This morning while reading the ever-depressing world news and enjoying a cup of coffee, ZZ Top was softly playing ‘Blue Jean Blues’ in the background. This song got me to remembering. But before I go back in time, let’s start in Thailand.
Take a look at this wooden carving shown above and notice the brand name. I bought this statue to add to our pizza décor, but the truth is that I never have bought a pair of Lee jeans and instead always went for the Levi’s.
At a typical Bangkok shopping mall, a person will pay anywhere from Baht 1,600 baht per pair ($51) to more than B3,000 ($100). But here is the kicker. The jeans stand a good chance of being fakes. They look good, but once I touch the fabric, I know. Not that it makes any difference as I haven’t bought any jeans for years.
I want to say a pair of Levi’s back in high school cost about five or six bucks. And if my memory is correct, I bought all my jeans from a store on the south side of the Butler Square. Ironically, the store was called Sam'l Levy Mercantile Company but we just called it Levi's like the jeans. This was way before the days of computers, so the salesman used a combination pulley system and clothes pins to deliver the bill to the cashier.
Google said the price in ’73 was ten dollars, but I don’t remember paying that much. Regardless, I do know that jeans were expensive on my budget and that I only had a handful for school. The worn-out jeans with holes were for chores.
My father use to cuff his jeans back in the day and never could understand why I didn’t want to do the same thing in high school. Nowadays, I can’t understand why youngsters pay good money to wear jeans with holes in them...
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