Levi+Strauss



Origin:  Levi Strauss was born on February the 26th, 1829 in Buttenheim,Germany. He had a Jewish family and was the son of Hirsch and Rebecca Strauss. When he was 18 he sailed with his mom and his two sisters to the United States. His two brothers, Jonas and Louis had already begun a buisness in New York City. They sold wholesale dry goods and had a company named J. Strauss Brother & Co. He never got married. His family decided to open up a dry goods buisness in San Fransisco. They choose Levi as the leader and gave him ownership of their buisness. Since Levi was the head of the buisness he later named it Levi Strauss and Co. He imported dry goods from his two brothers in New York. His company sold goods to general stores near California and the west. In 1856 Levi's sister moved to the U.S. and brought along her husband and child to join the buisness. In 1872 a tailor from Nevada named Jacob Davis began making pants for men with metal points for tougher jeans. He wanted to make a pantent on his jeans so he turned to Levi Strauss for a buisness partner. Jacob purchased Levi's fabric before and he thought that his and Levi's partnership would work out. Levi Strauss & Co. began manufacturing jeans at a manufacturing company in Manchester, New Hampshire. As the years went on Levi's denim jeans became very popular and the company gained lots of money from sales. Levi Strauss died September 22nd 1902 at age 73 from an illness. He died peacefully in his sleep. His estate was worth nearly $6 billion. He was burried in Colma, California. Today the company is still doing great and getting lots of money.

__Wealth__ Levi Strauss got his fortune from the California Gold Rush. He is known as the maker of sturdy pants. Levi Strauss had factories during his time that made denim pants. From the 1960's to the 1970's the company had a rapid growth in sales. During this time they invented a more casual look on blue jeans.

__Organization__ The main Levi headquarters was located in San Fransico in America. There were also other stations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa. The company employs 10,500 people worldwide. The company began at 16 power plants. It later grew to 63 plants do to their sales. The workers that worked at the power plants said that it was really hot inside and that you could easly overheat. Although the plants were hot they were considered the finest of their time.

__More about the Jeans__  The Levi's jeans trademark is an accurate double stitched arch on the back pocket.In World War II the trademark was used as a decorative peice so the arch was later painted onto the back pocket. Levi Strauss happened to have a few pieces of blue denim cloth on hand and he recognized a need for strong work pants in the mining communities of California.It took from 1829 to 1960 to perfect the blue jeans. There is a machine in the picture above that describes how the jeans are created. __Education__  Strauss got 28 scholarships in 1897 for the University of California at Berkeley. __Family__  Levi's father was a dry good peddler. Levi was the youngest of 6 children. Two of them were stepbrothers or sisters. His family was Jewish. They lived in a small area of the town Buttenheim. They were immigrated to the United States from Germany. __When it ended__  Levi Strauss died September 22nd 1902 from an illness. He died peacefully in his sleep. His estate was worth nearly $6 billion. __Other Jobs__  Levi Strauss also had other jobs. He became a Charter member and treasurer of the San Francisco Board of Trade in 1877. He was a director of the Nevada Bank, the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Co., and the San Fran. Gas and Electric Company. He was known as one of the city's best philanthropists. __The Life of an Inventor__  Levi Strauss was actually born in Buttenheim, Bavaria on February 26, 1829. Levi Strauss later moved to Columbia, Georgia. Strauss' birth name was "Loeb Strauus" and later changed it. __Inventing the Blue Jeans__  Blue jeans were made in 1873 by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss. By the 1880s Strauss had set up his own factory on Market Street. Blue jeans became the most popular item in the U.S.A. In 1872 Jacob Davis contacted Strauss, and shortly after the blue jeans were made. Davis was a well known customer in Levi's business, because he was a tailor and purchased bolts of cloths from him, to use for his own business. He came up with the idea because he wanted a type of fabric where he could work and not have to worry about his clothes tearing or ripping easily. Blue jeans became the most popular item in the United States at the time.



__Annotations:__
This site gives dates and a short biography of Levi Strauss. It contains random facts about Levi Strauss. It has other resources where you could find more information about Levi.
 * Ament, Phil. "Inventor Levi Strauss Biography." //The Great Idea Finder - Celebrating the Spirit of Innovation//. The Great Idea Finder, 1997-2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .

This sites gives information about the history and origin of the blue jeans. It has a short biography about Levi Strauss.
 * "Levi Strauss Biography, Birth of the Blue Jeans." //ABCpedia : Encyplopedia of Basic Sciences//. ABCpedia.com, 2005-2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .

This site contains 6 pages of information about Levi Strauss and the history of the invention of the blue jeans.
 * "Levi Strauss Biography | BookRags.com." //BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More//. Bookrags, Inc. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .


 * Ament, Phil. “Levi Strauss.” //The Great Idea Finder//. Great Idea Finder, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. . This site contains lots of information about Levi Strauss from birth to death, and all his accomplishments along the way. It also gives a lot of “did you know” facts, that are just cool random misc things that you could use.


 * “Levi Strauss.” //Jewish Virtual Library//. American-Isreali Coorperative Enterprises, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. . On this particular site, it was a nice biography about Levi Strauss, being born and raised. It was a semi- helpful source but it took a while to get into the information I need.


 * “Levi Strauss.” //Reference for Business: Encyclopedia for Business//. Advameg Inc., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. . On this website, there were a few good pictures of Levi Strauss that I used. I didn’t use any of the information given from the site.