Levi Strauss Gets A Bright Idea by Tony Johnston

"Gold!" somebody yelled. Next thing anybody knew,

the whole world rushed to California and

started digging up the place. The trouble was

they rushed so fast, they lost their pants." (that's American for trousers!)

So begins this tongue-in-cheek picture book about how (possibly) blue jeans were created. Subtitled "A Fairly Fantastical Story Of A Pair Of Pants" author Tony Johnston imagines gold miners who take to wearing barrels when their pants wear out. Levi Strauss, newly arrived from New York City discovered that that material used for tents was more durable and after testing the trousers he made, he sold them to the miners. His denim pants were such a success that he sent for his brothers to join him out west.

In fact the real story of how the blue jean pant, now known as "blue jeans" came to be, may never be known. Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria which in 1829 was a part of Germany, to Hirsch and Rebecca Strauss. Two years after the death of his father from tuberculosis, and with increasing persecution in Germany because of their Jewish faith, Levi along with his mother and two sisters came to America in 1847. Levi's two older brothers, Jonas and Louis had emigrated to America earlier and had established a dry goods business in New York City. When the Gold Rush began in 1849, Levi saw a business opportunity in providing goods to those seeking their fortune and so he travelled out west to San Francisco. There he opened a dry goods store but he also placed ordered for his brothers' business back in New York.

Levi Strauss

In fact it is likely that the true creator of the blue jeans was Jacob Davis, a tailor in Nevada. Davis who had purchased cloth to make pants for his own store, had the idea to strengthen the pants by placing rivets on the pocket and fly seams to make them more durable. But he didn't have the money for a patent, so he wrote Strauss asking him for financial help. The patent was granted in 1873 to both Davis and Strauss. Initially the pants were made from heavy canvas material but later on they came to be made from denim which was dyed blue.  Eventually Strauss had the jeans made in a factory which he built. Sales of the jeans made Levi Strauss very wealthy and they came to be representative of western American culture and fashion. Strauss gave back to the community and his philanthropic efforts were well known; he was the director of several San Francisco companies, donated money to help the Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Hebrew Board of Relief as well as donating money for twenty-eight scholarships at the University of California Berkeley.


Johnston's humorous tall-tale is accompanied by Stacy Innerst's illustrations which were created with acrylic on on old blue jeans, giving them a very unique look. While this picture book is not an accurate biography but rather a fun read-aloud, it might lead readers, parents and teachers into discovering the history of what has come to be a staple item in most peoples closets today. From acid wash to skinny jeans, blue jeans are probably the most worn and versatile clothing item we all wear.

picture credit:  http://www.nndb.com/people/001/000162512/

Book Details:

Levi Strauss Gets A Bright Idea by Tony Johnston
New York: Harcourt Children's Books              2011