The History of Jeans & Levis Strauss

Submitted By: Ian Grainger
Perhaps the most famous clothing brand name in the world, Levi Strauss & Co. were the inventors of blue denim jeans. Here’s how it happened.

In the mid 1800s during the California Gold Rush a young German immigrant travelled to San Francisco with the intention of opening a West Coast branch of his brother’s New York dry goods business.

That young man’s name was Levi Strauss. Upon his arrival he was asked by a gold prospector what he was selling. Upon being told he was selling rough canvas for tents and wagons the prospector said he should be selling pants, as he couldn’t find any that were strong enough to last.

The comment clearly registered with Strauss. Instead of selling his canvas for tent-making, he turned them into waist high overalls. While they proved popular with miners they complained of chafing so Strauss turned to a French twilled cotton cloth called “serge de Nimes” – from which we get the now common term “denim”. That was in 1853 and Levis Strauss & Company was founded.

Twenty years later the company began using a design with stitched pockets. Working with Nevada tailor David Jacobs, Strauss developed the process for putting metal rivets in the ‘jeans’ for strength.

On May 20, 1873, they received U.S.Patent No.139,121 for the process and that date is now considered the official birthday of "blue jeans."

The company has gone from strength to strength and has several noteworthy landmarks in its history. These include the time they created a denim tuxedo for Bing Crosby after the crooner was almost refused entry to a hotel due to wearing Levi’s jeans and the fact that legendary rodeo star Pancho Villa wore only Levi’s for his somewhat crazy performances with Brahma bulls, in which he was often tossed and gored!

Today the company, which still has its headquarters in San Francisco, California, employs over 11,000 people and boasts revenues of over $4 billion a year, yet are still owned by descendents of Levis Strauss.

As well as the world famous Levi’s brand, Levis Strauss & Co. also has Dockers and Signature by Levis Strauss as brands, selling a range of Levi’s clothing apart from the blue denim jeans.

Levis Strauss & Co is almost as famous for its advertising campaigns as it is its jeans. They have successfully used old, forgotten songs in their television adverts only to see the songs re-popularised and sell again.

Such songs include “When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge, recorded in 1966 and used in 1987 by Levis Strauss – it made number two in the UK charts that year!

“The Joker” by the Steve Miller band was used in 1990 – 13 years after its original release – to advertise Levi’s clothing and it topped the UK chart!

Apart from Levi Strauss’ own stores, Levi’s clothing, including Dockers and Signature by Levis Strauss, are sold in hundreds of different outlets all over the world, underlining the continued popularity of the humble blue jeans, originally designed in 1853 to be hard wearing clothing for miners.

They’ve come a long way!

READ MORE - The History of Jeans & Levis Strauss

Weaponry From Hawaii

Submitted By: Rene Thompson
Much of ancient Hawaiian history remains unknown, from the legend of the tiki Gods to where the people themselves originated. Europeans' insight into this unique culture began only a few centuries ago, leaving earlier history shrouded in history. One of our first accounts of Hawaii comes from Captain James Cook, who wrote about the islands after stopping there in 1778.

Among the many insights he offered into Hawaiian culture was the relative brutality and the weaponry he encountered in his explorations, which had never before been seen in Europe. The feudal culture of Ancient Hawaii was no doubt a dangerous place. Modern scholars believe that ancient Hawaiian warriors would probably have given the Spartans a run for their money. Those warriors, called “Koa,” utilized a wide range of clubs, pikes, spears, daggers and throwing axes.

One of the most dangerous weapons in the arsenal of the Koa was the warrior himself. The unique martial art practiced by these warriors, known as Lua, was developed to completely incapacitate or kill an opponent. Lua incorporates a variety of strikes and jabs deigned to break bones and take advantage of pressure points. As a martial art, Lua is considered sacred, and warriors were forbidden to teach the art to outsiders. This ancient martial art was practiced in loin cloths; the Koa did not wear armor, but rather shaved and lathered their bodies before battle in order to increase their advantage in hand-to-hand fighting.

The weapons used by the Koa, though somewhat primitive, also seem inventive and ingenious. One of the most unusual weapons carried by these warriors was a shark-toothed club. Used primarily as a slashing weapon, rather than as a club, some of these clubs featured as many as thirty shark teeth, carefully embedded in the edges of the weapon. These clubs could cause a great deal of damage at close range, and were the preferred weapon of nobles.

Other weapons included a variety of tripping weapons, known as “pikoi.” Pikoi were, essentially, clubs attached to long cords. Once an opponent was on the ground, the Koa could utilize their wide variety of daggers, or “pahi.” These daggers are unique to Hawaii and the Polynesian Islands. The daggers seem to be as unique as the individual warriors who wielded them. Some daggers incorporated Marlin spikes or shark teeth, while others had curved or blunted blades.

