# Blue-Jeans Question: That Little Pocket **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217 "2008-09-12T02:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/21 "2008-09-12T03:30:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m really surprised that pocket watches are so small. I guess I just haven’t paid that much attention to them. They’re really not that small. For truly small watches, check out some of the ones that ladies wore as brooches. Those were some small watches. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/22 "2008-09-12T03:37:28Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > but why? Women’s jeans button on the opposite side than men’s, so it’s not as though they made **no** modifications when they first designed jeans for women. Why change that but keep a watch pocket for a gender who didn’t use pocket watches? [fashion hijack]Women’s blouses button on the opposite side as well. Related story I heard #1: buttons were once quite expensive, so people pinned their clothes together. The term “pin money,” or a small amount to buy necessities, came from this. Related story I heard #2: back in the day, if you were rich enough to own clothing with buttons, therefore you must also have servants. The servants dressed the woman of the house while facing her, so the buttons were opposite so as to be “un-reversed” to them. It seems likely that the buttoning of jeans carried over the ‘reversed’ tradition. Men, OTOH, always dressed themselves.[/fashion hijack] I think the little pocket is useful for anything small that you don’t want to have to dig out of your big pocket full of change, e.g. guitar picks. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/23 "2008-09-12T03:37:44Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > It is, as others have pointed out, a _watchpocket_. > > A watchpocket is a receptacle designed to hold a _pocketwatch_. It’s not like you would stick your _wristwatch_ down there, right? It’s for pocketwatches. > > Lest there be any confusion on that score, I think it advisable to use more specific terminology, and acknowledge that the item in queston is, more specifically, a _pocket_watchpocket. > > And of course, lest there be an uncertainty as to whether one’s pocketwatch belongs in _that_ pocket or perhaps the large one at the left or the hip pocket or the shirt pocket, let us not that the mechanical device is, emphatically, a _watch_pocketwatch, OK? > > Having done so, I suppose our initial designations are now in need of just a bit more specificity, now that such specificity is not only available but, as a consequence of our enveavors, part of the venacular, shall we say? The riveted denim square is, to be exquisitely correct about it, not merely a pocketwatchpocket, but a _watch_pocketwatchpocket, is it not? And into it one would dangle from fob and chain of course, one’s very own _pocket_watchpocketwatch, would one not? > > …Oh dear… **AHunter3** , you sure got the time to write all that? Oh, wait. You can’t get your pocketwatch out of your pocketwatchwatchpocket to see … ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/24 "2008-09-12T03:47:48Z")
Not necessarily disagreeing with the consensus, but I’ve never seen or heard it referred to as anything other than a coin pocket. It seems at least as silly for that purpose, so I don’t suppose it makes much of a difference. ---
**Author:** ![KRSOradio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/0ea827/32.png) [@KRSOradio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRSOradio)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/25 "2008-09-12T03:53:17Z")
I’ve always heard it was for coins, never heard of watches till today. Besides coins will almost never fall out of that pocket, but they easily fall out of the regular pockets ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/26 "2008-09-12T04:02:13Z")
> [@KRSOradio](#): > > I’ve always heard it was for coins, never heard of watches till today. > > Besides coins will almost never fall out of that pocket, but they easily fall out of the regular pockets Some of those little pockets are so small, I can barely fit one finger into them. I usually need to use tweezers to pull the 500-baht note out once I get home. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/27 "2008-09-12T04:03:43Z")
An interesting mutation on this idea has been the deciding factor in several recent purchases of mine: the cell phone pocket. It’s not a separate pocket, but rather a small, phone-shaped pocket inside the right-hand pants pocket, to keep your phone upright so you don’t get what I like to call “antenna dick”. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/28 "2008-09-12T04:16:48Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’ve heard that as well, but weren’t pocket watches almost exclusively used by men when they were in fashion? Women’s jeans have that pocket too. But when men’s pocketwatches were in fashion, women didn’t wear jeans (or any kind of pants, for that matter, except perhaps underpants). > [@Wheeljack](#): > > An interesting mutation on this idea has been the deciding factor in several recent purchases of mine: the cell phone pocket. It’s not a separate pocket, but rather a small, phone-shaped pocket inside the right-hand pants pocket, to keep your phone upright so you don’t get what I like to call “antenna dick”. My cell phone fits neatly into the watchpocket on the new Wrangler jeans I bought today. However, I don’t think I’d keep my phone in it - it’s a bit too loose. Any small pocket I put my phone into had better have a flap on it, or some other way to secure the phone. I do expect that cell phone pockets will become a standard feature on most pants before too much longer. Most of my cargo pants have pockets that appear to be intended (size-wise) to hold a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/29 "2008-09-12T04:17:27Z")
