People are just finding out what the little pocket is for in jeans. Zack D. Films, a Youtuber with more than 2.3million subscribers, shared the reason in a recent video.
The little pocket, which barely fits more than two fingers, sits on top of the top right normal-sized pocket in a pair of jeans. Zack D. Films explains: "Have you ever wondered why your jeans have this little tiny pocket? Well, some people think it's just part of the design. But that wasn't always the case.
"It turns out that jean companies added this tiny little pocket for a very specific reason." He continued: "You see, back in the day workers needed to be able to tell the time while on the job.
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"So jean companies added this tiny little pocket for a safe place to keep a pocket watch." The pockets date back to 1890 when they were stitched into Levi's 'wist overalls' jeans.
Levi Strauss & Co's historian, Tracey Panek speaking to Insider said: "The oldest pair of waist overalls in the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives (from 1879) includes the watch pocket. The watch pocket was a feature of our first waist overalls."
Panek explains that the man Levi Strauss kept a pocket watch in the vest of his business suit. So, is the tiny pocket pretty useless today?
The jeans still keep the mini pocket as a way of keeping the original 501 design alive, so essentially for nostalgia's sake. "One interesting fact about the watch pocket is that during WWII the two corner rivets were removed as a way to conserve metal for the war effort," Panek said.
"The rivets returned to the watch pocket after the war." Trousers that have the tiny pocket are called "five-pocket pants," but the little pocket is not actually the fifth on the jeans. The fifth pocket is actually on the back-left, which was added to Levi's 501 jeans in 1901.
"Our 19th century overalls had a single back pocket on right side of the pant beneath the leather patch," Panek said. "It was riveted in the top two corners and included our recognizable arch design, called the Arcuate, stitched with a single needle sewing machine.
"The watch pocket was an original element of our blue jeans, like the rivets on our pockets, button fly, arched back pocket stitching and leather patch," Panek said. "To preserve the integrity of the early design, Levi Strauss & Co. maintains the watch pocket."
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