Jeans made before the Second World War were work clothes, and most were worn until they fell apart. The ones left are mostly the ones somebody lost or forgot. Brit Eaton, the Colorado dealer Heddels called a fashion archaeologist, finds them in farmhouse attics, ghost towns and abandoned mine shafts. Levi's added a pair of 1890s Spring Bottoms to its archive after a homeowner in Leadville, Colorado, found them in a shed behind a house. That rarity is why a true pre-war pair is a museum and dealer item, and why so many pre-war-looking jeans for sale are reproductions. Here's how to tell what you're looking at.
The pre-war details
Most of what marks a pre-war Levi's 501 is on the back.
- Cinch and suspender buttons. Early waist overalls had a cinch at the back of the waistband and buttons for suspenders. Levi's added belt loops in 1922 and kept the suspender buttons and cinch for men who still wore suspenders. Levi's says some stores kept scissors at the till to cut the cinch off for belt wearers. Japanese Wikipedia says the suspender buttons lasted until 1937, while Heddels' timeline drops them with the 1936 model.
- Exposed back-pocket rivets. Copper rivets showed on the back pockets until 1937, when Levi's hid them under the denim.
- No red tab. The red tab arrived on September 1, 1936. A 501 with belt loops, a cinch and exposed rivets but no tab is from about 1922–1936.
- A hand-sewn look to the arcuate. Before the war the back pocket arcuate was sewn with a single needle, so Levi's says each one came out a little different. The neat diamond where the two lines cross arrived with the double-needle machines of 1947.
- Selvedge colour. Levi's first used Amoskeag denim with plain white selvedge, and Cone's red line for the 501 dates from 1927. Heddels says other colours like blue or grey turn up from that era too.
- Back pockets. A single back pocket means about 1901 or earlier. Levi's says the second pocket came in 1901, and Heddels says 1902.
Heddels adds that chain-stitched hems only appear from somewhere between 1933 and 1935, though so many old jeans were re-hemmed by their owners that the hem is a weak clue.
The wartime simplifications
During the war Levi's jeans counted as staple work clothing under the War Production Board, and the government controlled how they were made to save material. Levi's describes what changed. The crotch rivet and the watch pocket rivets came off the 501. The arcuate stitching counted as decoration, so Levi's painted it on instead, and a paper flasher promised it was painted only For The Duration. Branded buttons gave way to standard laurel-leaf buttons, and some pairs used military green pocketing in place of white. Heddels and Japanese Wikipedia both say the cinch was dropped too. Collectors call these wartime pairs S501XX. Most have lost their painted arcuates by now, so a wartime 501 usually has blank back pockets.
Jackets changed as well. Levi's removed the pocket flap from its jacket, and Heddels says wartime Type I jackets have donut buttons, some with the laurel leaf, and a bronze cinch slider instead of a silver one. Our Type I page covers the jacket.
In 1947 the post-war 501 came off the line. The cinch and the crotch rivet were gone for good, the watch pocket rivets came back, and the arcuate was stitched again with its diamond. That's the jean most later 501s descend from, including the redline 501.
The other makers
Levi's wasn't alone, and pre-war workwear from other brands survives too.
- Lee. Heddels and Denimhunters credit Lee with the Union-All coverall in 1913, its tougher Jelt denim in 1925 and a zip fly on jeans in 1926. Heddels says Lee's hair-on-hide patch was used from 1936 to 1943, and Lee's lazy S arcuate arrived in 1944, the year after Levi's trademarked its own. See our Lee dungarees page.
- Blue Bell. Before it made Wranglers, Blue Bell sold workwear, including Super Big Ben overalls in sanforized fabric from 1936. Our Blue Bell overall page covers its overalls.
- JCPenney. Penney's started its Big Mac workwear line in 1921 and its better Foremost line soon after. Jordan Peck of Idaho Jeans, writing for Heddels, says early Foremost jeans copied the 501 closely, with blue selvedge denim, rivets, a buckle back and an arcuate close to Levi's, and that the buttons are the easiest way to tell them apart. A later model dropped one watch pocket rivet, which he puts down to the Depression.
- The US Army. Heddels says the Army issued blue denim work uniforms from 1908, and its first denim work trousers had a cinch back and suspender buttons.
Overalls and chore coats from workwear makers turn up too. Our Big Yank railroad overall page covers one of them.
Reproductions to rule out
Pre-war details are exactly what reproduction makers love. Levi's Vintage Clothing has made 1922, 1933, 1937 and 1944 versions of the 501, and its 1922 and 1933 jeans have the cinch, suspender buttons and exposed rivets. Recent versions are made in Japan. Japanese and other repro brands make cinch-back jeans too. Check these before you believe a pair is old.
- Tags. A care tag, a modern size tag or a country label like Made in Japan means a reissue. Pre-war jeans have none of them.
- The patch. Repro brands put their own name on the patch. LVC uses a Levi's patch, so check its tags and country label instead.
- Too clean. A pre-war pair that has survived usually shows it, with fading, repairs and a worn cinch. Crisp dark denim with every detail in place is more likely a reproduction.
Buying one
Expect wear and repairs on anything this old. What matters most is that the parts are original and the size can still be worn, so ask for measurements, close-ups of the cinch, buttons and rivets, and photos of the inside of the pockets. If you just want the look, a good reproduction is the sensible way to wear it. Our reissue guide covers the main ones, and the 501 dating guide picks up where this one ends.
