A label on the inside of a pocket reads: “the only kind made by White Labor,” which is a reference of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
It was adopted following the passage of the xenophobic Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese laborers from entering the US for 10 years, a Levi’s spokesperson told the WSJ.
Levi’s said that the company’s owners thought the slogan would “improve sales and align with the views of consumers at the time.” It was then scrapped in the 1890s, the spokesperson added.
Levi’s jeans from 1880s with racist slogan sold at auction for $76K
A pair of well-worn 19th-century Levi’s jeans — featuring a racist slogan — has sold at an auction for $76,000.
nypost.com