This Day in History: <br />Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis <br />Receive Patent for Blue Jeans May 20, 1873 Strauss shared the patent <br />for the "Improvement in Fastening <br />Pocket-Openings” with Jacob Davis, a tailor. Hailing from San Francisco, <br />Strauss was well-known as a <br />wholesale dry goods businessman. He had recently started importing <br />fabric and clothing to meet the demand <br />of gold miners and other settlers<br />during the California gold rush. The "work pants" were an invention of Davis, <br />who used metal rivets at stress points <br />to make them stronger. Davis needed Strauss to <br />fund the paperwork for the patent. Originally known as "waist overalls," <br />the new jeans quickly took off in the U.S. <br />By the 1920s, they were the top-selling work pants.
