Did You Know?

There are a few things on our garments that we just simply accept, not asking “why so?”.

One of these things is the pocket within a pocket in your blue jeans.

What’s that tiny pocket on my jeans?

Speaking of tiny pockets, that little pocket-within-a-pocket on your jeans can feel like a bygone design flourish. Perhaps you put small change in there, but most adults tend to forget it even exists. Despite all the names it’s had over time — such as.frontier pocket, coin pocket, and ticket pocket — it originally had a specific purpose that didn’t pertain to any of those objects: a place to put your watch.

Jeans were originally called waist overalls when Levi Strauss & Co. first began making them in 1879, and the company’s jeans always had this dedicated spot for pocket watches — especially those worn by miners, carpenters, and the like. They only had three other pockets (one on the back and two on the front) at the time, making the watch pocket especially prominent. As for why it has stuck around, the answer seems to be a familiar one: people were used to it and no one felt inclined to phase it out.

So, there you have it, chums!