On May 20 1873, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss were given a patent bearing the number 139121 for "Improvement in Fastening Pocket Operative". The year 2003 marked the 150th anniversary of jeans, which have now become such an essential part of life. Levi Strauss & Co. was established in 1953 by Levi Strauss, as a wholesale dry goods business. He was a Bavarian-born American who had come to San Francisco to open a branch of his brother's business. Jacob Davis, a tailor, was a frequent customer of Levi Strauss & Co. Jacob had come up with an idea of using up copper rivets to strengthen those parts of a pant which were likely to tear. As he lacked the money required to buy a patent, he suggested going into business with Levi. They thus obtained a "patented rivet", which later became a part of the company's jean design.
