May 20th, Monday | Jean & Bees & Toussaint

The date is May 20th, Monday, and today I’m coming to you from Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

On this day in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received the patent for the use of copper rivets on jeans. Rivets are those little round metal things on your jeans, usually on a seam, that make the seam stronger. Jacob Davis, a tailor in Nevada, had the idea but didn’t have the money to file the patent. He was frequently buying denim from Levi Strauss and suggested they go in on the patent together. Strauss agreed. 

At the time, denim overalls and clothing were primarily worn by working men – miners, ranchers, lumberjacks, rail workers. And they wanted clothes that could withstand the hard wear. Denim fabric was much tougher than the denim we see in stores today, and the copper rivets helped the seams and pockets last as long as the fabric. 

The popularity of jeans in the 1950s soared and copper rivets on back pockets all but disappeared from Levi’s jeans. The new wave of jean-wearers complained about the back-pocket rivets scratching up the furniture they sat in.

Today is possibly the birthday of Toussaint Louverture, general, leader of the Haitian Revolution and president of Haiti. He was born in 1743 on the island of Hispaniola, in the French colony Saint-Domingue, in what is present-day Haiti. There are no official records of Louverture’s birthday as he was born into slavery. Of his roots Louverture said: “I was born a slave, but nature gave me a soul of a free man.”

He acquired the name ‘Louverture’ during his time as a leader of the Haitian Revolution. L’ouverture is French for “opening” just as an overture in music is the opening song to a larger performance. It’s possible it was given to him because of a gap between his front teeth, or more nobly, because he opened the way for the Haitian Revolution against France. 

Louverture is often called “The Black Napoleon” for his prowess in battle, but his tact and leadership may make him more closely resemble George Washington. Early on in Louverture’s military career, he and leaders of the Haitian Revolution were engaged in a tense negotiation with France for extended rights for slaves and freed slaves, in exchange for a number of white prisoners. The French rejected the first proposal, leaving the revolution leaders enraged.  Regrouping the revolt leaders thought killing the prisoners would show the French they meant business. But Louverture disagreed. He realized that the prisoners were the main bargaining chip for Haiti. He calmed his vindictive peers and they were able to return to the negotiating table and come out with a favorable deal. 

Through strategic alliances and tactful military planning, Louverture successfully led Haiti to becoming a slavery free colony and independent nation in 1801. His win created a domino effect in France, which outlawed slavery a year later in 1802. Louverture noted: “It is easy to cut down the tree of liberty, but not so easy to restore it to life.” 

And today is World Bee Day in honor of Anton Janša, an apiary (beekeeper) during the second half of the 1700s. Hailing from present-day Slovenia, Anton was a talented painter who abandoned art to pursue beekeeping. His father was a beekeeper but Anton’s love for bees went beyond his father’s average beekeeping. Anton improved hive arrangements, allowing for the box-stacking structures used to this day. He published books on beekeeping and toured through the Hapsburg Empire lecturing and promoting beekeeping. 

In his foremost book on bees and beekeeping, Anton said: “Amongst all God's beings there are none so hard working and useful to man with so little attention needed for its keep as the bee.”

'Hope' is the thing with feathers (254)

Emily Dickinson

'Hope' is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me.

Thank you for listening. I’m your host, Virginia Combs, wishing you a good morning, a better day, and a lovely evening.