Long before a melee, the Koa could attack their enemies from a distance of up to 200 yards with volcanic rock flung from a leather sling. The dense volcanic rock could be crafted into precise missiles, and seems to have been far more effective that arrows. Although the ancient Hawaiians did possess bows, they used them solely for the purpose of hunting, not as weaponry during battle. Javelins and spears were also used to attack the enemy from afar. The Koa had a variety of spears and pikes that were of varying length, depending on their intended use.

The Koa warriors have left behind a number of weapons that are as beautiful as they are deadly. The weapons, carved from the hard wood of the Koa tree, were decorated with shark teeth, feathers and intricate carving. This extensive list of weapons leaves little doubt that the ancient Hawaiians were fierce warriors.

READ MORE - Weaponry From Hawaii

Celebrations in the Muslim World

Submitted By: Ronald Fisackerly
I am far from an expert in the Islamic faith. I was raised Anglican Catholic and my expertise in my own faith is lacking, let alone a faith I am only beginning to try to understand. I raised my children in the Anglican faith and now that they are adults, each has made their personal choice as to faith.

Surprisingly, to me anyhow, my eldest son converted to Islam about two years ago. This roused my here-to-for dormant interest in the Islamic faith. To further clarify, my interest in Islamic holidays was peaked when I realized that my son was not celebrating Christmas (understandable), New Years, birthdays, and other celebrations he had grown up with. This seemed to be with or without regard to their significance with respect to the Christian faith.

I don’t know if you have ever read the Quran. It is relatively brief in comparison to the King James Version of the Bible. The Quran has 114 Surahs (chapters for lack of a better word). Many professing the Islamic faith have memorized it and I am given to understand that committing the Quran to memory is everyone’s goal. But I digress! What, if anything, do the Islamic faithful celebrate?

My research revealed 2 great celebrations or festivals in the Islamic faith. They are 'Idul-Fitr and 'Idul-Adha. I will describe for you, to the best of my ability, the meaning and timing of each of these.

The first, 'Idul-Fitr, ("Festival of the Breaking of the Fast") occurs at the end of Ramadan. Ramadan, by way of explanation, is the 9th lunar month in the Arabic calendar, and this month was always known as Ramadan even before the existence of Islam. In the Islamic faith, this month is devoted to fasting from dawn to sunset each day. The fasting includes abstaining from food, water, and sexual relations. Additional elements of devotion are expected as well, such as reading the entire Quran, seeking forgiveness of past sins and performing good deeds, to name a few. The basis for Ramadan as a month of fasting and retrospection is Surah 2, verse 185, for those who might have an interest in further research. The celebration of 'Idul-Fitr has the following components:

* Donations to the poor
* Celebrants wear the best clothes (often new) that they have available
* Early morning communal prayers
* Feasting and visiting relatives and friends

The second, 'Idul-Adha, (Festival of Sacrifice) occurs on the tenth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month in the Arabic calendar. This festival acknowledges Abraham’s (Ibrihim’s) willingness to obey God’s (Allah’s) command to Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael, his only son. The celebration of 'Idul-Adha has the following components:

* Recite the Takbir ("God is Great") before prayer on the first day and after prayers on each of the succeeding three days of the festival

* Celebrants wear their best clothes
* Sacrifice an animal for food or donate money for the purchase of food and share with the poor so that no one goes hungry

These are the two principal celebrations in the Islamic faith and of course, there is significantly more to learn about them than I can possibly provide in the brief span of this article, but I hope I have succeeded in giving you some insight into these Islamic celebrations.

READ MORE - Celebrations in the Muslim World

Africa Etymology

Submitted By: Andrew Keet
Africa’s origin is steeped in mystery, effectively carried along the generations by those who valued their heritage and desired to continue the legends and tales that defined their culture to such a significant extent. The origin of its very name is filled with intrigue and presents many different theories.

“Afri” was associated with the Phoenician afar “dust” and was used as the name for the society of people living near Carthage (an ancient city near Tunis) in northern Africa. Their existence was first noted during the Punic Wars (between 264 and 146 before our Common Era or BCE). These three wars were the largest of their time, fought between the Roman Empire and Carthage. They were a battle over space between the well established Carthage and the ever-expanding Rome. Rome was ultimately victorious. When this happened, Carthage became the capital of the Roman province of Africa (which was, in part, made up of the coastal section of Libya). The Roman suffix to denote a country was “-ca” and this was thus added to “Afri”. The Arabians of that time converted this name to “Ifriqiya” in Latin. In Algeria, this name still exists, as is evident by such areas as Ifira and Ifri-n-Dellal.

