The Man behind Blue Jeans     Levi Strauss was born in 1829 in Bavaria,Germany. He was the fifth of six children. His father sold dry goods from door to door. (Dry goods include many different things; fabric , thread,scissors,combs,buttons,yarn,etc.)     In 1845, his father died. All six children decided to go to the United States. Two of Strauss' bothers started a dry goods company in New York City. Strauss' sister Fanny and her husband started a similar business in San Francisco. Strauss decided to go to the southeastern part of the United States. For eight years, he walked along the country roads selling dry goods from door to door - just like his father in Bavaria.     In 1853, Strauss decided to move to San Francisco.(At that time, thousands of people traveled to California to look for gold.)On the way to California, Strauss sold almost all of his dry goods. He had only one thing left-- some  _ .     In California, Strauss tried to sell the canvas to the gold miners . He said they could make tents from the canvas. But they weren't interested in canvas for tents. Strauss didn't know what to do with the canvas. Then, he had an idea. Strauss could see that the miners needed new pants. There were holes in their pants because the fabric wasn't strong. He decided to make the canvas into pants. They called them " _ ". Later, Strauss stopped using canvas and used a different fabric. It was a heavy cotton fabric-- the same kind people wear today.     Levi Strauss died in 1902. He never married and left his money to his nephews. He left the world much more -- the jeans that so many people wear. Why did the miners call the pants "Levi's"?
Because the pants belonged to Levi Strauss' father In memory of Levi Strauss' father. It's the name of Levi Strauss' nephew Because the pants are Levi's invention.