Peaky Blinders

The Peaky Blinders were an urban street

gang based in Birmingham, England, that
operated from the end of the 19th century
until the start of First World War. The
group, which grew out the harsh economic
deprivations of working class Britain, was
composed largely of young unemployed
men. They derived social power from
robbery, violence, political influence and
the control of gambling. Members of this
gang wore a signature outfit that included
tailored jackets, lapel overcoats, button
waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom
trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat
caps. The gang was highly organised with
its own systems of hierarchy.
 Peaky Blinders

Harry Fowles, a member of the gang sporting a

signature overcoat and a peaked flat cap.

Founded Early 1890s

Founding location Birmingham, England

Years active Early 1890s to 1918

Territory Primarily the West

Midlands of England

Ethnicity Primarily English, Irish

and Gypsy

Membership (est.) c. < 100; membership

fluctuated widely with
alliances and joined
 j
forces

Criminal activities Bookmaking, assault,

extortion, fraud, murder,
fencing, hooliganism,
bribery, smuggling,
hijacking and robbery

Rivals Sabinis; Brummagem

Boys; the Sloggers

The Blinders’ dominance came about from

beating rivals such as the "Sloggers"
whom they fought for territory in
Birmingham and its surrounding districts.
They held control for nearly twenty years
until 1910 when a larger gang, the
Birmingham Boys led by Billy Kimber,
overtook them. However, even though they
had disappeared by the 1930s, their name
the "Peaky Blinders", became synonymous
as slang for any street gang in
Birmingham.

In 2013 the name was reused for a TV BBC

series entitled the Peaky Blinders. The
series, which stars Cillian Murphy, Paul
Anderson and Joe Cole, is a crime story
about a fictional crime family operating in
Birmingham just after World War I.

Etymology
The popular origin of the name Peaky
Blinder is said to be derived from the
practice of gang members stitching
disposable razor blades into the peaks of
their flat caps which could then be used as
weapons. However, as the Gillette
company only introduced the first
replaceable safety razor system in 1903 in
America, and it was not until 1908 that the
first factory manufacturing them in Great
Britain opened, this version of the name is
considered apocryphal.[1]

British author John Douglas from

Birmingham, claimed hats were used as a
weapon in his novel A Walk Down Summer
Lane.[2] Members with razor blades sewn
into their caps would headbutt enemies to
potentially blind them.[3][4][5] Alternatively
the caps would be used to slash foreheads
causing blood to pour down into the eyes
of their enemies causing temporary
blindness.[4]

However Birmingham historian Carl Chinn

believes the name is actually a reference
to the gang's sartorial elegance. He says
the popular usage of "peaky" at the time
referred to any flat cap with a peak.[1]
"Blinder" was a familiar Birmingham slang
term (still used today) to describe
something or someone of dapper
appearance.[6] A further explanation might
be from the gang's own criminal
behaviour. They were known to sneak up
from behind then pull the hat peak down
over a victim's face so they couldn't
describe who robbed them.[7][8]

History

Thomas Gilbert, a powerful member of the gang,

wearing the outfit of the Peaky Blinders.

Economic hardship in England led to a

violent youth subculture.[5] Poor youths
frequently robbed and pickpocketed men
walking on the streets of slum
Birmingham. These efforts were executed
through assaults, beatings, stabbings, and
manual strangulation.[9] During the 1890s,
youth street gangs consisted of men
between the ages of twelve and thirty.[10]
The late 1890s saw the organisation of
these men into a soft hierarchy.[11] The
most powerful member of the Peaky
Blinders was known as Kevin Mooney. His
real name was Thomas Gilbert; however,
he routinely changed his last name. Many
of the land grabs undertaken by the gang
were initiated by him. The most violent of
these youth street gangs organised
themselves as a singular group known as
the "Peaky Blinders". They were likely
founded in Small Heath, possibly by a man
named Thomas Mucklow, as this
newspaper article, entitled "A murderous
outrage at Small Heath, a man's skull
fractured.", suggests, printed in the
Monday, March 24th, 1890 edition of The
Birmingham Mail.[12] This newspaper is
possibly the earliest evidence of the Peaky
Blinders put to paper:

A serious assault was

committed upon a young man
named George Eastwood. Living
at 3 court, 2 house, Arthur
Street, Small Heath, on Saturday
night. It seems that Eastwood,
who has been for some time a
total abstainer, called between
ten and eleven o'clock at the
Rainbow Public House in
Adderly Street, and was supplied
with a bottle of gingerbeer.
Shortly afterwards several men
known as the "Peaky Blinders"
gang, whom Eastwood knew by
sight from their living in the
 same neighborhood as himself,
came in.

After some gangsters attacked a man in

1890, they sent a letter to various national
newspapers declaring themselves as
members of this specific group.[9] Their
first activities primarily revolved around
occupying favourable land, notably the
communities of Small Heath and
Cheapside, Birmingham.[5] Their expansion
was noted by their first gang rival, the
"Cheapside Sloggers", who battled against
them in an effort to control land.[13] The
Sloggers originated in the 1870s known
for street fights in the Bordesley, and Small
Heath areas–extremely poor slums of
Birmingham. In 1899, an Irish police
constable was contracted to enforce local
law in Birmingham. However, police
corruption and bribery diminished the
effectiveness of his enforcement.[9]

The most prominent members of the gang

were David Taylor, Earnest Haynes, Harry
Fowles, Stephen McNickle, and Thomas
Gilbert.[14][13] Fowles, known as "Baby-
faced Harry", was arrested at 19 for
stealing a bike in October 1904.[13]
McNickle and Haynes were also arrested
at the same time for stealing a bike and
home invasion, respectively. Each was
held for one month for their crimes.[15]
West Midlands police records described
the three arrested as "foul mouthed young
men who stalk the streets in drunken
groups, insulting and mugging passers-
by."[13][15] Taylor was arrested at age 13 for
carrying a loaded firearm.[13]