Another theory is that the word originates from Berber, a group of languages spoken in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt, as well as parts of Niger, Mali, the Sahara and northern Sahel. The Berber word “ifri” means “cave” and is thought to have referred to the numerous cave dwellers (or cavemen) of the time. These North African folk were called Garamantes in Greek, although the name they bore for themselves remains unknown. This society boasted an efficient underground irrigation system and left many valuable rock paintings that revealed their way of life and values.

Flavius Josephus was a Jewish historian who lived and worked in the first century of our Common Era. He hypothesised that the name “Africa” originated from the grandson of Abraham, recorded in the Hebrew scriptures of the Christian Bible at Genesis 25:4. This grandson, Epher, and his descendents invaded Libya (according to Josephus).

Joannes Leo Africanus, on the other hand, suggested that the Greek work phrike (φρίκη), meaning “cold and horror”, was prefixed by “a-” to indicate its opposite; i.e. “without cold and horror”. This would create the name to define this warm and inviting land. Africanus was a historian and Arabic diplomat that lived between 1488 and 1554 and used this nickname in much of his writings. However, his birth name was Al Hassan Ibn Muhammad Al Wazzan.

Another interesting theory was established by Massey in 1881. The Egyptian term “Ka” referred to every person’s energy, a non-fleshly double that defined your being (much the same as the Christian term, soul). The “opening of the Ka” then referred to the mother’s womb or the child’s birthplace and was held as a very special and honoured concept. The Egyptian word “af-rui-ka” literally means “to turn towards the opening of the Ka”, and recognises Africa as the birthplace of their earliest ancestors.

The theories outlined above are only some of those held by esteemed historians and archaeologists. Africa boasts a reputation of unanswered questions, lending it an air of intrigue on many different levels. No one name could define this continent in its entirety and no one definition could do such diversity justice.

READ MORE - Africa Etymology

Islamic Wedding Traditions

Submitted By: Ronald Fisackerly
There is a tremendous cultural diversity within the Islamic world. This diversity is also reflected in wedding ceremonies, which vary from region to region and sect to sect. My purpose here is to find the common threads in Islamic weddings as practiced today.

The Islamic marriage is known as Nikaah, which, incidentally, is from the Arabic word akd for “to unite”. Marriage in the Islamic faith is not only a social agreement but also a legal contract. This implies a “sterile”, perhaps even “cold” ceremony. This is not the case. Beyond the actual formalities that must be met, Muslim weddings are actually quite festive.

The first thing I wanted to learn was who officiates an Islamic marriage since Islam does not recognize any official clergy. I was surprised to learn that any Muslim with a thorough understanding of Islamic tradition may perform the wedding ceremony. Many, however, choose to engage the services of a marriage officer, called qazi. He acts as the supervisor of the marriage.

The formalities of the wedding are threefold, consisting of the proposal, the mahr and the nikaah.

The proposal frequently goes beyond the man asking the woman for her hand in marriage, it extends to her family also. Islam does not require this but it is considered an act of respect to the woman and to her family and is strongly encouraged.

The mahr is, in its simplest terms, a gift, freely given, to the bride by her husband. Unlike the proposal, this is mandated by the Quran in Surah 4:4. Quoting from Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s English translation, “And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.” Clearly, the mehr is a gift to the bride. In the course of my research, I discovered conflicting traditions that suggested the gift was to the bride’s family. Dower, by definition, is a gift from the groom to the bride. I believe these are cultural differences, but, bottom-line, such gifts to the family are not mandated in the Quran. The mehr is thought to be an insurance policy of sorts, to provide for the financial security of the bride in the event of the death of the husband or divorce. The couple, not the parents, must agree upon the mehr. The mehr is the bride’s right as stated in the Quran and it is a gift, freely given and not the bride’s price.

The nikaah ceremony, the equivalent of vows, is very simple and straightforward. The bride says, I have given my self away in Nikaah to you, on the agreed Mahr.” The groom immediately responds, “I have accepted the Nikaah.” The marriage contract is signed and they become man and wife.

In some cultures, the wedding festivities last five days. Day one is dinner with the girl’s family and day two is dinner with the boy’s family. Day three is the Mehendi ceremony, which is for the bride and her female friends. This ceremony typically takes place at the bride’s home. Mehendi (henna) patterns are used to adorn the feet and hands of the bride. Day four is the actual Nikaah ceremony. Day five, the couple dines with the bride’s parents and the groom’s family hosts a feast (Valimah) for friends and family.

READ MORE - Islamic Wedding Traditions