Monday, July 27, 2026

Question: In 1873, a San Francisco dry-goods merchant and a Nevada tailor won a patent for a small metal reinforcement on work pants, giving the world blue jeans. What was that reinforcement?

Answer: The copper rivet. Tailor Jacob Davis had been strengthening miners’ pants with copper rivets at the pocket corners and fly. He teamed with his fabric supplier, Levi Strauss, and on May 20, 1873, the two patented riveted “waist overalls,” the direct ancestors of modern jeans.