Gang members frequently wore tailored

clothing which was uncommon for
contemporary gangs of the time. Almost
all members wore a peaked flat cap and
an overcoat.[3] Their sporting of the flat
cap lends itself to debate regarding the
naming of the gang. The Peaky Blinders
wore tailored suits usually with bell-bottom
trousers and button jackets.[5] The weather
conditions of the slums prompted
members to incorporate leather steel-toed
boots into their outfits. Wealthier members
wore silk scarves and starched collars
with metal tie buttons.[4] Their distinctive
dress was easily recognisable by city
inhabitants, police, and rival gang
members. The wives, girlfriends, and
mistresses of the gang members were
known for wearing lavish clothing. Pearls,
silks, and colourful scarves were
commonplace.[5][14]
The Peaky Blinders, after they established
controlled territory, in the late 19th century
began expanding their criminal enterprise.
Their activities included protection rackets,
fraud, bribery, smuggling, hijacking,
robbery, and bookmaking.[5][16] Historian
Heather Shor of the University of Leeds
claims that the Blinders were more
focused on street fighting, robbery, and
racketeering, as opposed to more
organised crime.[2]

After nearly a decade of political control,

their growing influence brought on the
attention of a larger gang, the Birmingham
Boys. The Peaky Blinders' expansion into
racecourses led to violent backlash from
the Birmingham gang. Peaky Blinder
families physically distanced themselves
from Birmingham's centre into the
countryside. With the Blinders' withdrawal
from the criminal underworld, the Sabini
gang moved in on the Birmingham Boys
gang and solidified political control over
Central England in the 1930s.[17][18][19]

As the specific gang known as the Peaky

Blinders diminished, their namesake was
used as generic term to describe violent
street youth.[5] The gangs' activities lasted
from the 1890s until the 1930s.[2][9]
In popular culture
The BBC television drama series Peaky
Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill
and Helen McCrory premiered in October
2013. It presents a fictional story in which
the Peaky Blinders contend in the
underworld with the Birmingham Boys and
the Sabini gang and follows a single
fictional gang based in post-World War I
Birmingham's Small Heath area.[20] Many
of the scenes for the show were shot at
the Black Country Living Museum.[21]

See also
 The Birmingham Boys, also known as
the Brummagem Boys

References
1. Chamberlain, Zoe (15 October 2014).
"The TRUTH Behind the Peaky Blinders" .
Birmingham Mail.
2. "Peaky Blinders: Was there a real-life
Tommy Shelby?" . The Week UK. Retrieved
30 December 2017.
3. "Victorian gang who terrorised the streets
of Birmingham" . Mail Online. Retrieved
30 December 2017.
4. "The REAL Peaky Blinders... Inside the
criminal gang that inspired the BBC series" .
The Sun. 20 December 2017. Retrieved
30 December 2017.
5. Halls, Eleanor. "The Peaky Blinders are a
romanticised myth" . Retrieved
30 December 2017.
6. Ugolini, Laura (2007). Men and
Menswear: Sartorial Consumption in Britain
1880–1939. Ashgate. p. 42.
7. Bradley, Michael (12 September 2013).
"Birmingham's real Peaky Blinders" . BBC
News. West Midlands.
8. Egner, Jeremy (21 December 2017).
" 'Peaky Blinders': The Disparate Ingredients
of a Cult Hit" . The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 30 December
2017.
9. "Carl Chinn – The real 'Peaky Blinders' |
History West Midlands" . historywm.com.
Retrieved 30 December 2017.
10. Moonman, Eric (1987). The Violent
Society. F. Cass. p. 36.
11. Thompson, Paul (1992). Edwardians:
The Remaking of British Society. Routledge.
p. 50.
12. Archive, The British Newspaper.
"Register | British Newspaper Archive" .
www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.
Retrieved 18 November 2018.
13. McCarthy, Nick (11 September 2013).
"Meet the real Peaky Blinders..."
birminghammail. Retrieved 30 December
2017.
14. Larner, Tony (1 August 2010). "When
Peaky Blinders Ruled Streets with Fear".
Sunday Mercury. p. 14.
15. "Baby-faced gang terrorised
Birmingham in 1880s with razors in caps" .
The Sun. 30 October 2017. Retrieved
30 December 2017.
16. Bradley, Michael (12 September 2013).
"Birmingham's real Peaky Blinders" . BBC
News. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
17. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved
18 January 2018.
18. Barley, Nick (2001). "The Times -
London A-Z Series No.1 (A Sample....) "G for
Gangland London" " . The Times. Archived
from the original on 30 December 2006.
Retrieved 6 December 2006.
19. Shore, Heather (2001). "Undiscovered
Country': Towards A History Of The Criminal
'Underworld' " . School of Cultural Studies:
Leeds Metropolitan University. Archived
from the original (.doc) on 29 September
2007. Retrieved 6 December 2006.
20. "Game of Thrones star joins Peaky
Blinders cast" . independent.co.uk. 29
March 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
21. "Peaky Blinders" . bclm.co.uk. Black
Country Living Museum. Retrieved
12 November 2017.

External links
Birmingham's real Peaky Blinders (BBC
News, 2013-09-12)
Birmingham's Peaky Blinders - in fact...
and fiction (Birmingham Mail, 2013-09-
12)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Peaky_Blinders&oldid=892297821"

Last edited 8 days ago by Roisterer

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