JEANS #1: THE HISTORY

LEVI STRAUSS
 In 1850, Levi Strauss learned that pants
L sturdy pants that would stand up to the rigors
of the digging in New York mining- were almost
e impossible to find. He then had a kind of canvas
tailored into a pair of stiff but rugged pants. The
vi miner was delighted with the result, word got
around about those pants of Levis, and

s Strauss was in business.

When Strauss ran out of canvas, he wrote his
brothers to send more.
He received instead a tough, brown cotton cloth

(1 made in Nimes, France called serge de Nimes

and swiftly shortened to denim (the word

) jeans derives from Gnes, the French word for

Genoa, where a similar cloth was produced).
 The name of Jacob W. Davis firstly occurred when he

L added the rivets to the pants to pacify a mean-

tempered miner called Alkali Ike. Alkali, the story goes,
complained that the pockets of his jeans always tore
e when he stuffed them with ore samples and demanded
that Davis do something about it. As a kind of joke,

vi Davis took the pants to a blacksmith and had the

pockets riveted; once again, the idea worked so well
that word got around; in 1873 Strauss appropriated and
s patented the gimmick and hired Davis as a regional
manager.
From a company with fifteen salespeople, two plants,
and almost no business east of the Mississippi in 1946,

(2 Levis jeans grew in thirty years to include a sales force

of more than twenty-two thousand, with fifty plants and
offices in thirty-five countries. They have become,
) through marketing, word of mouth, and demonstrate
reliability, the common pants of America.
L The pants have become a tradition, and they
e adapt themselves to any sort of idiosyncratic
use. Along the way have acquired a history of their

v own so much so that the company has opened a

museum in San Fransisco. There was, for example,
the turn-of-century trainman who replaced a faulty
I coupling with a pair of jeans; the Wyoming man
who used his jeans as a towrope to haul his car out
s of a ditch; the Californian who found several pairs
in an abandoned mine, wore them then discovered
( they were sixty-three years old and still as good as
new and turned them over to the Smithsonian as a

3 tribute to their toughness. And then there is the

particularly terrifying story of the careless
construction worker who dangled fifty-two stories
) above the street until rescued, his sole support the
Levis belt loop through which his rope was hooked.
whether the statement is True or False,
and then give reason/s to support your
answer.
1. Jeans were invented at the first time in a
mining area.
2. Jacob Davis was the inventor of the first jeans.
3. Alkali was a friendly miner.
4. Davis was also a blacksmith. He riveted the
pockets for Alkali.
5. Jeans have functioned not only as ordinary
clothes, but people also experienced them for
life safety, too.
6. Jeans became more popular and Levis has
become a giant jeans company.
7. The word jeans originated from a place in
 Group Work:
Try to explain the situation below. Create a
reconstruction story that will make people
understand the concept.
1. Illustrate the situation before Levi Strauss invented jeans. What
problems did miners have? How did Levi help them solve the problems?
Do you think he was successful? Explain and give examples.
2. When Strauss ran out of canvas, he asked his brother in France to send
him some. Why didnt he ask someone in America to send him more
canvas? Did he get what he wanted? Was he happy?
3. What was the situation when Jacob W. Davis invented rivets for jeans
pocket? Why did Alkali go to Jacob? Do you think Jacob knew what to
do? How did Alkali react to Jacobs solution?
4. The idiosyncratic uses of jeans are displayed in the Smithsonian
museum. Explain what people could do with their jeans to save
someones life.
5. Levis has developed from a very small company to a multi-billion-dollar
and multi-national company. Explain what aspects that have helped
this company grow so fast. Explain your answer and give detailed
explanations.
 Carry out a simple research by
interviewing your classmates:
1. Talk with people around you.
2. Try to find out what people think about jeans. What are the
reasons that make them wear jeans?
3. If they wear jeans, make sure you know their habits in wearing
jeans, i.e. what kinds of jeans, how many pairs of jeans, when
and where they (do not) wear jeans. Try to make them tell
you an unforgettable event when they wear jeans.
4. You also need to find at least one person who never wears
jeans in his/her life. Find the reasons why he/she never wears
jeans. Do you agree with the reasons or you have a different
opinion? Explain.
5. Report the results of your project to class. You may use the
power point presentation to help you present your report.
JEANS #2:
In Modern
Days
Discussion
1. Most people of all ages love wearing jeans.
Who are they? Why do they love
jeans? When do they wear jeans? Find
peoples habits in wearing jeans. Explain.
2. There are people who never wear jeans.
What reasons do they have to avoid wearing
jeans? Do you agree with them? Explain.
3. Share your own experience in wearing jeans.
What are the positive and negative aspects
of wearing jeans for you? Explain.
 Share the Results of
your Interview
about Modern Jeans:
1. Who wear jeans and why? What do they think about jeans.
What are the reasons that make them wear jeans?
2. If they wear jeans, share what you know about their habits
in wearing jeans. What do you think about their habits?
3. For the person who never wears jeans in his/her life, what
are the reasons they never wears jeans. Do you agree with
them or do you have a different opinion? Explain.
4. Put some health considerations when people want to wear
jeans.
5. What can you learn about our discussion on jeans? Give
your deep opinion about jeans in modern days.
Discussion
1. Most people of all ages love wearing jeans.
Who are they? Why do they love
jeans? When do they wear jeans? Find
peoples habits in wearing jeans. Explain.
2. There are people who never wear jeans.
What reasons do they have to avoid wearing
jeans? Do you agree with them? Explain.
3. Share your own experience in wearing jeans.
What are the positive and negative aspects
of wearing jeans for you? Explain.
HOMEWORK: Reporting
Write a report based on the discussion we
have today. You can cover all the questions in
the previous slide or only some of them. Just
make sure that you will put it in five-
paragraph essay that goes deep and
thorough.
Post it in FB group. Make sure you check the
spelling and grammar before you posted.
Heroes
Watch Nick Vujicic
Watch Loretta Claiborne