Jeans of the Old West: A History

[aho]

Not exactly LVC but this thread would probably appreciate it the most...Mike, let me know if you don't want these posted...and most of all, congratulations on the book! Easily a MUST OWN for any denim enthusiast...

[Sansome1877]

It was 2 1/2 yrs in the making, I am so happy to see the book in your possession. I look forward to your review. we are continuing our research on waist overalls in the 1800's for the next one......Mike

[aho]

It'll take me a few days to pour over the book in its entirety (and then countless more reads to pick out new details each time) but the books is seriously a goldmine for anyone interested in the topic...Your hard work is very much appreciated and I am glad to hear that you plan on making another installment (Just as I was about to request it too! lol)! 1900's and onward would also make for a great read for anyone willing to tackle the subject

[SLAB]

the book looks amazing; cant wait to receive my copy

congrats with your 'baby' Mike!

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

it seems that this book is due to maniac preorders is not available anymore

[dr.house]

^...and it's not available yet in germany, too bad.

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

oh i live n germany... but you can by it at the market place for only 123€ what a great bargain!!! damn all those greedy idiots

[entertainment!]

^can't you just buy it from amazon.co.uk?

[Rivet Head]

oh i live n germany... but you can by it at the market place for only 123€ what a great bargain!!! damn all those greedy idiots

Try direct from Schiffer Books:

http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764335006

[Guest sneekylyric078]

Not exactly LVC but this thread would probably appreciate it the most...Mike, let me know if you don't want these posted...and most of all, congratulations on the book! Easily a MUST OWN for any denim enthusiast...

Looks like there's no longer a wait time of 3-5 weeks for shipping on this book if ordering from Amazon. Ordered my copy on the 3rd expecting delivery on the 11th.

http://www.amazon.com/Jeans-Old-West-Michael-Harris/dp/0764335006/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281261801&sr=8-1

[rnrswitch]

If anybody is interested in some detailed pics of the new DeadGrass reproduction jeans that were released by Rising Sun with most (if not all) of the research done by Mike Harris (Sansome1877) head on over to the Rising Sun thread. The originals of these jeans are featured in the book: Jeans Of the Old West.

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=153227&page=11

[Sansome1877]

Thanks for starting the thread, I can take new photos of my collection and post them (specific detail photos by request) I am researching the Montana page 175. We don't know what company made the Montana yet, but they sure did advertise a lot. I am calling this stitch that was used on the Montana, an arrow head stitch. If any one comes up with a better name for this stitch we can adopt it. I plan to take some fit pictures of the original pants in my collection and any new ones that I come across. Thanks again. How do I give rep?

[Dr_Heech]

Thanks for starting the thread, I can take new photos of my collection and post them (specific detail photos by request) I am researching the Montana page 175. We don't know what company made the Montana yet, but they sure did advertise a lot. I am calling this stitch that was used on the Montana, an arrow head stitch. If any one comes up with a better name for this stitch we can adopt it. I plan to take some fit pictures of the original pants in my collection and any new ones that I come across. Thanks again. How do I give rep?

Wow, this thread is already on fire!

Mike,

havent got my copy yet (ordered from our local bookshop, so will probably not arrive any time soon), but just wanted to say thanks in advance as I'm already stunned by all of this but looking forward to the rest of it.

You may have opened the doors to an entirely new niche-repro denim market !

(to rep someone, hover your cursor over the little square made up of green dots, which is in the bottom LH corner of someones post,

then right-click it, from the drop-down select 'open in new window', click and hey presto!)

[rnrswitch]

I felt like this thread needed this information as well

So I paid a little visit to Rising Sun on Saturday night for the book release party for "Jeans Of the Old West," by Michael Harris, who is, by the way, a contributor to the collective superfuture knowledge. I believe he posts under Sansome1877.

Well, the night was great. The crowd was great. Food and drinks were free (+++++). Michael Harris had brought a lot of denim scraps and denim jeans that he had pulled out of mines and they were on display for anyone to see. Fuck he pulled them out so that I could see them and handle them. I was handling denim from the 1870s :eek:. One pair of pants that were on display, was also a pair that Michael Harris in collaboration with Rising Sun, had chosen to reproduce for a limited (I think it is limited, not positive though) run of jeans that were released on Saturday night. Needless to say, I had to pick up a pair.

It was absolutely amazing to sit there with an original pair of jeans from the late 1800s and look at the details and then hold the reproduction up and compare the details. Rising sun did not miss a fucking thing when they redid these jeans. The jeans in question are a pair of pants made by the company A.B. Elfelt and Co. Michael believes them to be from about 1877. Below are some pics of the jeans as well as pics of the reproduction pants made by Rising Sun.

Here is a picture of the back of the jeans from the book.

The cinch: This cinch is beefy and the buckle comes preloaded to put holes through your denim.

Here is a pic comparing the patch from the original and the reproduction.

