Probably The Oldest Model Of Levi's Jeans From 1873 Was Auctioned Off For $76,000. The Internet Has Mixed Feelings About This.

Legendary vintage denim hunter Brit Eaton held the first annual Durango Vintage Festivus four-day auction last weekend in Colorado. It included Levi's jeans, which were found and literally saved from an abandoned mine a few years ago.

This is probably the oldest model of Levi's jeans from 1873. They were auctioned off for $76,000 in September by collectors Zip Stevenson and Kyle Haupert (of Golden State Vintage fame). Critics on the Internet react that such a rare model should rather be in a museum.

However, Briton Eaton, who enjoys this considerable sum today, does not consider himself a finder of a vintage piece. He himself previously bought these jeans from the famous author of the book Jeans of The Old West, Michael Allen Harris, who revealed in an interview with The Guardian in 2015: “A few years ago, my father-in-law dug up the holy grail, the oldest Levi's jeans from 1873 - the first year of production. I wish we could keep them in our archive, but I recently had an offer for about $100,000. My father-in-law doesn't want to sell them and neither do I, but I have two daughters to send to college, so they might have to go.” As it turned out last weekend, the jeans now found their new owner.

The history of Levi's jeans, which are today synonymous with high quality, dates back to 1873, when German merchant Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis decided to patent denim work pants reinforced with metal threads in California. It meant only one thing: the birth of the most famous pants in the world, blue jeans.

The iconic model was first intended for workers and miners who needed durable clothing for the conditions in which they worked all day. The auctioned model has wax stains from candles that were used before gas lamps were invented.