Jacob W. Davis
Russian-American tailor who invented modern jeans with rivets.
Jacob William Davis was born Jacob Youphes in Riga, then part of the Russian Empire, in 1831 to a Jewish family. He trained as a tailor before emigrating to the United States at age 23, arriving in New York City and adopting the name Jacob Davis. After running a tailor shop there, he moved to Maine, then to San Francisco in 1856, and later to Weaverville. Following a period as a journeyman tailor, he left California in 1858 for Western Canada, where he met and married a German immigrant named Annie Parksher. The couple had six children, and Davis tried his hand at gold panning on the Fraser River.
In January 1867, Davis returned to San Francisco with his family. Later that year they settled in Virginia City, Nevada, where he sold wholesale tobacco and pork before returning to tailoring. By 1868 the family moved to Reno, a small railroad town, where he helped build a brewery. In 1869 he opened his own tailor shop on the main street, making tents, horse blankets, and wagon covers for Central Pacific Railroad workers. He used heavy-duty cotton duck cloth and denim purchased from Levi Strauss & Co., a San Francisco dry goods firm, and reinforced stress points with copper rivets.
In December 1870, a customer asked Davis to make sturdy work pants for her woodcutter husband. Using duck cloth and copper rivets at weak seam and pocket points, he produced a durable pair. The pants became popular among railroad laborers, and Davis soon switched to denim as well. Demand quickly outstripped his ability to produce them alone.
Having filed patents before, Davis recognized the value of his design. In 1872 he approached Levi Strauss, his fabric supplier, for financial backing to file a patent. Strauss agreed, and on May 20, 1873, U.S. Patent No. 139,121 for "Improvements in fastening pocket openings" was granted to both Davis and Levi Strauss & Co. That year Davis began sewing a double orange threaded stitch on the back pocket as a trademark, later registered as U.S. Trade Mark No. 1,139,254. Strauss set up a large tailor shop in San Francisco for production, and Davis moved his family there to manage it. As demand grew, the shop became a manufacturing plant, which Davis ran for the rest of his life, overseeing production of work pants, shirts, and overalls.
Davis died in San Francisco in 1908 and is buried at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California. In 2006
- born
- May 14, 1831, Riga, Russian Empire
- died
- January 20, 1908, San Francisco, California
- field
- Tailoring, invention
- nationality
- Russian-American
- known_for
- Inventing modern jeans with copper rivets
Lore & Background
Jacob Youphes was born to a Jewish family in Riga in 1831 and trained as a tailor. He emigrated to the United States in 1854, changing his name to Jacob Davis. After working in New York, Maine, and California, he moved to Western Canada in 1858, where he married Annie Parksher and panned for gold. He returned to San Francisco in 1867, then moved to Virginia City, Nevada, selling tobacco and pork before opening a tailor shop in Reno in 1869.
In his Reno shop, Davis made tents, horse blankets, and wagon covers from heavy-duty cotton duck and denim purchased from Levi Strauss & Co. He used copper rivets to reinforce stress points. In December 1870, a customer asked for strong working pants for her woodcutter husband; Davis used duck cloth and rivets, creating a success that spread among railroad laborers. By 1871, he was making the pants in denim.
In 1872, Davis approached Levi Strauss for financial backing to patent his reinforced jeans. On May 20, 1873, U.S. Patent No. 139,121 was issued. That year, Davis added a double orange threaded stitch design to the back pocket, which became a registered trademark. He moved to San Francisco to run Strauss's tailor shop, later managing a manufacturing plant until his death in 1908.
Reader's Guide
Jacob W. Davis's invention of riveted jeans transformed workwear and laid the foundation for a global garment industry. By combining sturdy fabrics with copper rivets, he solved a practical problem for laborers, creating pants that could withstand heavy use. His partnership with Levi Strauss enabled mass production and patent protection, ensuring the design's widespread adoption. The double orange threaded stitch on the back pocket became an iconic trademark, distinguishing his jeans from competitors. Davis's innovation not only met the needs of railroad workers and woodcutters but also evolved into a cultural staple worn worldwide. His legacy is commemorated by a plaque in Reno, Nevada, where the first jeans were made, and his burial at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California. The patent and trademark he secured remain central to the identity of modern denim jeans.
Did You Know?
- Jacob Davis changed his name from Jacob Youphes after emigrating to the United States in 1854.
- He used copper rivets to reinforce stress points on pants after a customer requested strong working pants for her woodcutter husband in December 1870.
- The double orange threaded stitch design on the back pocket became Registered U.S. Trade Mark No. 1,139,254.
- A plaque was erected in Reno, Nevada, in 2006 to commemorate that jeans were invented there.
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