Loft discovery - 1966 Levi's 502

[Paul T]

A mate of mine who's a carpenter and builder mentioned he found some jeans in a loft he was working on. They didn't belong to the householder, who didn't want an old pair of jeans, so my mate took the home, realised they were too small and left them in a cupboard until he met me next.

What's really cool about them is that they appear to be one wash; wear and whiskers just coming in. The leather-like 2-horse tag is perfect, too.

These must date from 1966 or 67; they're the typical small back pockets, with the V stitch by the front button, shallow arcuates (although nowhere near as shallow as the LVC version), lovely lemon yellow stitching. They're 502 0117, a zip fly. This was a short-lived code, I think, as 502 used to signify the smaller sizes of the button fly 501, but I think this model is pretty popular in Japan, as these were the first pair ever reissued by Levi's there, before the days of LVC.

A few photos follow. The last one is of the 1966 502 against the 1947 501 LVC. I'd say the denim is almost identical, considering the 1947 has had one more wash.

Edit, Wednesday pm: sadly, as these are just too tight for me, they're up for sale. Half price postage or $10 off for SuFu regulars...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150244833735

[Paul T]

Plus, the 1960s jeans behind, 1947 LVC in front

[blm14]

wow it's neat to see how similar the fades are on the vintage and the LVC

[hawkeye]

Paul, those look great, really nice discovery!

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but when was the lemon yellow thread discontinued or was this just different factory to factory? Has LVC ever used it? I have a very similar pair of 502's but they have the orange stitching, will try to dig up the photos for comparison...

[Paul T]

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but when was the lemon yellow thread discontinued or was this just different factory to factory? Has LVC ever used it?.

I've seen the lemon yellow on jeans (and jackets) from wartime 501s with painted arcuates, right through to late 60s. Seems to have disappeared by the time little e jeans came in, in 1972. I have been told it varied from factory to factory - they probably didn't pay much attention at the time. On some jeans, you merely get the yellow on the arcuate, on others you'll see it in other places like the watch pocket stitching and waistband. Do post your pics if you find em!

LVC do seem to feature the stitching on the 50s jeans, but I reckon they should use it more, on the wartime jeans in particular it seems fairly common and looks fantastic.

[captain5640]

Very nice find. Does anybody else feel that the creasing in the front/rear throws these off though?

[geekbonchic]

Coolest piece of garbage salvaged from an old building...EVER.

[MindxMatters]

Excellent find, what does the waist/thigh/hem measure on these?

[BBC]

Very nice find. Does anybody else feel that the creasing in the front/rear throws these off though?

You can just imagine the original owners mum ironing pleats in them! Hahahaha.

[BBC]

Very nice find. Does anybody else feel that the creasing in the front/rear throws these off though?

You can just imagine the original owners mum ironing pleats in them! Hahahaha.

[epitaph220]

Great find, they look absolutely amazing!

[Sympathy-For-The-Denim]

The ironing thing is typical for the US Cowboys, I´ve seen a lot of pics of centre creased Wrangler jeans...

[cheep]

man... too short. beautiful jeans tho paul... i bet those will fetch a good amount of money

[Paul T]

The actual size is 30 waist, 30 1/2 in the legs. I'm splitting the proceeds with John the Carpenter, but let's say half price shipping (which will be at cost), or $10 off, whichever is more, for SuFU regulars.

Edit: sorry to hear that cheep, suspected as much, being so slim you don't realise at first glance.

The creases wouldn't bother me, either, they're part of their history and you see em on plenty of old jeans. They might well be from storage.

[annacobra]

Very nice find. Does anybody else feel that the creasing in the front/rear throws these off though?

love the creases....

[hawkeye]

My 502's are a bit different:

[Paul T]

Wow, very nice! And different from the others, too. They are US, and not LVC Japan? (I assume they're US, but the Lot Number type is exactly like the early Japanese reissue). Now I'd definitely like to see photos of those raw, soaked, and then after 6 months' wear.

If they are original, I'd love to know the actual waist measurement.

[hawkeye]

Paul, I thought they were real, found them in a thrift store a while back, hemmed to about 20"!!!!!!! They are at my parents house, but the next time I am there I will measure the waist for you.

