The Curriculum Vitae of Levi Strauß

1. Levi (Löb) Strauß Levi Strauß, the man who invented the garment that seems to be the most beloved in the world was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria (actually Franconia!) on February 26, 1829, to Hirsch Strauß and his second wife Rebekka Haas Strauß. Hirsch, a textiles hawker, already had four children. Jacob, Jonas, Louis and Mathilde were born to his first wife who had died some years earlier. Levi, who actually was named "Löb" at birth and his sister Fanny were the last of the Strauß children.

After the death of the father in 1845, Levi, Fanny, Mathilde and their Mother emigrated to the United States. According to the legend, Levi fell in love with a Christian girl called Henriette and his Rabby wanted to send him far away, maybe even to Prussia. This would have meant the worst thing that could happen to a real Bavarian boy (only Purgatory would have been more worse). So instead they emigrated. They were awaited by Jonas and Louis, who had started a dry goods business in New York. Levi learned the dry goods trade from his brothers.

In 1850, which is considered to be the founding year of Levi Strauß & Co., Levi was well established in his business and was working closely together with his successfull brothers. His sister Fanny married David Stern (also a dry goods trader) and both moved to San Francisco after they had heard about the Californian gold rush. Levi was also attracted by this noisy, bustling city, and in March 1853 he arrived there and started to establish a dry goods business. Their first store was a small building, situated near the waterfront what made it very handy for receiving and selling the goods that arrived by ship from the store of his brothers in New York. After in 1856 the store had moved to Sacramento Street, the company moved to the larger halls in Battery Street in 1866. Levi spent 25.000 $ to install gaslight chandeliers, a freight elevator and several other equipments, as this location was now the headquarter of his thriving firm. In his mid-thirties he was a well-known person everywhere in the city. Levi supported the Jewish community and was active in cultural life and in the business of San Francisco. He belonged to Temple Emanu-El, which was the first synagogue of the city. Despite being an important business man he wanted his employees not to call him Mr. Strauß but Levi.

According to the legend, sometime after his arrival in San Francisco, Levi had the idea of making robust work pants for the gold diggers, who complained about their trouser to be ruined so fast. For this he used a canvas-like material, also known as "cotton duck", that was at his disposal at this time. These pants are considered to be the genesis of what is today known as the Blue Jeans.

In 1872 Levi received a letter from Jacob Davis, a taylor from Nevada who regularly obtained bolts of cloth from Levi Strauß & Co. In this letter he described how he made the clothings for his customers more durable, that is to say by placing metal rivets at the points where the pants were mostly strained. But he was lacking of the money to patent this process, so he proposed to Levi to finance it and to take out the patent together. So, the patent was granted to both men on May 20, 1873.

Levi foresaw that these "waist overalls" would be in great demand, as the gold diggers always complained about their trousers to be worn out very quickly. Because of the great demand Levi Strauß & Co opened two factories in San Francisco. Levi retired from the day-to-day workings of the business around the turn of the century and left it to his nephews. 1876, two years after the death of David Stern, Jacob and Louis Stern entered the company, Sigmund joined some years later. Around 1890, the year that the lot number 501 first appeared on the denim overalls, Levi had already begun to concentrate on other business pursuits. For example, he was one of the founders and treasurer of the San Francisco Board of Trade, director of Nevada Bank , "Liverpool. London and Globe Insurance Company" and "San Francisco Gas and Light Company". Levi supported "Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home ", the "Eureka Benevolent Society" and the "Hebrew Board of Relief". During the week of September 22nd, 1902, Levi said he doesn´t feel very well and though on Friday the 26th he felt well enough to eat together with his family, he died peacefully the same night of heart failure after having woken up briefly and having told his nurse that he felt " as comfortable as I [he] can under the circumstances ".

The "San Francisco Call" had a headline about his death in the edition of Sunday the 28th. The owners of many businesses kept their shops closed on the day of Levi´s funeral, so they could attend the services. Levi Strauß is burried at the "Hills of Eternity" Cemetery south of San Francisco. Levi´s inheritance comes to a total of six million Dollars. A big part of this was left to his family and the rest was left to several beneficial institutions Levi was engaged in. After his death the "Board of Trade of San Francisco " penned a resolution on Levi Strauß in which he was praised as a really beloved citizen and great benefactor:

" [...] 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 the State of California will be an enduring testimonial of his worth as a liberal, public-spirited 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;[...]" (San Francisco Call, 28.12.1902)

San Francisco was shaken by an earthquake on April 18, 1906 , which destroyed many buildings of the city. Among them was the Headquarter of Levi Strauß & Co. on Battery street. Though the building itself and the goods inside were lost, this wasn´t the end of Levi Strauß & Co., as the Stern Brothers made up plans for a new factory and a new facility.