in http://www.straightdope.com/columns/991231.html
Cecil states '." My guess is they got one beef too many about scratched school chairs.
’
I think it is more like one too many beef too many about scratched cars. Don’t think Cecil’s work is done yet. (here you can say that Cecil’s work is never done)
Riveted jeans have always been taboo at antique auto shows - scratches the ostrich skin upholstery.
I was thinking the same thing. School furniture has a lot of worse things to worry about than getting scratched by a pair of jeans.
I’m wearing Levi’s right now, and after feeling the back pockets quite thoroughly (with some help from the lady here with me), I can say that I don’t think there are any rivets back there, covered up or otherwise. The only rivets I can find are on the corners of the front pockets and the little change pocket inside the right front pocket.
I remember reading somewhere that the original Levi’s design called for rivets not only on the pockets, but one at the very middle of the crotch, where the four pieces of fabric are stitched together. It was supposedly removed after a Levi’s executive stood too close to a campfire while wearing a pair of Levi’s.
Cecil, we need you back on this one.
Alan Smithee was right about the crotch rivet story, and I’ll add a few details. The company had received a smattering of complaints from cowboys, but paid no heed. The exec in question hunkered down next to a campfire on a camping trip, and he soon was inspired to some frantic dancing. At the next board meeting, the crotch rivet was axed.
AskNott
Hey, I read some where that the rivets were at first covered because Mr. Strauss was getting a bunch of complaints from vaqueros (Espanol for ‘cowboys’.) about the rivets scratching their saddles. Then after awhile, the rivets became unnecessary as most folks aren’t as hard on their dungarees as those ol’ boys out on the range. So they were removed, only left on the front to give them that certain American panache that makes them so prized in places like Japan and India. And that’s the straight dope…
P.S. There was a Levi’s plant here outside Albuquerque, NM. My cousin worked there before they closed and pulled out of here. Anyway, she (my cousin) said that there was the whole history in there. When I asked my cousin this same question, she brought me a lil’ pamphlet from there. And this is the explanation that was in it.
~Snoogans~
“I was being honest, @$$hole, I would expect YOU to know the difference.”
~~John Bender in The Breakfast Club.
Talk to me, baby! mcdsanti@hotmail.com
Not to mention that in waterparks, you are not allowed to ride down the slides in jean shorts with rivets.
(Imagine now the sound of nails on blackboard as someone slides all the way down in riveted jean shorts — eiewwwww.)
Peace.
It was my understanding that the rivets were kept on the front pockets because the prospectors were carrying their gold ore in them and kept tearing them out.