The Fifth Pocket

View of a pocket watch pocket in action

TOM FERKEL - I remember as a kid, asking my father what the tiny pocket on my jeans was used for. He wasn't sure, but his guess was that it was a change pocket. I tried using it for that, and must admit that it worked very well for that until a few years passed and my fingers were larger. I still used it for change, but really, it became more of an agility challenge. Once my fingers were in, it was hard to get them back out, and they seldom came back out with the pocket change I was hoping to grab. I became the monkey and the cookie jar. Eventually I stopped putting my loose change in there, so I guess that at that point the pocket became an intelligence test as well. That was the last I thought about it for many years. Fast forward about 55 years to last week. I was looking around on the internet the other day and ran across an article that addresses the small, 5th pocket on a pair of Levis. Many of you may know this already, but it was news to me that the tiny 5th pocket was intended as a watch pocket. Levi Strauss confirms that it was indeed intended as a place to keep one's pocket watch. The pocket dates back to at least 1879. If you would like to see the entire article, here is the link:

So THAT'S Why There's A Tiny Pocket In Your Jeans

Of course, as soon as I read the article, I pulled out a couple of my pocket watches and, as promised, they fit perfectly.