1950's: Stars like James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando endorse jeans image.

Mid-60's: Bell bottoms introduced.

1971: Levis replaces capital "E" with little "e" on their red tab.

70's & 80's: Blue jeans black-market and collecting markets emerge worldwide, especially strong in Japan.

1990's: Huge oversized jeans rise and fall in fashion. New industry leaders emerge.

Today's lesson is don't throw away that old pair of jeans in your attic. Beginning in the 1970's historic and popular interest gained considerable ground on artist merit concerning antiques. Today, a well-preserved, properly marketed 19th century pair of Levi's might fetch $50,000-$100,000. A 1940's Lee "Cowboy" brand denim jacket will bring approximately $6,000. A Levi jacket of the same period will fetch $5,000. A pair of never-washed 1930's Levi jeans complete with a "buckleback" is worth around $2,000.