Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of the 2016 Foreword Indies' Silver Award in Biography

Blue jeans are globally beloved and quintessentially American. They symbolize everything from the Old West to the hippie counter-culture; everyone from car mechanics to high-fashion models wears jeans. And no name is more associated with blue jeans than Levi Strauss & Co., the creator of this classic American garment.



As a young man Levi Strauss left his home in Germany and immigrated to America. He made his way to San Francisco and by 1853 had started his company. Soon he was a leading businessman in a growing commercial city that was beginning to influence the rest of the nation. Family-centered and deeply rooted in his Jewish faith, Strauss was the hub of a wheel whose spokes reached into nearly every aspect of American culture: business, philanthropy, politics, immigration, transportation, education, and fashion.



But despite creating an American icon, Levi Strauss is a mystery. Little is known about the man, and the widely circulated "facts" about his life are steeped in mythology. In this first full-length biography, Lynn Downey sets the record straight about this brilliant businessman. Strauss's life was the classic American success story, filled with lessons about craft and integrity, leadership and innovation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xi)
• 1 Enlightened Nationalities (p. 1)
• 2 The Fate That Has Been Assigned to Me (p. 15)
• 3 Store-Princes (p. 29)
• 4 A Limitless Opening for Industry and Talent (p. 42)
• 5 Hard Labor and Wild Delights (p. 57)
• 6 Steamer Day (p. 72)
• 7 Treasonable Combinations (p. 85)
• 8 Our Solid Merchants (p. 98)
• 9 "The secratt of them. Pants is the Rivits" (p. 110)
• 10 Patent Riveted Clothing (p. 123)
• 11 Towers of Strength (p. 137)
• 12 Home Industry (p. 151)
• 13 Very Strong Opinions (p. 165)
• 14 The Best Interests of the People of This State (p. 179)
• 15 For Over Twenty Years (p. 193)
• 16 All Will Be Sunshine for San Francisco and California (p. 207)
• 17 A City Man (p. 221)
• 18 Imperishable (p. 236)
• Notes (p. 245)
• Bibliography (p. 255)
• Index (p. 265)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Former Levi Strauss & Co. historian Downey faced a difficult task in writing this biography: almost all of the company's records were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and few of founder Levi Strauss's personal papers remain, probably due to the same cause (Strauss died in 1902). The author makes good use of newspaper interviews with Strauss and a handful of personal reminiscences about him by others. Mostly, the book, which is as much a history of the company during its founder's lifetime as it is of Strauss himself, relates the businessman/philanthropist's activities. Strauss comes across as an excellent businessman with an affable and modest personality, a bachelor who lived primarily with his extended family. He was socially concerned and active in the Jewish community, and both Jewish and non-Jewish institutions were recipients of his philanthropy. VERDICT While not providing a full or rich portrait of Levi Strauss's personality, this solid business history will appeal to those interested in the history of commerce, California, or -American Jewry.-Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Downey's biography of Levi Strauss contains much beyond the title. Starting with Jews in 1820s Germany and reaching to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, she describes several critical elements: a small retail business in New York, getting to San Francisco in 1853, setting up the distant outpost, experiencing numerous fires, expanding the family businesses, and taking the opportunity to make changes in miners' clothing. Strauss' extended effort to successfully obtain and maintain the patents for the riveted overalls led to the greater financial success of the company. The active defense of the patent provides an insight into the conditions of the period. The greatly increased demand for riveted clothing provided a guide to factory expansion and labor conditions and practices. With the success of the firm, Republican politics took more of Strauss's time, a development that provides an insight into political differences in California. As a significant philanthropist, he began to become well known and a contributor to the elite. As part of the Strauss experience, a number of aspects of the history, organizations, and institutions of Jews in New York and in San Francisco are included. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty. --Frieda Reitman, Pace University