Consumers & Collectors

Are your Levi’s® collectible?

Let’s start with our famous 501® jeans. Turn up the cuff and check and see if there is a section of white fabric or “selvage” showing, as shown in the photo. If so, read on.

Next, take a look at the right back pocket. Do you see our famous red Tab? Is the word LEVI’S® in all capital letters (as in this photo), or does it have a small letter “e” instead? The Tab with LEVI’S (also known as “Big E”) means that your jeans are from before 1971.

If your jeans have a buckle and strap on the back of the waistband, like the pair pictured here, then you're really cooking: this pair is from the 1930s or earlier.

As you go further back in time, our jeans become much harder to spot because they don’t have a red Tab, belt loops, or other identifying marks. Take a look at the history of the 501® to learn how they have evolved over the decades.

What about jackets? Older jackets have only one pocket on the chest. And, if the jacket doesn’t have the red Tab, that means it’s from before the mid-1930s and really desirable.

We’ve made many collectible products over the years: gabardine shirts, rayon Western shirts, khaki riding pants, you name it. We’re always interested in hearing about these products and welcome your questions.

If you want to know the age or historical context for your garment, take photographs of the front, back and any labels and e-mail them to LDowney@levi.com, or send them by regular mail to Lynn Downey, Historian, Levi Strauss & Co., 1155 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111. Given the volume of requests we receive, we cannot reply by phone. Please allow 1–2 weeks for a response via e-mail, 3–4 weeks by U.S. mail.

Please note: The historian does not do appraisals and cannot tell you the value of your garment.