Among the great changes during World War II the United States government told all clothing manufactures that they had to cut down on the amount of metal, fabric and thread in their garments to conserve raw materials for the war effort.

Levi Strauss & Co. did what they could to help. Off came the watch pocket rivets, the crotch rivet and the cinch and its two rivets, eliminating both fabric and metal. A little harder to bear was the order to remove the Arcuate stitching which, being considered decorative, wasn’t deemed to have a function on the garment. However, LS&CO. thought it did have a function as one of the prime identifiers of the classic 501® jeans. Rather than lose this important piece of branding, LS&CO. worked out a system to paint the Arcuate design on every pair of 501® jeans that came out of the factory. While the paint would only stand a certain amount of washing before it came off, having the mark visible when customers went into their local general mercantile was the important thing.

1967 505® JEAN BOY

1947 501® JEAN

1955 501® TREMBLER CUSTOMIZED

1967 505® JEAN

1967 605® JEAN SKINNY VEES

Design Details
Covered rivets
“E” red Tab
Two Horse leather patch
Painted Arcuate
Red selvage
Pocket bag material varies during wartime –this one comes in green herringbone
Red selvage Cone Mills Fabric

‘First to Offer’ in the Philadelphia region.
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