Germans and the American Dream: Levi Strauss, the man who made blue jeans famous

In der Reihe „Germans and the American Dream“ stellen wir jeden Monat eine:n deutsche:n Auswanderer:in vor, der oder die sich auf der anderen Seite des Atlantiks einen Namen gemacht und den Amerikanischen Traum gelebt hat oder lebt. In der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On geht es um den Erschaffer eines Kultobjekts der Modewelt: Levi Strauss. Lesen Sie hier einen Auszug aus dem Porträt über den Vater der Bluejeans.

Levi Strauss, the man who made blue jeans famous

American English

By Jessica Stuart

1                 Levi’s jeans can be found in closets around the world. The iconic jeans with the two-horse label – and blue jeans in general – have become, for many, a symbol of America, the country where they were invented.

2                 But this very American symbol wouldn’t be what it is today if it hadn’t had a little help from Germany: founder Levi Strauss was a German-born success story.

3                 Levi Strauss was born in 1829 to a Jewish family in Buttenheim, Germany, at a time when life in the country was becoming more difficult for Jewish people. After his father died in 1846, Strauss, his mother, and two of his sisters left the country for New York, most likely traveling in the part of a ship reserved for poor people. Strauss’s great-great-grandnephew, Bob Haas, would later say that they did so to “escape restrictive anti-Jewish laws” and to “seek religious freedom and economic opportunity in America.”

4                 Eighteen years old when he arrived in New York, Strauss immediately began working for J. Strauss Brother & Co., a wholesale dry goods shop owned by two of his older brothers, who had already been living in the city for a few years.

5                 He stayed there until 1853, when he decided to take advantage of the California Gold Rush, leaving New York and seeking his fortune in San Francisco.

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Den vollständigen Artikel lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe der Read On.

Vocabulary

0–2             closet (AE) Schrank — iconic legendär — in general im Allgemeinen — founder Gründer(in)

3                 Jewish jüdisch — reserved vorgesehen — great-great-grandnephew Ururgroßneffe — restrictive einschränkend — law Gesetz — to seek s.th. etw. suchen — religious freedom Religionsfreiheit — economic opportunity finanzielle Chancen; Geschäftsgelegenheiten

4–5             wholesale dry goods shop Kurzwarengroßhandel — to take advantage of s.th. etw. zu seinem Vorteil nutzen — Gold Rush Goldrausch — to seek one’s fortune sein Glück (ver)suchen

Photo: Pixabay/Prawny