That Small Pocket in Your Jeans…

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

We observed “Blue Jeans Day” on December 5th.

Levi Strauss is the name that comes to mind for most.

He came up with them in the 1870’s and made blue jeans with miners in mind.

Something rugged to wear while digging coal.

That distinctive orange thread in Levi’s is actually trademarked.

It was to match the color of the copper rivets used to make jeans stronger.

Especially the pockets.

Levi’s originally had rivets on the front and back pockets until there were complaints about scratches on chairs and saddles.

At first, the rivets were just covered with material and then totally removed from the back pockets.

When you see jeans being worn today by almost everybody and everywhere and anytime, back in the 50’s they were banned in some schools, theatres and restaurants.

Why?

They were seen as a form of “rebellion against conformity”.

You know, you let ’em wear jeans and before you know it, they’ll be burning bras and letting their hair grow.

Remember Marlon Brando in the 1953 movie “The Wild One” or James Dean in the 1955 flick, “Rebel Without a Cause”?

Even that well-known trouble-maker Bing Crosby was denied a room in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1951 when he tried to check-in, wearing a pair of blue jeans.

But the Levi’s people created a special denim jacket for “der Binger” which became known as the “Canadian Tuxedo”.

Nice response, Mr. Strauss!

But, in 2001, President George W. Bush banned blue for wear by his staff in the Oval office.

I don’t remember when I got my first pair of jeans but most of my elementary school pictures reveal a geek with a flat-top haircut, wearing a a short-sleeved white shirt, sometimes with a clip-on bow tie.

There’s probably a plastic pocket protect in that breast pocket, too.

Boot-cut and baggy jeans were most popular in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and I even remember owning a pair or two of bell-bottomed jeans in my rebellious youth.

Jeans were first created in Genoa, Italy in the mid 1500’s for the Italian navy to wear while on-board ship.

In World War II, American GI’s like to wear them while off-duty.

Why blue?

The color hid dirt pretty well.

Matter of fact, jean-makers suggest sponging off dirt and stains since frequent washings wear out the denim faster.

Some even suggest storing them in the freezer between washings.

It takes one bale of cotton to make somewhere between 225 and 325 pairs of jeans plus 20,000 tons of blue indigo to make them…well…blue.

There are some 450 million pair of jeans sold every year in America.

Seems like an awful lot but people in the know claim the average American owns 7 pairs of jeans.

“Back-in-the-day” they weren’t called “jeans”.

They were “waist overalls”.

In 1973, jeans joined the automotive market.

The American Motor Company (AMC) teamed up with Levi’s, promoting “an economy car that wears the pants”.

The Gremlin came with Levi’s-inspired trim lining on the seats and interior.

About six years later, Neil Diamond sang, “Forever in Blue Jeans”.

“Money talks

but it don’t dance and sing,

and it don’t walk.

And, as long as I can have you here with me,

I’d much rather be

forever in blue jeans.”

And, before I forget.

That little pocket on the right front pocket of your jeans?

Do you put your change in it?

Levi Strauss did that so you’d have somewhere to store your pocket watch.

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