More photos:

[Paul T]

What a find! Better than mine... let's face it, if the legs are gonna be a couple of inches too short, they might as well be a foot too short!

it's also a great reminder of how much variation there was between different factories. THese jeans could have been produced within a couple of months of each other but differ in loads of details - stitching colour, zipper, even the stitching lines on the back pocket. I was told by someone involved in manufacturing that by the 70s the tooling was getting very worn - one of the reasons the back pockets changed shape and stitching - & it wouldn't surprise me if that was happening in the late 60s, too.

[cheep]

paul, whats up with the bartacks on yours??? i thought until the 80s they used the more hidden black bartack?

[Paul T]

paul, whats up with the bartacks on yours??? i thought until the 80s they used the more hidden black bartack?

good question, I hadn't noticed, the 501s I've seen from that era indeed have the black bartack. Don't know if it was common or whether they ran short of black thread that day, or else it's a very early example of the bartack, I'll ask my ex-production Levi's informant next time I see him...

[cheep]

yeah, ive seen 505 and 517 from that era with the black bartack too... all the way up to the 80s. those look like 90s bartacks.

i almost wonder if they were done by the previous owner...

[Paul T]

the bartacks are the same as one the belt-loops, so they must be an original quirk.

Taking about quirks, there was this raffle ticket in the watch pocket. Pontins was an old British holiday camp company, you would stay in chalets, listen to cover bands, and eat fish and chips under shelter from the incessant rain... hope this wasn't a winning ticket the dude lost...

[LpotRs]

New poster here

This seems to be a great resource for all things denim

I checked out this particuar thread, as I picked up a pair of Levis a couple of years ago, and wanted to find out a bit more about them

Firstly, they have a Talon 42 zip, which would indicate they are 502's

There is no back label, apart from a small corner remnant, which appears to be a stiff card type

Reading the thread, I see there are many variations, so I'll just list the features on my pair, for the record (Btw they are 40" waist and 32" inside leg, and are a fuller fit, rather than slim...)

There is the V-stitch, orange nylon and yellow cotton thread throughout, red big E tag, largish back pockets with non-parallel North/South stitching, No. 6 on back of top, copper hue button, redline selvage, watch pocket selvage, watch pocket features a single line of stitching on the top East/West, single stitch back pockets and black bar tacks on back pockets...

Phew!

From this thread, I make them between 66 and 69...

As someone posted here, there are many variations, and it helped me to date mine (roughly...), so thanks a million

[cheapmuthafukr]

copper top button = 505

[FACE]

The ironing thing is typical for the US Cowboys, I´ve seen a lot of pics of centre creased Wrangler jeans...

so true, my family being based from Texas basically consist of Chicano/Cholo/Rockabilly/cowboys lolll

[LpotRs]

copper top button = 505

Thanks for that, much appreciated

I checked on the 'hardware' thread, and there is a lovely pic of an LVC 67' 505 top button, and mine is identical, but thirty something years older

[Dry]

On 5/11/2008 at 6:42 PM, Paul T said:

the bartacks are the same as one the belt-loops, so they must be an original quirk.

Taking about quirks, there was this raffle ticket in the watch pocket. Pontins was an old British holiday camp company, you would stay in chalets, listen to cover bands, and eat fish and chips under shelter from the incessant rain... hope this wasn't a winning ticket the dude lost...

I think they are from 1971 @Paul T

The 1971 raffle ticket confirms this.

I studied the rear pockets of 502-0117s between 1966 and 1971 in shop windows and being worn and the vertical stitching was wide and splayed except for a short period in 1971 when it was narrow and parallel.

I bought a pair in September 1969 #16 with a Scovill zip which had the wide and splayed stitching. I can't remember if they had v stitch.

I bought another pair in June 1971 with the narrow parallel stitching like yours but I don't remember the colour of the bar tack or if they had a v stitch. They had a Talon zip and were also Big E. I never saw others like them except on somebody I knew who had 2 pairs bought at the same time.

By about 1972 502-0117s had become unavailable in England and were replaced by 505 0217s. However I bought 2 pairs of Made in France 502-0217s between about 1973 to 1975 which I still have.