THE JEANS
1) The origin: the history of the jeans starts here...The history begins with a young trader in tissues: Levi Strauss originating from Germany arrives in 1853 in San Francisco. At the time of the gold rush, Levis’ Strauss had the idea to work pants. So he created a plant in the West and there were reason because it was for him: a great success. A few years later, the gold mine is depleted. So there was another wealth: the discovery of silver mines. In 1872, a man called Jacob Davis had the idea of using fasteners to hold the pockets and the jeans together so that they wouldn't tear. To protect his invention, Davis wrote to Levi and offered Strauss a deal if he would pay for the patent. Strauss accepted, and he started making copper-riveted as jeans were called then. But few years after Levi Strauss died in 1906 at the age of 73, leaving a colossal fortune to his nephews.
Trader=marchand depleted=épuiser wealth=richesse silver mines=mines d’argent a plant=une usine fasteners=fermetures tear=déchirer copper-riveted=riveté de cuivre
2) How jeans became popular:
In the 1930's, Hollywood made lots of western movies. Cowboys - who often wore jeans in the movies-became very popular. In the 1950's, denim became popular with young people. It was the symbol of the teenage rebel in TV programs and movies .Some schools in the USA banned students from wearing denim. In the 1980's jeans finally became high fashion clothing, like Levi Strauss famous designers started