Michael. (2002). "Blessings of freedom: chapters in American Jewish history". KTAV Publishing.
12. (2023-05-22). "150th anniversary: How Levi's could have been called Jacob's".
13. (2023-05-22). "150th anniversary: How Levi's could have been called Jacob's".
14. Leiman, Sondra. (1994). "America: the Jewish experience". UAHC Press.
15. (2023-05-22). "150th anniversary: How Levi's could have been called Jacob's".
16. Downe, Lynn. (2007). "Levi Strauss & Co.". Arcadia Publishers.
17. Loverin, Jan. (2006). "A Nevada Stylist: Your Denim Jeans Are a Nevada Invention". Nevada State Museum Newsletter.
18. {{US patent. 139121
19. (September 27, 1902). "The Death of Levi Strauss". The Sacramento Bee.
20. "Family tree of Sigmund Stern".
21. "The Philanthropists". American Jerusalem - Jews and the Making of the American West.
22. Eshman, Adi. (December 21, 2019). "The nearly forgotten Jews who helped make the American West".
23. "Foundations – Levi Strauss & Co". Levistrauss.com.
24. Thomas, Grace Powers. (1898). "Where to educate, 1898–1899. A guide to the best private schools, higher institutions of learning, etc., in the United States". Brown and Company.
25. Heinz, Joachim. (2023-05-23). "Levi Strauss: Ein Buxenmacher aus Buttenheim".
26. "Hall of Great Westerners".