The Weirdly Lucrative Business of Searching for Old Jeans

Props to HAI for getting an appointment to film a 7 second clip of old jeans.

The thought that some dudes pair of jeans that he shit himself in then threw down the mines is now available for appointment viewing is just amazing to me

I know that gold/silver miners in the 1800s often went bust, but I didn't think that they literally lost their pants in the mines.

My uncle traded his jeans for priceless antiques in Russia in the 70s. Now I’m using acoustic insulation made from shredding jeans. Value is weird.

I'm actually shocked that you omitted the distinguishing feature of the crotch rivet. Levi's originally placed a rivet there, but eventually removed it because people kept burning their dicks after sitting around a fire for a while. I can't recall exactly when they got rid of it, but it certainly didn't last too long.

Back in the 80s, one of my dad's friends used to buy all the jeans at yard sales and Goodwill for pennies, and then resell them in Japan for ridiculous amounts of money. Ah, the good old days.

Hey they should call them "Indiana Jeans"

I still don't understand why they're so expensive

Summer of 1990 my father took us on an adventure to the Soviet union. We took a tour bus through Europe, all the way to Moscow, with a suitcase full of American-made jeans. My father traded the jeans for cases of champagne that were worth their weight in gold in the UK. He cut the bus driver in for a case, and he smuggled the bottles out. My father drank a case of champagne on the drive back. I have a real Soviet flag from that trip. We were in a park, and the old man saw some people selling flags. The flags were one-sided and for show. My father wanted a real flag and pointed at the one on the pole, saying, "Like that one." So the guy jumps up and climbs the flagpole. Next thing I know, the guy is giving my father the flag from the flag poll for money. He was explaining to me why it was important that the flag had print on both sides when he said, "Keep walking, faster, let's go." I look back, and the guy who just sold us the flag was being chased by two guys in nice clothing. It's a nice flag...

This is actually a broader phenomenon of collecting (either personal or by museums) that working class clothing and children’s clothing, as well as clothing in less common sizes (very large or very long mostly) are under high demand because they were significantly less likely to survive. Working class clothing would be worn as long as possible then cut up to make children’s clothing, then cut up to make rags, and only then they would be given to the rag and bone man, who would sell the rags on to be made into anything from cheap fabrics like ticking, shabby, or linsy woolsey, or sold to be mixed with blood and bone meal to be turned into fertilizer.

In the early 70s, in Portsmouth, NH, kids weren't allowed to wear blue jeans to school. They could wear any other color, but no blue jeans. One day my sister wore some Levi's. The school was so upset they called my mom, and she was like, "You're kidding." They explained BLUE jeans weren't allowed because that's what common, blue-collar laborers wore and heaven forbid, that was bad. Mom pretty much told them to go to Hell, and sis kept wearing them.

Not playing in abandoned mines is actually a conversation I had with my parents growing up in Colorado.

It’s so funny that in the 50s teenagers would wear jeans to look rebellious meanwhile now people think I am dressing up every day because I wear jeans to school every day.

I think you skipped over the part explaining why people wilm pay 5 figures. Yes, demand has been high but most people aren't dropping their salaries on a pair of old Levi's

Mining through the rubble of the Jortstorm can be a pathway to many riches

It should be noted that not all Levi's worth money is from before 1970. For example, Selvedge 501s were still made up to 1985 - selvedge denim is better made, higher quality denim that is less likely to rip, and thus worth more. Since Levi's don't make these anymore, these can go for $300+, even pairs from the 80s. Additionally, original bellbottoms from the late 60s and 70s (646 and 684 models) can go for a few hundred, particularly ones with the Big E tag (though it should be noted that Big E does not necessarily mean on it's own that the jeans are from before 1970, as they were still in use in some lines up until the late 70s).

old clothes collectors are fucking wild my dad was wearing one of 70's or 80's band tshirts, hes been wearing the same ones since he got them from the tour they are thread bare, and wearing the same clothes for 40-50 years makes them a special kind of funky and both me and my mother have joked about burning them because of how bad they are anyway one day while we are out a girl comes over and asks where he got it from "uhhh, the tour on the back of it" offered him a thousand for it there and then "nah, I like it"

As someone who is into specifically Japanese denim and its history, I've always found the vintage levi hunters weird in a super relatable way.

While in electronics school a fellow student paid for his entire tuition by packing his sailboat with jeans and sailing to south America to sell them. He mentioned always getting stopped on the way back (empty) by the feds. Now I know.

NO do not go into dangerous mines and steal jeans... There is a MASSIVE problem with people going into old mines and taking things out of them.