Slide your hand into the front right pocket of a pair of classic jeans and you'll find a strange little pocket inside it. It's too small for your phone, your keys, or most wallets. Some people stash a coin or a guitar pick there. But why does it exist at all?
Here's the short answer: it's a watch pocket. Levi Strauss first added the small riveted pocket to its jeans in the late 1870s, back when pocket watches were the most common kind of watch. It gave workers a safe, snug place to keep a watch from getting banged up or lost.
Jeans Were Work Clothes
Today jeans are everyday fashion, but they started as tough work wear. In 1872, a tailor named Jacob Davis wrote to Levi Strauss, a San Francisco dry goods merchant who sold him cloth. Davis had been reinforcing work pants with copper rivets at stress points such as pocket corners, and he wanted a partner to patent the idea.
On May 20, 1873, the two men received a U.S. patent for an Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings. Their sturdy riveted trousers were worn by factory workers, miners, farmers, and cattlemen throughout the American West.
Strauss himself had an immigrant's story. He came from Germany to New York in 1851 to join his older brothers' goods store, then moved to San Francisco in 1853 to open his own business.
The early design had just two pockets in front and one on the back right. The watch pocket came a few years later.
When Every Man Carried a Watch
From their development in the 1500s until after World War I, pocket watches were the most common type of watch. Until the early 20th century, they were standard for men, and wristwatches were considered feminine. A pocket watch usually hung from a chain clipped to a vest, lapel, or belt loop.
For a man doing hard physical work, a small, snug pocket at the front of his pants was a practical spot to keep a watch handy and protected.
Then World War I changed things. Officers in the field found that a watch on the wrist was much easier to check than one buried in a pocket. Wristwatches took over, though pocket watches stayed popular for years in railroading because of their accuracy.
The Five-Pocket Jean Is Born
In 1901, Levi Strauss added a back left pocket to its 501 model. That created the now-standard five-pocket design: two large front pockets, the little watch pocket, and two back pockets.
The tiny pocket has had its own adventures. During World War II, metal conservation rules led Levi's to remove some rivets, including the ones on the watch pocket. Afterward, the watch pocket rivets were the only ones restored.
More Denim Trivia
The word denim comes from the French phrase serge de Nîmes, meaning fabric from the city of Nîmes, where the cloth as we know it was first produced. And jeans became a symbol of youthful rebellion in the 1950s, when Marlon Brando and James Dean wore them on screen in The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause.
So the next time you slip a few coins into that little pocket, remember what it was really meant for. It's a tiny leftover from a time when cowhands and miners kept their watches close, and it's still riding along on nearly every pair of jeans.
