Talk about a piece of history! Wearing denim jeans has been around for more than a century! Lets focus on the 1940′s here, and narrow the discussion a bit.
In 1943, Blue Bell Inc. acquired the Casey Jones Company… who had been making jeans since 1905. The combined knowledge promoted the Wrangler line of jeans, designed with cowboys in mind. In 1947, style 11MW (which was Men’s Western) was introduced, using 11 oz denim and a rust-proof zippered fly. Midwest-Vintage goes on to say this, “Wrangler, like Lee initially used the arcuate stitch on the back pockets, but this was quickly replaced in 1948 with the “W” stitch. It is interesting to note that the Wrangler label or the back of the jeans has never been produced in leather. The Wrangler label was first made in pressed card and then in plastic for a simple reason. The Wrangler jeans were designed for cowboys and when the leather label and leather saddle came into contact they would stick together. These jeans had a “Blue Bell” label sewn on the back of the zipper fly with the sizing and the world “Sanforized”.”
It is interesting to note that these earlier products had both the Wrangler and Blue Bell logo sewn into them!
Since 1936, Bass has been producing this iconic classic loafer shoe. Here’s a little history lesson for you:
(from Wikipedia)” The Norwegians producing leisure slippers of the moccasin style in the 1930s began exporting these to the rest of Europe where they were taken up by visiting Americans,and championed by the American Esquire magazine. Some photographs included with the Esquire feature were of Norwegian farmers in a cattle loafing area.The Spaulding family in New Hampshire started making shoes based on this design in the early 1930s,deeming them loafers, the general term for slip-on shoes that remains still in use in America. In 1934, G.H. Bass (a bootmaker in Maine) started making loafers under the name Weejuns (sounding like Norwegians).The distinctive addition was a strip of leather across the saddle with a diamond cut-out. Initially only worn in the summer at home, the shoe grew in popularity in America to become a significant part of men’s casual shoe wardrobe, though back in Europe its ubiquity has never reached the same degree. When American students in the 1950s wishing to make a fashion statement took to inserting a penny into the diamond-shaped slit on their Weejuns, the name penny loafer came to be applied to this style of slip-on and has since stuck, though the practice itself does not continue.“
Bass still offers Weejun style shoes, and even has a particular “Weejuns” category in their catalogs! Shop and enjoy!
In 1943, Blue Bell Inc. acquired the Casey Jones Company… who had been making jeans since 1905. The combined knowledge promoted the Wrangler line of jeans, designed with cowboys in mind. In 1947, style 11MW (which was Men’s Western) was introduced, using 11 oz denim and a rust-proof zippered fly. Midwest-Vintage goes on to say this, “Wrangler, like Lee initially used the arcuate stitch on the back pockets, but this was quickly replaced in 1948 with the “W” stitch. It is interesting to note that the Wrangler label or the back of the jeans has never been produced in leather. The Wrangler label was first made in pressed card and then in plastic for a simple reason. The Wrangler jeans were designed for cowboys and when the leather label and leather saddle came into contact they would stick together. These jeans had a “Blue Bell” label sewn on the back of the zipper fly with the sizing and the world “Sanforized”.”
