Friday, June 4, 2010

Asal usul Levi's Jeans yang berhantu!



Kita dok pakai-pakai seluar jeans ni, tapi antara kita tak berapa tahu pun apa asal usulnya Levi's jeans ni dan macam mana perkembangan seluar ni telah mempengaruhi seluruh dunia, kan? Ala, tak pentingpun nak tau, janji ade sepasang dua ye tak? Tapi untuk kita-kita yang curious, mesti kita sedikit sebanyak nak tahu bagaimana kaki kita ni dapat merasa pakai jeans hasil idea sapa, kan?

Ramai tahu, Levi Strauss tu nama orang, akan tetapi sapa dia? apa signifikan kedai no 90 Sacramento Street pada tahun 1950an kepada Encik Levi ni? Tahukah kita Levi sebenarnya bukan orang US tapi dapat kerakyatan US tapi dilahirkan di Bavaria Germany? Tahukah jugak kita bahawa sebenor2nya, Levi ni bermula sebagai pengimport 'barang2 kering' macam pakaian, payung, kain-kain2? Hmmm, jawapan kita kalau TAK TAU pun, takde masalah..bukan dapat dosapun kalau tak tau ye tak? hehehe...

takpalah, entry kali ni aku saja2 je nak kongsi dengan korang semua lipatan sejarah Levi Strauss ni secara ringkas. aku ceduk sejarah2 Levi's jeans ni dari internet...korang pon boleh cari. aku kompilasikan untuk memudahkan korang membacanya. ok, kita mula dengan sejarah asal usul camna terbentuknya kompeni bernama


Levi Strauss and Co.

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LEVI STRAUSS: A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
© Lynn Downey, Levi Strauss & Co. Historian 2008


Levi Strauss, the inventor of the quintessential American garment - the blue jean -was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria on February 26, 1829 to Hirsch Strauss and his second wife, Rebecca Haas Strauss. Levi - named "Loeb" at birth – had three older brothers and three older sisters, but his sister Fanny (born Vogele) was the only other child of his mother, Rebecca. Hirsch succumbed to tuberculosis in 1845 and two years later Rebecca, Levi, Fanny, and the next oldest sister Maila emigrated to New York. There, they were met by Jonas and Louis, two of the older brothers, who had already made the journey and had started a wholesale dry goods business, called “J. Strauss Brother & Co.” Young Loeb soon began to learn the trade himself, and by 1850 he was known among his family and customers as “Levi” (in the census of that year, his name is spelled “Levy.”). When news of the California Gold Rush made its way east, Levi emigrated to San Francisco to make his fortune, though he knew he wouldn’t make it panning gold. At the end of January 1853 he became an American citizen, and in February he headed for the West coast via the Isthmus of Panama. He arrived in bustling, noisy San Franciscoin early March, establishing a wholesale dry goods business under his own name and also serving as the West Coast representative of the family’s New York firm. His new company imported dry goods – clothing, underwear, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, bolts of fabric – and sold them to the small stores that were springing up all over California and the West. It was these stores that helped outfit the miners of the Gold Rush and, eventually, the new families that began to populate the western regions. The first address where Levi conducted business (that we know of) was at 90 Sacramento Street, and the name of his firm was simply, “Levi Strauss.” In the 1850s this location was very close to the waterfront, handy for receiving and selling the goods that arrived by ship from his brother Jonas in New York. In 1856 Levi moved the business to 62 Sacramento Street and then to 63 & 65 Sacramento as its trade and reputation expanded. By this time David Stern - who was married to Levi’s sister Fanny - was associated with the firm. In 1861 the business relocated to 317 & 317 Sacramento Street, and in 1863 the company was renamed “Levi Strauss & Co.” Then in 1866 Levi moved the headquarters again, to larger quarters at 14-16 Battery Street, where it remained for the next forty years. In 1872, Levi received a letter from Jacob Davis, a Reno, Nevada tailor. Davis was one of Levi Strauss’ regular customers; he purchased bolts of cloth from the company to use for his own business. In his letter, he told the prosperous merchant about the interesting way he made pants for his customers: he placed metal rivets at the points of strain - pocket corners, and at the base of the button fly. He did this in order to make the pants stronger for the laboring men who were his customers. He wanted to patent this new idea but needed a business partner to get the idea off the ground. So he suggested that the two men take out the patent together (sharing the costs, as well). Levi was enthusiastic about the idea and the patent was granted to both men on May 20, 1873. The blue jean was born. He knew that demand would be great for these riveted "waist overalls" (the old name for jeans), so Levi brought Jacob Davis to San Francisco to oversee the first West Coast manufacturing facility. It’s possible that the first manufacture of the jeans was undertaken by individual seamstresses who worked out of their homes. By the 1880s Levi had leased factory space and then opened his own factory south of Market Street (though the dates and information are a bit vague here, thanks to the loss of the company’s historical records in the 1906 earthquake and fire). The famous 501® jean – known at the time simply as “XX” – was soon a best seller, as were the other riveted products Levi and Jacob added to their new manufacturedlines. Levi carried on other business pursuits during his career, as well. 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 Company and the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company. In 1875 Levi and two associates purchased the Mission and Pacific WooleMills from the estate of former silver millionaire William Ralston, and the mill's fabric was used to make the Levi Strauss & Co. "blanket-lined" pants and coats. In 1895 he and a number of other prominent San Franciscans provided funds to build anew railroad from San Francisco to the San Joaquin Valley (a project which unfortunately failed)And in 1897 Levi provided the funds for twenty-eight scholarships at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1890 - the year that the XX waist overall was given the lot number "501®" - Levi and his nephews officially incorporated the company. During the week of September 22, 1902 Levi began to complain of ill health but by Friday evening the 26th, he felt well enough to attend the family dinner at the home on Leavenworth Street which he shared with Jacob Stern’s family. He awakened briefly in the night, and told the nurse in attendance that he felt "as comfortable as I can under the circumstances.” Then, peacefully, he died.

