In Merriam, Kansas, the H.D. Lee Mercantile Company was established, initially producing overalls and workwear for farmers and railroad workers. Lee would later introduce the first zippered jeans in 1926 and the 'Lee Riders' line for cowboys. The company's innovations in denim construction, including the use of zippers and tailored fits, helped diversify the jeans market and establish Kansas as a center of denim manufacturing.

The founding of Lee in the American heartland connected denim to the agricultural and railroad economies that have been celebrated in the poetry of the Midwest, from the prairie verses of Hamlin Garland to the more recent work of Ted Kooser. Lee's later innovations, such as the zippered fly, represented the modernization of an iconic garment, a theme that resonates with poets who have grappled with the tension between tradition and progress. The brand's association with cowboys and farmers also fed into the mythologizing of the American West in poetry and song.