San Francisco | Glimpses of History

Jacob Youphes was born in Riga, the capital of Latvia, in 1831. He was a tailor, and at age 23 he moved to the New York. In 1858 he married Annie Parksher, originally from Germany, and over time they had six children. In 1869, at the age of 38, he moved to Reno, Nevada, and opened a tailor shop. He worked as a tailor, and also as a supervisor of those who made clothes, for the rest of his life. He died in San Francisco in 1908.

During his lifetime, Jacob made various inventions and applied for several patents. One of these inventions has changed the world. You own it. And, most of you – if not all – would list this amongst your favorite clothing possessions.

Now let’s switch to what was happening in history around the time that Jacob opened his tailor shop in Reno. Around that time the US was developing in the East and in the far West (primarily California). To get between the two was a long and challenging journey. There was a movement to get the government to build a railroad connecting the East with California. In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act. This was during the middle of the Civil War, so the Union also had an interest in building this to make sure that California would be linked with the Union.

The railroad was built starting from both ends, and, on May 10^th, 1869, it was time to drive in the last spike to connect both ends and to complete the railroad. The person who did this was Leland Stanford, and the spike was known as the golden spike. His last name probably sounds familiar – yes, Leland Stanford later founded Stanford University, and the actual golden spike is on display at Stanford.

The railroad was known as the First Transcontinental Railroad, and both its historical and engineering significance should not be underestimated. It is considered to be one of the great engineering achievements of the 19^th century. With regards to history, it united the country, enabled fast connectivity across the US, spurred development throughout the US, and was a key factor in the incredibly rapid growth of the US as world power over the next 50 years.

Now back to Jacob. Most of his customers were railway workers, and he made specialized items for them such as tents and wagon covers. But they also wanted good and solid clothing because of the type of work that they were doing. Jacob had an idea, and he decided to partner with a friend to develop this idea.

His friend’s name was Loeb. Loeb was born in 1829 in Bavaria. When his father passed away in 1845 due to tuberculosis, he and several family members migrated to New York. In 1853 he moved to San Francisco and started a store selling primarily clothing and fabric items. He did fairly well, became well-settled in San Francisco, and was active in social and charitable activities in the city.

Jacob was Loeb’s customer – Jacob bought fabric from Loeb. In 1872 Jacob had an idea which involved taking some fabric that he bought regularly from Loeb, doing some work with this fabric, and ending up with a new type of clothing. Jacob was looking for a business partner and Loeb agreed. Together they pursued the idea, and they received a patent on May 20^th, 1873. The first version of their produce they called ‘XX’ – and you probably own this.

After arriving in America, Jacob changed his last name to ‘Davis’, so history remembers him as Jacob Davis. There is a plaque outside the location of his tailor shop in Reno remembering him. It was because of the construction of the railroad that his customers wanted stronger clothes, and in order to come up with stronger clothes, Jacob Davis got the idea of using copper rivets to strengthen the fabric that he purchased from Loeb. The name of the fabric that he purchased from Loeb was called denim. Loeb’s last name was Strauss. After arriving in the US, Loeb changed his first name to…’Levi’.

Yes, Loeb was also known as Levi Strauss, and he and Jacob Davis together invented the denim blue jean. And their first ‘XX’ version, which was their first best-selling product, later changed its name to ‘501’ – the world-famous Levi’s 501 denim blue jeans!

Throughout history autocratic leaders have sometimes tried to impose common clothing requirements on their people. They may have succeeded temporarily, but over time they have all failed. Loeb and Jacob, on the other hand, through the democracy of the marketplace, have succeeded for the first time in history…and they have done so at a global level.

If you go to any major city on this plant (and this also implies to many not-so-major cities), and you walk into any mall in any of these cities, there is a high chance that the most common clothing that you will see is blue jeans. In fact, almost everyone will be wearing jeans. Actually, everywhere you go – offices, clubs, restaurants, vacations, sporting events, etc., – you’ll see people wearing jeans. And they wear them in all types of situations – from wearing them with a t-shirt for a casual look to wearing them with a nice collared shirt and sport coat for a more semi-formal/business look. People also often have a favorite pair(s) of jeans that they like wearing – thus showing the attachment that people have with their jeans. Yes, Loeb and Jacob changed the world – they gave us our first truly ‘global uniform’. And this is the true story of how blue jeans were invented.