From An Old Bunkhouse
Sometime around 1911 a miner working the eastern slope of California's Sierra Nevada mountains left a few personal items behind in the bunkhouse he shared with other hopeful ore hunters. Eventually, the bunkhouse was abandoned, but the dry desert air preserved everything it held. A few years ago, the building was discovered by a mining enthusiast and the contents found their way to the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives.
The highlight of the collection is a beautiful pair of Levi's® waist overalls (the old timers' name for jeans). They were made in San Francisco around 1906, and are in amazing shape considering what they've been through.
A few other interesting items were found with the jeans. One is a tiny Bull Durham brand tobacco pouch, which still has the 1910 government tax stamp clinging to its fragile muslin fabric. There's also a page from the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper of 1911, found lying undamaged on the bunkhouse floor. And finally, our anonymous miner left behind a beautiful natural indigo bandanna.
A number of work shirts also cluttered the area, including two made by LS&CO. One is made of grey chambray and one – bearing our "Sunset" brand label – is made of wool which has unfortunately been chewed by rodents over the years.
This "bunkhouse" collection is a prime example of how the LS&CO. designers use the company Archives. Twice a year we release a small collection of garments we call Levi's® Vintage Clothing (LVC), and each season has a unifying theme. Each item in the collection reflects this theme and is an authentic replica of a treasured item in the Archives. Designers spend hours in the stacks poring over the old clothes, taking measurements, counting the stitches per inch in the seams, comparing replica buttons to the real thing, etc. It's a painstaking process but it really pays off: the LVC collections are snapped up each season, and many pieces go straight to eBay.
The jeans, shirt, tobacco pouch, newspaper and bandanna from that old bunkhouse occupy a special place in the company Archives. And we're happy to report that their replicas will be the centerpiece of the Fall 2006 Levi's® Vintage Clothing line.