Most people who own a pair of jeans are not aware of the function of the small pocket attached to the main pocket.
The small pocket was used as a pocket watch holder back in the mid-1800's by cowboys and labourers in the wild west in an era that jeans were work clothes.
Its origin is associated with a story of a tailor by the name Jacob who thought of a way to strengthen the trousers for the labourers.
He came up with the idea of putting metal rivets at points of strains such as pocket corners and the base of the zip.
The pants gained popularity among the locals leading to a business partnership to thrive between Jacob and Levi Stratus which has the oldest pair of jeans in their archives.
During the World War II, the pockets were removed in order to conserve metal making the rivets used during the war.
The initial use of the tiny pocket has since been forgotten with the fact that no one puts a watch in the pocket anymore.
However, most people over the years developed different functions for the pocket using it to put coins, matchsticks, keys and tickets.
At one point, it was used for holding jewellery including rings for occasions such as wedding proposals.
Below is a video explaining the use of the small pocket in jeans courtesy of Business Insider.
The pocket watch holder was maintained as part of the fashion with different clothing companies adopting separate positions for it.
