Exercise #7

You probably own something that was first invented in the mid-1800s: blue jeans! When news of a big gold strike was made in California, Levi Strauss, a 20-year-old immigrant, headed west to sell canvas for tents and covered wagons. One day, a miner came up to him and said that what he really needed was pants—pants with lots of pockets. Strauss sewed up some of his canvas into a couple of pairs of pants. He called them waist overalls. All the miners liked the pants, but the canvas made their thighs chafe. So, Strauss decided to try another fabric: a twilled, dark blue cotton called Serge de Nimes, that got shortened to denim.

Text taken from p. 86 of:

Masoff, Joy. Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments. New York: Workman, 2006. Print.

Blue jeans were invented in the mid-1800s. When news of the big gold strike in California was heard, Levi Strauss, was 20 years old and not from this country. He "headed west to sell canvas for tents and covered wagons." A miner asked him for pants with lots of pockets. Strauss sewed up canvas into a pair of pants and called them waist overalls. All the miners like them but the canvas rubbed their legs. So, Strauss tried another fabric called Serge de Nimes, that got shortened to denim.

Works Cited

Masoff, Joy. Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments. New York: Workman, 2006. Print.