H.D. Lee Company · 1889–present (clothing since 1911)
Vintage Lee denim
Lee started as a Kansas grocery wholesaler and got into clothes in 1911, when Henry David Lee grew tired of late deliveries from Eastern overall makers and built his own sewing plant in Salina. The Union-All, a jacket and work pants sewn together, followed in 1913, and by 1919 Lee had a nine-story building in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1920s brought Cowboy Pants (1924), the 101 lot number, Jelt Denim and the zip fly, and the Buddy Lee doll sold the clothes from the early 1920s until 1962. Riders replaced the Cowboy name after the war, the Rider jacket arrived in 1948 and the Storm Rider name in 1953. VF Corporation bought Lee in 1969, it moved to Kontoor Brands in 2019 with headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and in 2026 Kontoor agreed to sell it to Authentic Brands Group. In Japan, Edwin has made Lee since 1987, including the Archives reissues.
6 models we cover.
How to date one from the photos
A lazy-S stitch on the back pockets (from 1944), X-shaped bar tacks instead of exposed back-pocket rivets, and a small Lee tab on the right back pocket from the 1950s. Inside, a woven waistband tag went from red to black and from the center to one side over the 1940s to 60s. ® and M.R. appear on patches and tabs from the 1960s on. A hair-on-hide leather patch means 1936 to the early 1940s. Top buttons are stamped Lee Cowboy or Lee Riders.
Salina, Kansas. Henry David Lee founded the H.D. Lee Mercantile Company there in 1889 as a wholesale grocer and began making overalls in 1911.
Lee · Straight leg
101Lee 101 Riders
1924–present (Cowboy pants until the mid-1940s, then Riders)
$35–$70 typical ask
201 on eBay
Lee · Straight leg
101BLee 101B Button Fly
Originals from the 1920s to the 1940s; reissued since the late 1990s
$160–$390 typical ask
72 on eBay
Lee · Jackets and coats
101-LJLee Storm Rider
1949–present (Storm Rider label from 1953)
$140–$280 typical ask
143 on eBay
Lee · Jackets and coats
100-JLee Westerner
Late 1950s into the 1960s
$400–$525 typical ask
4 on eBay
Lee · Straight leg
191-ZLee Dungarees 191-Z
About 1950 into the 1970s
$25–$45 typical ask
51 on eBay
Lee · Straight leg
101-ZLee 101-Z Riders
Late 1920s to the early 1970s; reissued today
$280–$1,550 typical ask
25 on eBay
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