indigofan

indigofan

Monday, 28 January 2008

Levi Strauss Factory 1906 (updated)


I stumbled upon this 1906 image of the Levi Strauss Factory.
Source: http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7580093v/?docId=hb7580093v&&brand=oac&layout=printable-details
The Great Sanfrancisco Earthquake was also in 1906 (April 18th). The picture is obviously from after the quake because you can see the scaffolding and mess of bricks on the right-hand side. Something that struck me is that I've read many reports that the factory was totally destroyed.

From this picture it is clear that there is substantial damage, but I can't see evidence of fire or why most of the records wouldn't be recoverable.

Update:
The factory in the picture is not the main Levi Strauss factory.

From Lynn Downey:

Actually, the factory at 10th and Clay Streets in Oakland that's in the photo was just an adjunct to our main factory south of Market in San Francisco, which was completely destroyed. We only made shirts in the Oakland location (I don't know why the photographer said it was an overall factory - perhaps he only knew us for our jeans?), and was not as crucial to our business as the S.F. facility. We transferred some of our jeans production to Oakland until our new factory at 250 Valencia Street could be opened in San Francisco in November of 1906.


Thanks for the information Lynn.

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