Jacob began purchasing goods directly from Levi Strauss & Company and produced about 200 pairs of riveted pants - made of white duck cloth during 1871-72, with a label reading "Patent Applied For" - prior to his patent application. The pants were sold for $3 a pair to storekeepers, surveyors, teamsters, farmers, and anyone who wanted them.
In July 1872, with sales going well, Jacob wanted to procure a patent to protect his idea. However, having spent much of his time and all of his earnings on his experiments and inventions, he noted: My wife was crying and begged me not to spend another dollar in inventions, for we needed every dollar that I earned.
Without the money (equals about $1,540.00 today) needed for yet another patent application, Jacob decided to write Levi Strauss & Company and ask the company to cover the expense in exchange for half the patent rights. In that letter to Levi Strauss, Jacob writes if the patent is granted I am willing to go either to San Francisco or New York to manufacture or represent a factory.
Levi Strauss took him up on his offer and in April 1873, the Davis family moved to San Francisco where Jacob assumed a foreman's position to oversee the manufacturing of riveted work pants.
That was the beginning of what today is the lucrative business of selling jeans in every color and style imaginable. Residing in San Francisco for the remainder of their days, Jacob died in 1908 and Annie passed in 1912.