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The year was 1848. California had not yet become a state. The> port of San Francisco was a small town of tents and shacks. And about 2,000 miles away, L vi Strauss was a young man working in New York. Little did Strauss know that the gold rush would soon rock California. It would also change his life forever. Over the next 30 years, California became a land of opportunity. San Francisco became a booming city. And Levi Strauss became one of the wealthiest men in California. How did it happen? How was Levi Strauss connected to the growth of Californi.a?

I I

San Francisco grew rapidly in the 1850s, expanding outward from its busy harbor. New arrivals often lived in tents until they could find permanent homes. --~~------~- -- --~ --~.,--~--".--- New York City, Here We Come! Levi Strauss's story begins in 1829 in Europe, in Buttenheim, Bavaria. Being Jewish, his family faced many hardships. In the 1800s,Jewish people were often forced to live in a certain area of a town, called a ghetto. They were not allowed to own land. So they could not be farmers or raise cattle. The Strauss family decided to leave. Levi's father had died. Levi, his mother, and his two sisters sailed to the United States. They hoped to find a better life there. Like many other irrunigrants, they went to New York City. In New York, products ranging from foods to shoes were sold from carts on the streets. Carriages carrying people and goods clattered by. ------... -- ..

Levi had never seen such all exciting place. H e couldn't wait to start his new life. Levi joined the wholesale dry goods business started by his brothers Jonas and Louis. They had come to New York before him. They sold fabrics, needles, buttons, scissors, and other goods to stores. In 1848 Levi heard news that made his heart beat faster. Gold had been discovered in California!

By the time Levi moved to New York, parts of it, including Wall Street, were busy with activity. Gold Fever! The gold rush vvas on! Many people hurried to California to search for gold. They all hoped to strike it rich. Levi had other plans. H e knew that all the settlers would need clothes and other goods. H e wanted to sell those goods. What al1 opportunity! In 1853 Levi packed his bags with goods to sell. Then he boarded a boat in New York and headed for California. First, Levi sa iled south. Then he traveled west on land across Panama. Finally, he boarded another ship and headed up the Pacific coast. The trip took about six weeks. When Levi reached San Francisco, would his dreams of becom­ ing a SLlccess come true? He was about to find out!

GBiJtiiiU4Via. CHACRES. Only Regular Packet of the 10th NOVEMBER:

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( "wi " , "o n l':"!OiO~. "Ib p••lthdJ ....u ...... u . _ IN-r rrl(1lMr u.,. way of Panama. This is MARTHA~ ___~UMlMoo_~ a ___ oI~ • • __SAIGERo...- . lI eI ...._,...~ _ _..-._-...... ~n.: ==,..~~:;.1..:':'~~~: , ~~--f-- .. _-'.. ~~ ...... TM ...... ",...... ,. how Levi Strauss went "KU' C U " '-.l !'l, # f,l , ; , .,.,. I.'Ol' ",." .'IUU( ,:,t;lt" \01'" ( 'II \(,;UE.", ( '"bill. ",·••u r u '" Nluh ' UIIOIIIS, .. t o . -- · ··---- ~d ~' ..bill. "':10. to San Francisco. r .. n...-.. Ir...... _,.. _ , ... . _ . -'...._1 T_I-_. ,· . ,. _~~..,.I 1 .... 1 1'.....'_'...... ' ._~ f_'.., \\ .., ...... '.. OLII 4 SESSIONS.

6 A photograph from about 1850 shows miners panning for gold in a California river.

------~------~------~------Perfect Pants There are many stories about what happened when Strauss arrived in San Francisco. One says that when Strauss sailed into San Francisco Harbor, eager merchants rowed out to meet his ship. The merchants bought all of Strauss's goods before he got off the ship-everything but a roll of canvas cloth! As the story goes, Strauss used the cloth to make a pair of pants for one of the gold miners he met in San Francisco. This story is a tall tale made up by storytellers. The truth is that Levi Strauss probably had only a few goods with him when he arrived. In the early 1850s, many merchants arrived in San Francisco to seek their fortunes. The city was filled with miners who needed basic goods and had lots of money to spend. Some merchants, like Levi, started wholesale businesses. They sold goods to retail stores. The retail stores then sold goods to people-at higher prices!

TjSlt IT'S A FACT

Taking a Chance

------~------­ By 1850 San Francisco already had horsecars, which preceded the cable cars that the city is famous for today. r------~~~------The Early Years When Strauss arrived in California, the state was changing. In many ways, the port of San Francisco was the center of the gold rush growth. Almost every person who came by sea passed through the city. So did all of the goods sent by ship. When Strauss arrived in 1853, San Francisco had swelled from a few hundred people to 70,000. Miners came to spend their gold. Merchants were ready to take it. They charged very high prices for food and supplies. A dozen eggs sold for up to $50. A blanket bought for $5 sold for $40. Land that cost $16 in 1847 sold for $45,000 in less than two years. ----~------

In San Francisco, Strauss opened his own wholesale business. A few years later, his brother-in-law, David Stern, came to San Francisco. Stern became his partner. From the start, Strauss had depended on his brothers in New York for goods to sell. Unfortunately, all goods came to California by boat or wagon. This meant a wait of up to four months for goods to arrive. Like all other mer­ chants in San Francisco, Strauss and Stern kept their business going by buy­ ing goods from incoming ships and at the auction houses in town. They sold whatever they could get their hands on.