> [@Wheeljack](#): > > An interesting mutation on this idea has been the deciding factor in several recent purchases of mine: the cell phone pocket. It’s not a separate pocket, but rather a small, phone-shaped pocket inside the right-hand pants pocket, to keep your phone upright so you don’t get what I like to call “antenna dick”. So THAT’S what that stupid little pocket is for! I keep my keys and change in my right pocket, and my phone and iPod Touch in my left pocket (to keep the phone and iPod from getting all scratched up by the keys and coins). So this stupid little pocket just serves as a place for some of my change to get caught in. It’s so small that I have to turn the pocket inside out to get all my change. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/30 "2008-09-12T04:19:39Z")
Anyone old enough has seen plenty of pocket watches go there. Any normal sized pocket watch would fit in the pocket of the jeans I am wearing now. The massive, huge, 19th century ones might not. Same thing with the small pockets in vests. They are for watches. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/31 "2008-09-12T04:44:54Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > He was an engineer for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and carried an ATSF issue pocketwatch. Dad was a signalman for the D&RG. They had to buy thier own. I still have his, a rather plain cased Elgin. It fits nicly in the 5th pocket of a pair of Levis or Wranglers. Wrist watches were not the default type of watch when the pocket was named, so no reason to specify what kind of watch would go in a watch pocket…Sort of like growing up in Colorado, we had skiing vs. water-skiing. The Texans I know talk about skiing vs. snow-skiing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/32 "2008-09-12T05:03:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have never seen a pocket watch that would fit in there. When I was in college in the 1970s I didn’t like to wear a wristwatch. I used a pocketwatch and it fit there fine. (Affected I know, but what college student isn’t about something?) Now I use it for change. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/33 "2008-09-12T05:18:13Z")
For years I carried a [pocket watch](http://www.stpetersburger.com/html/molnia_molnija_pocket_watch_1.html). That’s what the pocket is for. But eventually the knurling on the stem wears though the material unless you reinforce it with a piece of leather. ---
**Author:** ![powerjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@powerjacob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/powerjacob)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/34 "2008-09-12T05:22:45Z")
yes. It is for a pocket watch. I never liked wearing a wrist watch so I normally carry a pocket watch and put mine there while wearing jeans. Unfortunately I wear khakis during the week days and they do not have the pocket. I find irritating that khakis do not have this pocket, and do not carry a pocket watch while wearing them for fear of scratching up my watch. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/35 "2008-09-12T05:26:13Z")
It’s not big enough for a hooker, so it must be for the blow. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/36 "2008-09-12T05:27:50Z")
I never liked to wear a wrist watch but the thing is I never had the need because now you have the cell phone and before that I always carried a pocket calculator which had a watch. I carried it in my shirt or coat chest pocket and when boring meetings dragged on it was much more discrete to check the time on the calculator than to look at your watch. With cell phones now I can’t see why anyone who has a cell phone would need a separate watch. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/37 "2008-09-12T07:35:24Z")
Wow. After reading this thread, my brain now hates the word pocket and doesn’t believe it’s a real word at all. Put me in the “always knew it as a change pocket” camp, but willing to believe it was a watch pocket. ---
**Author:** ![glenarma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@glenarma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glenarma)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/38 "2008-09-12T09:30:34Z")
According to Steve Jobs, it’s for a [different purpose](http://siliconvalleysleuth.co.uk/photos/uncategorized/img_5206.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/39 "2008-09-12T09:54:22Z")
My fob watch is just over an inch in diameter. However, it has a chain and is meant be attached to a button and fit into a pocket on a vest. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217/40 "2008-09-12T10:08:45Z")
Picture of the [watch.](http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2464632630098000304PZBaSN) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-jeans-question-that-little-pocket/463217.md?page=3)