Jeans still have small pockets (above the front right pocket) that I assume harken back to pocket watches. And many dress pants have small pockets down inside the front right pocket. That doesn’t seem a practical place for a pocket watch - more likely they’re for change. I find they do more harm than good in that regard; its clumsy to get change out of there and much easier if the change is in the ‘full’ pocket.
Whatever the reason …
Why do manufacturers bother with the extra expense of these? I suspect few people use them or care about them.
Unless they’ve got larger in the past 20 years, they’re too small for a pocket-watch. I put my pocket watch in a belt pouch. I think they’re for tickets and the like, but I’m sure a Doper tailor will be along shortly.
For years I used them for a pocket watch. I really dislike the feel of a wrist watch. Now I have a watch that clips onto a belt loop, but I use that pocket to hold a small pill box. I take 5 pills with breakfast every morning and I’m supposed to take 3 with dinner or after and when I am out for dinner, I use the ones in the pill box. Very convenient.
I call those “lighter pockets.” They’re usually the perfect shape for a zippo. They were originally used for pocket watches. As for why they still exist, well I’m guessing that it’s just inertia. If they removed them, somebody would probably complain, so they just keep them out of tradition.
The only problem with using them as they were intended is that the friction from the winding stem against the same section of pocket wears it through very quickly. So if you use a pocket watch, vary the orientation of the stem to extend the life of your Levis.
I clip my work ID badge there, and when I walk across the street for lunch, the badge easily fits in the lower (larger) pocket, out of view, without having to unclip. I have no other use for it. I agree change is easier retrieved from the larger pocket.
If they stopped including the small pocket, someone would be along complaining that is another thing the millennials killed.
Actually, the pockets seem to be shrinking – the watch pockets on some of my jeans are definitely smaller than others.
I used to carry a pocket watch, and used that pocket for it, but now I use my phone as a fancy watch (which lives in my left front pocket) and keep change in the watch pocket.
Their called five-pocket jeans for a reason. They just wouldn’t look right without the fifth pocket, and only the cheapest jeans either make the fifth pocket invisible, or eliminate it entirely. Same for most women’s jeans, if we’re talking about traditionally styled jeans at least.
As for a practical justification of the fifth pocket, another traditional use was as a coin pocket. For us Americans that’s basically useless as our coins are next to worthless, but if I lived in one of several other countries I could well imagine using that pocket for high denominations, like $2CDN or £2 coins. I understand Switzerland has a CHF10 coin, now worth more than $10 yet smaller than a U.S. half dollar. Using the extra pocket that way would presumably help when you need to conveniently pull several pounds/francs/dollars out of your pocket, and don’t want to root around a pocketful of smaller denominations. It also, presumably, makes it more difficult to lose such coins.
Back when I carried pocket watches I almost always carried them in the fifth pocket. I don’t remember ever owning any jeans in which the pocket was too small.
