Here’s What That Teeny Tiny Pocket on Your Jeans Is For

I remember hearing that the tiny pocket in the front of our jeans was for money, like a hiding place. You just fold up a couple of $20 bills or whatever you want and slide them right into that little pocket. This way if your wallet was stolen, you had reserve.

I actually think I used it that way in college a few times when I didn’t want to carry a handbag. I think some of them even fit your driver’s license or credit card. Alas, that’s not what those tiny pockets on the front of jeans are for, at least originally.

According to the Art of Manliness website, although at this point it’s really just about style and looks as a standard design feature, this mini-pocket on this staple of American fashion goes all the way back to the late 1800s. It’s there for men to place their pocket watches. Whether you were a cowboy or workman wearing our daily jeans, you had a pocket watch.

According to The Mirror U.S. website, this little pocket sewn inside the bigger pocket on the right side of blues jeans was patented by Strauss and J.W Davis in May 1873 and first distributed in 1890 with 501 jeans. However, the oldest pair of Levi Strauss and Company waist overalls from 1979 is the first pair to have that little pocket for watches according to The Mirror U.S.

Of course today I venture to say it’s just for style and tradition no matter what brand of jeans. I’ve even seen jeans where that tiny pocket isn’t even open, rather there for looks.