Levi's® 501XX® 1933 - RIGID (Deadstock US made Cone Mills Denim)

A pair of jeans from 1933 had belt loops but still had the cinch and suspender buttons, offering a variety of ways they could be worn. Some owners wore their jeans with a belt. They cut off the cinch right at the rivet and removed the suspender buttons, choosing not to wear their Levi’s® jeans with suspenders, like the older generation. Some Levi’s® brand retailers even kept a big pair of scissors at the cash desk to cut the cinch off for their customers. The 1933 501® Jean also featured the redesigned “Guarantee Ticket” on the back pocket of the jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. had trademarked the name “Levi’s®” in 1927 because any pair of denim pants were being called “Levi’s®” no matter who made them. Instead of reading, “This is a pair of them”, as seen on the original ticket from 1892, the new ticket read “This Is A Pair Of Levi’s®”. Also under the leather patch was a small white cloth label printed with the blue eagle and the letters “NRA”. This was the National Recovery Act logo, which LS&Co. was allowed to use because the company abided by the labour rules of President Franklin Roosevelt’s National Recovery Administration during The Depression years of the 1930s.

On December 31st 2017 Cone Mills White Oak Plant closed its doors for the last time spelling the end of an era for US denim and in particular US denim for Levi's®. Cone Mills has supplied Levi's® since 1915 when a handshake agreement made them exclusive suppliers of XX denim for their 501’s®. Levi's® Vintage Clothing has now used up all remaining stock of Cone Mills denim so are now using Japanese denim. They have also moved production from the US to Turkey (where a lot of regular Levi's® range is already made). There will be no more US-made US denim Levis anytime soon if ever. These jeans we offer really are the last of an icon, when they are gone they are gone.