Gitula lebih kurangggg.... dan untuk info encik levi strauss ni merupakan seorang yahudi.


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ini pulak cerita partner si Levi Strauss iaitu Jacob Davis. Dialah yang bertanggungjawab jadik partner Levi untuk patentkan produk diorang ni.

Jacob Youphres immigrated to the United States from Latvia in 1854. He changed his name to Jacob Davis and openned 2 tailor shops - one in New York City and one in Augusta, Maine.
In 1869, Mr. Davis had settled in Reno, Nevada where he tailored tents and wagon covers with cotton duck material which he bought from Levi Strauss.


Another complaint Mr. Davis used to receive from miners about 'waist-overalls' was that the pockets would rip from the garment under strain of the heavy load of ore samples that the miners would carry to the surface. Jacob Davis then invented a process of strengthening the stress areas of the pockets by devising a system to install rivets at the points of strain.

Ini adalah dokumen pasal patern yang berjaya diperoleh Davis dengan usahasama company Levi Strauss


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Aku dok belek2 internet, terjumpa jugaklah apa yang dipercayai sebagai the world's oldest pair of Levi's. penerangan as follows:

Bid dalam ebay melebihi US $41,411.00!!
(ni dalam setahun dua lepas punya lelongan)

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2005/05/19/worlds-oldest-levis-jeans/

In the spring of 1998 four buddies from North San Diego county were exploring an abondoned silver mine in the Mojave desert. They were hundreds of feet below the ground and ironically they struck GOLD! What they later learned they had found in a deep offshoot tunnel was the oldest original pair of Levi's blue jeans from the very first production run of the "501" line that exist on the earth today!

National  Treasure- Worlds Oldest Levi's 501 jeans 1890

"This pair has been personally inspected and verified as authentic by world renowned Levi Strauss & Co. historian, Lynn Downey, as well as the President and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., Robert Haas, at the Levi Strauss Headquarters located at 1155 Battery Street, in San Francisco, California, on July 15, 1998. Lynn actually let out the cinch strap buckle to show me that it was still complely functional and not to worry about hurting it, which she was correct. It's a little rusty, but still works fine. Mr Haas turned the jeans inside-out and remarked at their incredible condition and stitching and wondered why LS & CO. hadn't purchased them, upon which he was told that they had just been discovered a few months before."

Image  Hosted by ImageShack.us
ni gambo seluar levi's yang tarafnya dah lebih buruk dari kain buruk buat kesat tayar kereta, tapi harganya boleh beli rumah! hahahaha!

inipun satu lagi berita yang claimed diorang dapat traced semula antara levi's jeans paling lama masih wujud di donia yang fana ini:

World's Oldest Levi's

lv2.jpg

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article about Lynn Downey the historian for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco who is responsible for Levi's extensive archives of clothing, photographs, posters and artifacts. The jewel in this amazing archive is the world's oldest pair of Levi's (see above) - a pair "XX," one-pocket jeans, which date back to 1879 and are valued at USD125,000.

Unfortunately the archive is not open to members of the public, however there is a permanent display of choice pieces from the collection in the lobby of the Levi's Heaquarters in San Francisco.

lv2.jpg


maaaakkkk aihh, harganya buleh beli kereta idaman aku dalam 1-2 bijik! hahahaha...


okeh, to be continued pasal levi's jeans yeee? daaaaa.....


p/s: tadi aku meeting dengan supervisor, aku pakai levi strauss signature jeans.... ;p


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