I started wearing Levi’s blue jeans sometime in the early 1950s just like almost all the other boys I knew. As I sit here today writing this, I am wearing a pair as I do almost every day both for work and leisure. 

Levi’s were invented by an Austrian in the 1850s in San Francisco when he recognized the need for rugged work pants. Since then, the company has expanded their line of denim clothing for men, women, boys, and girls and is claimed to be the world’s largest selling brand.

In 1902 a clothing store named Jowers Clothing opened in the St. Johns neighborhood. It remained a family-owned store until it was sold to new owners in 2006. Like all the other boys and men in the area, that’s where I got mine whenever I needed a new pair, which wasn’t very often. They were pretty indestructible but I usually grew out of them long before they wore out.

For whatever reason it was the fashion in the 1950s to roll a wide cuff on the bottom of each leg and never wash them until they almost stood up by themselves when taken off.  Thankfully that isn’t the way I wear them anymore.

Ken Kaiyala
6-3-2025