LS&Co. Unzipped
May 01 2013
Shanghaied with Lynn
Editor’s note: The Levi’s® 501® jean turns 140-years old this year. To mark the occasion, our company historian, Lynn Downey, is traveling the globe – sharing the story of the original blue jean with the people who wear them, both consumers and Levi Strauss & Co. employees. Today, she shares her observations from the first stop on her recent Asia trip, Shanghai.
This was my first trip to China. And given the many historic links between San Francisco, the home of Levi Strauss & Co., and China, it was an opportunity to see things I’d heard about all my life.
Now this is particularly true about Shanghai, because when you study San Francisco history, you learn a very interesting new word: “shanghaied.”
During the Gold Rush, unscrupulous entrepreneurs would drug unsuspecting drinkers in the bars of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast – a stretch of rough and tumble that used to exist just a few blocks from where Levi’s Plaza is today.
Once unconscious, these unlucky men would be thrown into ships bound for the port of Shanghai, and expected to work their way to China and back for free. It didn’t take long for the men to coin a new phrase for their ordeal: being “shanghaied.”
Time changes everything. Today San Francisco and Shanghai are sister cities and share information about culture, business, and education. But for this historian, going to the source of a famous historic term was a real treat.
Colleagues welcomed me with a tour, and one stop was the Shanghai Cultural Museum – providing a great overview of what is a very cosmopolitan city. Soon, though, it was down to work.
The 140th birthday of the blue jean officially kicked off with a special event for our Shanghai colleagues. About 120 came to hear the history of the 501® jeans and see highlights of the latest Levi’s® 501® marketing campaign.
During the event, employees took the opportunity to snap photos of historical 501® jeans and advertising materials that I brought along. While they viewed the products up close, I answered questions and was even asked to pose with my Shanghai colleagues for photos.
Later, I had the pleasure of sharing the story of our 501® jeans with consumers, as well as journalists and bloggers – real “denim-heads.” The setting was the intimate Levi’s® store on Nanjing Road West. It was perfect for sharing a bit of American history in a city that has a colorful history of its own.
Next time, join me on a trip to…the Forbidden City – and I don’t mean the old San Francisco nightclub.
Posted By: Lynn Downey, Historian, Levi Strauss & Co. |
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