Artist Henry Firks painted this scene of San Francisco at about the time Levi Strauss arrived there. r-­ ATime of Growth As San Francisco grew, so did Levi Strauss's business. Over time, women and families began to arrive. They wanted different types of goods, such as fabric for clothing and curtains and items for children. Strauss and Stern responded by expanding the types of goods they sold. By 1866 they were firmly established in the San Francisco business world. Strauss and Stern changed the name of their company from Levi Strauss to Levi Strauss & Co. As Levi Strauss became more successful, he bought land for his company headquarters. At that time, Strauss's business still depended on merchandise sent by boat from his brothers in New York.

Levi Strauss &Co. headquarters, about 1880 ------

San Francisco wasn't the only city that grew during the gold rush. Travelers coming to California by land often found their \vay to Sacramento. In fact, thousands of gold diggers had Hooded the area after hearing that gold had been discovered nearby. People like Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington, and Charles Crocker set up businesses in Sacramento. They became very wealthy. Known as the Dig Four, they invested in the most important undertaking of the 1 B60s-the building of the Central Pacific Railroad. For the first time, a railroad connected California \-vith the rest of the nation. Suddenly, people and products could travel quickly tram one side of the country to the other. When the first transcontinental railroad opened in 1869, Strauss could get ne\v goods in just a week!

This postcard marks an important date-November 11 , 1863-when the first engine operated on the Central Pacific Railroad. The engine was brought to California on a ship from the east ------

In 1872 Strauss received a letter froln one of his wholesale customers, Jacob Davis, a tailor from Reno, Nevada. Davis had come up with a new way to make work pants sturdier- by using copper rivets. Pockets reinforced with rivets were tough as nails! Davis was looking for a business partner to sell the pants. Strauss knew a good idea when he saw one. Strauss knew he had to protect that idea. So he and Jacob Davis became partners. In 1873 they received a U.S. patent to make pants with rivets-the first blue jeans! A patent is a legal document stating that no one can copy someone's idea. Soon Strauss was selling thousands of pants and coats with rivets. Now Levi Strauss & Co. had a unique brand ofclothing sold by no one else! Another great change took place in the 1870s. Levi Strauss decided to open his own factory to make clothes. Many women \\forked at the factory, stitching pants and jackets, cutting buttonholes, and hammering rivets. After some time, the gold rush became a trickle. Miners looked for other ways to make money. Some became cattle ranchers. Some became farmers,

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This document, dated May 20, 1873, registered the patent for pants with copper rivets to strengthen pockets. growing wheat, fruits, and vegetables. Others developed lumber companies. They sold trees gathered from California's forests. Still others started wool and flour mills, brickyards, and iron shops. Soon California's gold was over­ shadowed by California's golden opportunities in industries. As California grew, so did Strauss's company. He became one of the first busi­ ness leaders in San Francisco. And over time, he made millions of dollars. Strauss and other business O\vners gave back to the community that had been the source of their success. Strauss helped build the first synagogue, or Jewish temple, in San Francisco. He made donations to groups that helped children and the poor. He supported education by creating 28 scholarships at the University of California. Strauss had come to California looking for opportunity. California had welcomed him, as it did many others. It was all started by the California gold rush-and people still 'vvear blue jeans today!

The Weed lumber Company is an example of the businesses that grew in California after the gold rush. The town of Weed is named after the founder of the company. ·- ..... ------­

TIMErFk LINE

18~ 1847­ 1848­ 1850­ 1852­ 1853­

1~ • I. 1860s­

1866- I.

186~

18705­

1873­

1897- The oldest pair of jeans made by levi Strauss 1902­

------~------~ Think and Respond CD What kind of business did levi Strauss's brothers have in New York? .:...... (]) Why did levi Strauss think it was a good idea to go to California in 1853? ® How did people and products get to California before the opening of the transcontinental railroad? o How did levi Strauss and Jacob Davis protect the idea of copper rivets on work pants so that someone else couldn't make the same kind of clothing? ® All kinds of people today wear blue jeans-not just miners and others who need rugged pants for their work. In your opinion, why are blue jeans so popular?

Make a Storyboard Do research in the library or on the Internet to learn about how a clothing company makes a pair of blue jeans. Create a storyboard that shows the process step by step, from buying the fabric to delivering the finished jeans to a store. Make a presentation to your class.

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