Mystery solved. I talked to the official Levi Strauss historian today (they actually have one on staff) and she says the little pocket inside the front right-hand pocket of Levi’s jeans “originally was called the match pocket because you literally kept your matches for your lantern or your cigar or whatever in there.”
Levi Strauss did not design the pocket. It was common in work pants at the time and Strauss and his partner kept it when designing their riveted jeans.
So. So much for the ammo pocket theory.
