Levi’s Long History In Denim
Levi’s jeans have a rich legacy in the denim industry, standing as one of the pioneers in unique denim innovations. Since 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. has led the way in denim craftsmanship. A year prior, in 1872, Levi Strauss received a letter from Jacob Davis, a Nevada tailor and one of his fabric customers. Davis, who had invented the rivet, proposed they collaborate on patenting it. They joined forces, and the rest became history.
The 7 Key Features On Levi’s Back Pockets
Next to the rivet Levi’s jeans has some more very important key features on their jeans. Today I want to zoom in at the 7 key details from the back pockets of their jeans.
The top 7 key features of the back pockets of Levi’s jeans;
- Feature #1: The Arcuates On The Back Pockets
- Feature #2: Colour Of Thread
- Feature #3: The Batwing Logo
- Feature #4: Red Tab
- Feature #5: Hidden Rivets & Bar Tacks
- Feature #6: Single Stiched Back Pockets
- Feature #7: The Fifth Back Pocket
Feature #1: The Arcuates On Levi’s Back Pockets
The stitching on the back pockets from a pair of Levi’s jeans is called arcuate design. The name refers to the form of an arc. The arcuate stitching dates back to the earliest Levi’s waist overalls from 1873. The arcuate stitching probably refers to a flying rocky mountain eagle. This can’t be confirmed by the company as the headquarters and two factories were destroyed after a heavy earthquake and fire in San Francisco in the year 1906. The earthquake destroyed their complete archive of the brand
This can be seen on this original worn pair of Levi’s 501XX from the 1930’s. See more details of this pair here.
In 1943, Levi’s jeans registered their arcuate as a trademark to prevent copying by other denim brands. After World War 2, they started to stitch their arcuates with double needed sewing machines. The picture here below shows the double stitched arcuates on a vintage pair of Levi’s 501XX jeans from the late 1960’s.
Double stitched arcuates on the back pocket of a vintage pair of the brand.
An interesting detail about the double-stitched arcuate design is the small diamond shape that appears in the center. This diamond forms when the two needle threads intersect and overlap.
Diamond appearance from double needed stitched arcuates on vintage pair of Levi’s 302 Jeans from the early ’60’s. See more details of this pair here.
Feature #2: Colour Of Thread
The orange (tobacco) thread used on the original Levi’s jeans has now become an industry standard. Legend has it that tailor Jacob Davis originally insisted that the thread has to be orange to match the jeans’ copper rivets. But, Levi’s can’t confirm this rumor as all the records were destroyed by the earthquake in 1906.
On vintage pairs of the brand, mostly on early so-called ‘Big E‘ jeans, you see a combination of yellow and orange thread.
Combination of orange and yellow thread of back pocket of vintage pair of Levi’s jeans from the early 1960’s.
Feature #3: The Batwing Logo
The Batwing was designed in 1967 by Walter Landor & Associates. The color red was used as a link to the brand’s Red Tab. The outlines of the Batwing logo come straight from the 501 jeans’ back pockets. If you look closely at the back pockets you should see the Batwing just above the arcs of the arcuate design.
The Levi’s Jeans Batwing logo.
Note: The Batwing logo has gained significant popularity among youth. In the first half of 2017 alone, Levi’s sold over 3 million Batwing t-shirts.
Feature #4: Red Tab
It was the year 1936 that Levi’s introduced their famous Red Tab onto the right back pocket of their jeans. The Red Tab was created to differentiate it from its competitors. This was because a lot of their competitors were also using dark denim and also arcuates on the back pockets. The color red for the Red Tab was chosen because it contrasted well with the dark denim and was easy to see. The idea to place a red folded cloth ribbon in the structural seam of a rear patch pocket came from the National sales manager Chris Lucier of the brand.
The word LEVI’S is stitched in white in all capital letters on one side only of the tab in the beginning. During the early 1950’s they changed the Red Tab into a double-sided Red Tab which means that on both sides of the tab LEVI’S was written.
Vintage ‘Big E’ tab on a vintage pair of Levi’s 501XX from the ’60’s. See more detail shots of this pair here.
Levi’s switched in 1971 the letters on the tab to Levi’s, with a lowercase ‘e’ instead of the ‘E’ in the word Levi’s. The Red Tab with capital ‘E’ are nowadays known as ‘Big E’ items and were produced until that year. The ‘Big E’ items are now true collector’s items amongst denim collectors.
Red Tab with lowercase ‘e’ on a pair of Levi’s 501 Jeans from the early ’70’s. See more details from this pair here.
Some Red Tab on Levi’s jeans are blank and only have a registered R on them. 1 out of 10 Red Tab’s on the back pockets of a pair of their jeans is a blank Red Tab and does not include the full name of Levi’s. This to protect the Red Tab itself.
Blank Red Tab of a pair of vintage Levi’s Jeans from the early 1970’s. See more shots of this pair here.
Feature #5: Hidden Rivets & Bar Tacks
Another key feature on vintage pairs of Levi’s jeans are the so-called hidden rivets. In 1937, Levi’s introduced these hidden rivets on the back of the pockets. The rivets were sewn so that they were only visible from the inside, due to consumer complaints regarding scratching furniture and saddles by the previous rivets that were placed on the outside. As Levi’s 501XX jeans were popular by cowboys they complained about their scratched leather horse saddles.
Hidden rivets on the inside of a pair of Levi’s 501XX Jeans from the 1930’s.
On each pair of Levi’s jeans 501XX produced from 1937 was a pocket flasher with the words: ‘The Rivet’s Still There’ as the introduction of the hidden rivets.
They changed in 1966 their hidden rivets into bar tacks on their jeans. Technology made it possible to strengthen the back pockets with bar tacks instead of rivets. This was the end of complaints about scratching furniture. Note that also the hidden rivets came through the denim fabric after intense wear, so bar tacks were the perfect solution.
Black bar tacks on the corners of a vintage pair of Levi’s Jeans.
Feature #6: Single Stiched Back Pockets
The horizontal double-felled seams on the top of the back pockets of vintage Levi’s jeans are single-stitched. However, later 501 models, from around 1987 onwards, feature chain stitching.
Single stitched back pockets on a pair of vintage Levi’s Jeans.
Chain stitched back pockets on a pair of late ’80’s Levi’s Jeans.
One Response
Very interesting, only noticed my new Levi 501’s only had a red tab , no word Levi’s. Thankfully I came across your article which explained it all . I’ve been and still wear 501’s since the late 1960’s and this is the first time I’ve came across a blank red batwing tab !