Heddels Blowout

Denim soldiers forward through one of the darkest times in recent American history, the Great Depression. Reed and David explore the denim histories of both the Dust Bowl migrants and the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose denim uniforms built much of the infrastructure we still enjoy today. Hear about all that and more in part 7 of our ongoing podcast series.

If you'd like to support the show, head over to make a purchase at the Heddels Shop. Get 10% off your order with the code BLOWOUT.

If you have any questions you’d like us to answer, topics to cover, or people to talk to, email us at [email protected]. Also help us out by dropping a review!

This week we're on with renowned photographer and former vintage dealer / cigarette security guard Eric Kvatek. After getting an initial lucky break, Eric has shot for everyone from 45rpm, Strongarm, Battenwear, W'menswear, Holubar, Heddels, and most notably all the books for Japanese brand Kapital.

One of his passions from his collecting days is printed t-shirts, specifically Harley-Davidson t-shirts from their xenophobic anti-Japan era of the 1970s and 80s. As the US manufacturing economy waned and thousands of blue collar Americans were out of work, Harley lashed out with a series of both authorized and bootleg t-shirts aimed at their Japanese competitors and the Japanese people in general. Eric and David talk through the story of how these shirts came into existence and the violent effect they had on Asian-Americans, including Chinese-American Vincent Chin who was beaten to death by white Chrysler auto workers.

To view examples of these shirts from Eric's collection, check out the article on heddels.com. You can also follow Eric on Instagram @eric_kvatek or visit his website kvatek.com. As always, you can get a 10% discount at the Heddels Shop with code BLOWOUT including a recent restocks of Teamster Tees.

Saddle up, partner! We're here to talk about how the image of the cowboy is a manufactured piece of myth-making that helped spread denim pants all across these United States. In part 6 of our denim history marathon, Reed and David discuss the origins of the actual cowboys in the tradition of Mexican vaqueros and how that morphed into denim clad gunslingers on the silver screen.

Listen in for all that and more on this week's episode. As always, listeners get 10% off at the Heddels Shop with the code BLOWOUT.

If you have any questions you’d like us to answer, topics to cover, or people to talk to, email us at [email protected]. Also help us out by dropping a review!

As the rivet cold war subsided out west, blue jeans went national. We dig into the effects rail connectivity had on the expansion of jeans eastward and how certain companies began dividing up the map into regional territories, establishing the modern day "Big Three" of Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler/Blue Bell.

Listen in for all that and more on this week's episode. As always, listeners get 10% off at the Heddels Shop with the code BLOWOUT.

If you have any questions you’d like us to answer, topics to cover, or people to talk to, email us at [email protected]. Also help us out by dropping a review!

We're back in 1870s San Francisco and Reed and David are exploring the fallout of Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis's exclusive patent to put rivets on pants, creating the first iteration of what we know as jeans today. The resulting  period kicked off an arms race of competing brands trying to make their own inventions to compete with the patent-protected riveted Levi's pants.

If you'd like to learn more, much of the reference for this episode is from Michael Allen Harris's phenomenal book Jeans of the Old West. If you'd like to support the work we're doing, check out the Heddels Shop where we have a new selection of Teamster Tees in Black and Grey. As always, listeners get 10% off with the code BLOWOUT.

It's nearly the end of the 2020 election in the United States. And David's taking this week's episode to explain why something seemingly innocuous as a pair of jeans is very much a product of and affected by our political system.

If you live here, please take the time to vote either in person or by dropping off your ballot. In many states, you can register same day and you can check right here where the correct spot is for you to go:

https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/

Be safe out there, we'll be back to Denim History next week!

We did it, I swear we actually talk about jeans in this one! It's only taken about 90 minutes of background history for us to go from fabric to pants made out of that fabric. In this episode we delve into the rough history of the town that birthed the modern blue jean, San Francisco and the hardscrabble gold rushers that made it boom. Including two local immigrants who made a deal that would change pants forever.

If you like this show, be sure to subscribe and give us a review. It'll help us get heard by more people, which in turn, will help us make more things you can hear! Also, buy some Denim Wash. Get free shipping on your Denim Wash order with the code HEDDELSLAUNDROMAT.

The story of denim continues—into the newly formed United States! David and Reed explore the development of mass production textiles in the early days of America and what life was like in these mill towns of 1800s New England. And then we discuss a person who unknowingly created the conditions that lead to millions of people being enslaved and probably caused the U.S. Civil War (and then he knowingly invented a faster and cheaper way to build guns).

All that and more on this week's episode! If you want an easy entry into the world of denim, check out our selection of Tellason Stock jeans and jackets available on the Heddels Shop—10% off now with the code BLOWOUT at checkout.

Denim is the thrust of what we discuss on Heddels - and our original namesake in Rawr Denim. It’s become the people’s fabric, democratized into ubiquity around the world in just 150 short years.

But how did it get there? How are we at the point where jeans can be the “default pant option” for a large part of the globe? We’re getting into the history of denim on a new series, and in this episode we're starting at the beginning in the "Speculation Zone" around the origin of our favorite fabric. We dig into the etymology of denim and the many competing theories of where denim jeans (and denim and jean) first developed.

If you want an easy entry into the world of denim, check out our selection of Tellason Stock jeans and jackets available on the Heddels Shop—10% off now with the code BLOWOUT at checkout!

We could put a man on the moon, but recently we couldn't put a piece of fabric on our collective faces. What happened to the mythical "Made in USA" of yore? Was there ever a Golden Age of American manufacturing? How did we get there and can we recapture it again?

David and Reed put on their historian speculation hats and dig into why things used to be made in America, why workers used to be paid more, and why things in this country once functioned much more equitably than they do now.

If you want a piece of union made in USA goodness, have a look at the Teamster Tees available on the Heddels Shop—10% off now with the code BLOWOUT at checkout!