The popularity of blue jeans is down to three countries and one man, Levi Strauss, who was born into an Ashkenazi family and came to America from Germany in 1851 to join his brother in a dry goods store. The countries are France for the comfortable fabric, India for the Indigo dye that gave the pants their trademark colour and America, where miners in the West prized the trousers for their toughness. Strauss was an vital element in the development of San Francisco and a pair of his iconic 1893 pants sold at auction in 2018 for nearly $100,000.
© 2024 John Oliver
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