Hi all. Like Daniel above, I'm an avid collector of all things G.W.G.
So, what am I doing here? To be fair, G.W.G. and Levi are almost brothers - in fact are corporate family, with Levi taking a position in G.W.G. back in the sixties, then buying the company outright in, I think, the mid-eighties. Also, as production increasingly moved offshore, the last plant in North America still making Levi's (Dockers) ironically enough was G.W.G's flagship plant in Edmonton, Alberta.
Lots else is similar between G.W.G. and Levi's. In the day the two firms dominated the market so much that they stood accused by competitors of cornering the market on quality heavy denim. Both manufacturers incorporated design improvements of the other - both had the same colour choices - both, by garment manufacturing standards, were considered forward thinking, good employers.
On colour (yes, I am Canadian, eh?) I have to give Levi high praise for black. Love my G.W.G., but not they, not anyone else has ever come close to nailing black as Levi 501 red tabs. Conversely, G.W.G. absolutely nailed turquoise, or what it called salty blue. Matched with the first silver stitching - then later black, G.W.G. turquoise blue is, well was, something else.
White? Couldn't really tell one from the other. Dark blue? Well, they must have used totally different dyes, because, while a pair of blue Levi's and a pair of dark blue G.W.G.'s started out the same - not too many wash and wearings down the road - they took on completely different hues. You didn't need to see the pocket stitching or the patch to know a worn pair of Levi's from a worn pair of G.W.G.'s.
Pocket stitching is where G.W.G. and Levi were / are different, though not s much as at first blush. Take the stylized V on the back pockets of Levi's - start it a bit higher and then continue the stitching beyond the V and the two tracks will cross and then come back together - which describes the pocket stitching on a pair of G.W.G.'s. Sort of like someone holding a length of rope and tying a knot in the middle. (G.W.G advertised heavily way back when to cowboys and working men and coils or lengths of rope seemed to show up in many of its magazine and newspaper ads).
The last, big differences between these two classic jean makers is naming conventions and patches. While Levi's differentiated styles (and price points) by the colour of the Levi "tab" and the style number (501, 317, etc) and had multiple styles available at any one time, G.W.G. branded its styles by name and each name usually replaced a previous style and name completely. Hence (and I have all these in my collection) G.W.G. Kings replaced G.W.G. Cowboy Kings and were in time replaced by, umm, just G.W.G. - no name attached, which were in turn replaced by Scrubbie G.W.G. and so on and so on.
Which brings us to the last, but polar opposite of differences - the patch. Easy for Levi, with its classic rectangular, 2 colour leather patch. I remember when it was an honour to have someone sneak up on you and rip the Levi patch right off your jeans. That was lot tougher with 501's of course - a lighter weight leather but sewn all the way around vs the heavier weight Levi leather patch sewn top and bottom, but not sides (a belt thing?) making them easy to grab on to and tear.
G.W.G. on the other hand had elaborate 3 colour square patches sewn in silk thread and attached on all four sides securely to the jeans just above the right back pocket. The size changed over time - from I think a HUGE 2 inches or so square, down to a more standard 1 1/2 inches square - but, except for Scrubbies (and even they initially) the template was the same: square background of white, red circle inside, with the word G.W.G. and style name sewn in black under the name G.W.G. inside the circle.
You have to understand one thing - the patch didn't just say G.W.G. Always the W was just a slight bit higher than either flanking G, and there were sort of Harley Davidson style wings that stretched out from either end point of the W over top the neighbouring G and outside the red circle. I can see how G.W.G. was, for a time popular with bikers.
Scrubbies (mid seventies to eighties) had a 2 colour patch, white square and orange, smaller square inside with no style name, just the name G.W.G. slanted at a 45 degree angle top right.
Anyway, the days of those classic "loud and proud" patches are gone and you'd be hard pressed today to know the difference between a pair of G.W.G. and a pair of orange tab Levi's. *sigh*
If you'd like to know more, there's a great virtual exhibit at: http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/virtualExhibit/GWG/index.html
and if you want to talk to me about G.W.G., heck, go for a walk about in classic G.W.G. - and wouldn't that scandalize Whyte Ave on a Friday or Saturday night - just email me (and I hope this doesn't break any protocols) at gwgboy@iname.com
Back on topic now ...
