Through much of the American experience, blue jeans have been a common thread

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� When Americans want to show their patriotism, they often don red, white and blue clothing, or sometimes even drape themselves in the U.S. flag. But if you truly want to embody the country鈥檚 zeitgeist, just slip on your favorite blue jeans. You probably already own at least one pair, just like almost everyone else you know.

Even in divisive times, denim remains an American skin that鈥檚 worn by liberals and conservatives, young and old, rich and poor, the cool crowd and the nerdy outcasts, citizens born in the USA like the denim-clad and immigrants who came here hoping for a better life like Levi Strauss.

If there is a common thread in America’s crazy quilt of racial diversity, it’s blue jeans.

The pants didn’t start out blue. They were made from brown tent canvas when they were first conceived in 1853 by Strauss, a Bavarian immigrant who came to San Francisco in the aftermath of California’s Gold Rush. The pants proved so popular among the gold miners still looking to strike that Strauss ran out of tent canvas. So he switched to a different fabric 鈥� indigo-dyed denim. After Nevada tailor Jacob Davis suggested reinforcing the pockets of Strauss’ pant design with copper rivets, the two men patented the concept in 1873 to create the style of blue jeans worn today.

Levi Strauss & Co. and its imitators such as H.D. Lee and Wrangler have made billions selling denim through the decades, but blue jeans have always been more about the culture than the capitalism that shaped America.

Besides harking back to the Gold Rush’s sediments, blue jeans evoke:

鈥攖he rugged determination of the railroad workers who wore them while laying the tracks for travel and commerce across the country;

鈥攖he derring-do of the cowboys and wandering spirits who wore them while settling the frontier;

鈥攖he work ethic of the farmers and factory workers who wore them on the job;

鈥攖he rebellious ethos of the bikers and other mavericks who embraced them after Marlon Brando’s performance in the 1953 film 鈥淭he Wild Ones;鈥�

鈥攖he colorful flair of the hippies who stitched flower patches and psychedelic designs on bell-bottomed versions of the pants that were conceived in San Francisco during 1967’s 鈥淪ummer of Love.”

In all shapes and styles, blue jeans are the perfect fit for America.

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Liedtke covered Levi Strauss & Co. and Gap Inc. during eight of his 26 years at The Associated Press. Part of a recurring series, 鈥淎merican Objects,鈥� marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click . For more stories on the anniversary, click .

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