Levi Strauss

Born: February 26, 1829
Buttenheim, Germany Died: September 26, 1902
San Francisco, California
Founder, Levi Strauss & Company

Levi Strauss's life is one of the great examples of the American immigrant success story. Through hard work, the willingness to take risks, and some luck, Strauss became one of the most prominent citizens of San Francisco at the end of the nineteenth century. Strauss also lent his name to one of the best-known and best-loved U.S. products: Levi's blue jeans.

Learning the Business

Levi Strauss—first known as Loeb—was born on February 26, 1829, in the small village of Buttenheim, in the Bavarian region of Germany. His father Hirsch had four children with a first wife, and three with Rebecca Haas, Strauss's mother. The elder Strauss sold dry goods, and several of his sons continued the family business after they left Germany. The Strausses were Jewish, and the United States offered them greater freedom and opportunities.

Levi Strauss made the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1847 with his mother and two sisters. After his arrival in New York, Strauss went into business with his half-brothers Jonas and Louis, who had immigrated earlier. As an employee at J. Strauss Brother & Company, Strauss learned how to buy and sell cloth and other dry goods. In 1849, Strauss left for Kentucky to work as a peddler, selling an assortment of items out of a pack or trunk he carried on his back.

By this time, gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill, just outside Sacramento, California, drawing thousands of fortune hunters to the area. As the "gold rush" continued, Strauss's sister Fanny and her husband David Stern went to San Francisco to open a dry-goods business. In 1853, Strauss decided to join them. After becoming a U.S. citizen, he sailed for California, bringing dry goods supplied by his brothers' company.

Early Success

Strauss set up his own wholesale business, called simply Levi Strauss, and acted as the West Coast agent for his half-brothers. As his business grew, Strauss moved several times to larger quarters. Eventually David Stern joined his business. Their supplies came by ship, and the partners never knew what goods would be available. The items Strauss and Stern bought included denim work pants or the fabric itself. Most of their goods were sold to miners, but as more families came to San Francisco, Strauss and Stern added clothing for women and children. Strauss occasionally left the city to sell goods to the small shops opening up near mining camps. He developed a reputation for selling quality goods at a fair price.

By 1861, Strauss had one of the most successful dry-goods businesses in San Francisco, and the firm continued to grow. Goods still came from the New York branch of the company, but Strauss also had items made on the West Coast, including pants. The first work pants he sold were made of canvas, but Strauss later switched to denim. He hired tailors to make the pants in their homes. The pants were just one of many products sold by Levi Strauss & Company.

During these years, Strauss lived with Fanny and David Stern. Dressed formally for work, he walked each day to his office. At the company, however, Strauss was not formal with his workers, insisting they call him Levi. Strauss was also becoming a leader in San Francisco's Jewish community. He joined an organization that helped needy Jews in the region, and he helped raise money to build a temple and a cemetery.

The Pants with the Rivets

One of Strauss's customers was a Nevada tailor named Jacob Davis. Like Strauss, Davis was a Jewish immigrant. In 1872, he sent Strauss a letter describing improvements he had made to denim pants; how he had made the seams stronger near the pockets and the fly. Davis also asked Strauss to pay for an application to patent the pants. By securing a patent, no other company could use Davis's design. Strauss could see that Davis had made valuable improvements, so he readily agreed. In 1873, his company sold its first pair of blue denim pants with rivets—the original Levi's blue jeans.

To make the pants that he called "waist high overalls," Strauss opened his first manufacturing plant, with Davis supervising the operation. The company also made denim jackets with rivets and later added work shirts to its line. Within a few years, the company had several hundred workers. Although Strauss also continued to sell wholesale dry goods, making and selling his own clothes eventually became the most successful part of his business.

As Levi Strauss & Company grew, the management changed. David Stern died in 1874, and his sons—Strauss's nephews—began entering the business and taking on more responsibilities. Strauss, however, continued to make major company decisions. Strauss's fortune also grew: an 1877 report said he was worth more than $4 million. This fortune included real estate as well as his share of Levi Strauss & Company. Other companies recognized his prominence, and Strauss was asked to sit on the board of directors of several area firms. He also served on the San Francisco Board of Trade, which promoted local products.

Final Years

During the 1890s, Strauss briefly turned his attention from clothes and invested in railroads. In 1891, he and other

San Francisco merchants wanted to open their own railway to combat the high prices charged by existing lines to ship goods. That plan failed. A few years later, Strauss invested $25,000 in another railroad plan. This time, the man behind the project sold all the shares to another railroad company, which then struck a deal with the existing firms that charged high fares. After that disappointment, Strauss gave up on railroads and stuck with the business he knew best.

In 1897, Strauss again turned to philanthropy, giving money to the University of California, Berkeley, to fund twenty-eight scholarships. Strauss realized that having a fortune brought with it a responsibility to share. In an 1895 interview quoted in Everyone Wears His Name, Strauss said that riches "do not cause happiness to their owners." Spreading the wealth, he believed, brought greater joy.

By 1902, illness began to slow down Strauss, and he took a vacation to try to restore his health. By fall, however, his condition worsened, and he died in his sleep during the night of September 26. His death made the headlines of local papers, and shopkeepers closed their businesses to attend his funeral. Today, the Levi Strauss & Company Web site notes that its founder was praised for "his broad and generous love for and sympathy with humanity." He also left behind his name on the pants that became an American classic decades after his death.