[rnrswitch]

The really cool thing about reading this book and seeing the jeans in person is that one gets a sense as to how frantic jeans manufacturers were to make there jeans the most sturdy, or at least, give that impressing. One really cool detail on these jeans is a somewhat modification that resembles the one-piece fly. A little piece of denim was sewn to keep the front part of the fly connected to the back part of the fly.

I love the plain hardware on this. I don't know how accurate these are to the originals, because the original buttons that I saw were rusted to all hell, but there are pics in the book of original buttons that are very similar to these.

The Front:

The Back

Here is another pic of the fly and front pocket combo. The needle work on these jeans is fantastic.

I did not take pictures yet of the denim pocket bags, but apparently many of the early jeans had denim pockets bags. On these jeans the denim bags are of the same weight as the jeans themselves.

Overall I had a great time there. I wish I had remembered my camera. The dudes from Lightning Magazine sure didn't forget their camera. Mike Hodis was a joy to talk with and he loves to share his knowledge of jeans manufacturing as well as his wealth of knowledge on fabrication of fabrics. (He loved my Freewheelers pants).

Michael Harris, though, stole the show for me. He was eager to share any and all knowledge he has of denim history with me. He went through the cinch progression of the various levis jeans from 1874 (I believe) up until the late 1870s. He just laid them out on the table right in front of me and showed me how they moved from pretty small cinches to the larger cinch that became more popular. The man has quite a collection. I would strongly recommend anybody interested in the early history of jeans to buy his book.

Rising Sun and DeadGrass also released a cotton duck repro as well, which I believe has a one-piece fly. After I saw a one piece fly on my Freewheeler brakeman pants I was puzzles as to why it isn't still used. It seems easier t actually put together than a typical two-piece fly. There are some pics of the Duck pants on their website:

http://risingsunjeans.com/

[rnrswitch]

Sansome1877,

You should post some nice pics of your duck pants. I would have loved to pick those up as well, but there was no way the old lady was gonna allow me to walk in the house with both pairs.

I didn't get much of a chance to examine those at the party, but I would have loved to. I don't remember if you had the originals there. I saw in the book that there was basically the same pant made in denim. I would love to see some pics of the one-piece fly in them.

[edmond]

how much for that pair?

[Sansome1877]

Sansome1877,

You should post some nice pics of your duck pants. I would have loved to pick those up as well, but there was no way the old lady was gonna allow me to walk in the house with both pairs.

I didn't get much of a chance to examine those at the party, but I would have loved to. I don't remember if you had the originals there. I saw in the book that there was basically the same pant made in denim. I would love to see some pics of the one-piece fly in them.

I will take some pictures today of the pant. I will take pictures of my original Neustadter pieces so you can compare the two.

[rnrswitch]

These were $500. I don't know how much the duck pants were. It's a pretty steep price, but once you realize what was put into developing these jeans and the fact that a new pattern needed to be made. For only 32 pairs being made it isn't too bad of a price and the detailing is crazy. Single needle throughout, denim pocket bags, etc. Plus these are as close to the original as I think could be done at the moment.

[Sansome1877]

I will figure out how to post pictures soon, thanks for the offer to post the pictures for me. I will send you detailed shots in a few hours.

[kiya]

Got the book and it looks great so far, great job Mike!

[eltopo]

Incredible Mike! Got my copy last week and then my friend Jacqueline called me and said she was headed to the release party I was super jealous!!!!! Finally I have a good book I want to read.

Congrats!!!!

www.banditphotographer.com

[Sansome1877]

Thanks for all the kind words regarding the book. I sent the Neustadter fit pictures to Rnrswitch last night, wanted to make sure you got those.

[setterman]

My copy arrived today. Just leafed through it, looks outstanding! Can't wait to be able to sit and read some of it tomorrow night.

[rnrswitch]

Thanks for all the kind words regarding the book. I sent the Neustadter fit pictures to Rnrswitch last night, wanted to make sure you got those.

Got em. Will post them this evening.

[Sansome1877]

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rnrswitch]

I will be posting these pics in this thread as well as the Rising Sun thread. There are still more to come, but I had a little down time at work, so here it goes.

The butt

With the original as a comparison

The one-piece fly.

A better look at the bottom of the one-piece fly.

By the way, I don't know of a good reason as to why the two piece fly is used across the board today. It appears to me that the two-piece fly is much better and stronger and it looks like it would also be easier to assemble.

Anybody think of a better reason to use a two piece fly?

[fardin]

good question.

by the way here is the patend pic of the continous fly, i posted that a long time ago , but i guess its ok.

[morse9443]

Headed to UPS to pick up my copy now:)

[marineabilly]

I know what my next pair of jeans are!! Thanks for posting rnrswitch - it'll be $500 bones well spent.

If anybody is interested in some detailed pics of the new DeadGrass reproduction jeans that were released by Rising Sun with most (if not all) of the research done by Mike Harris (Sansome1877) head on over to the Rising Sun thread. The originals of these jeans are featured in the book: Jeans Of the Old West.

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=153227&page=11