Peaky Blinders

The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. Members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and peaked flat caps. Contrary to the television series, however, it is unlikely that they had razor blades sewn into these caps, instead gaining their name from the manner in which they wore them with the cap tilted so that the peak covered one eye. The Blinders' dominance came about from beating rivals, including the "Sloggers" ("a pugilistic term for someone who could strike a heavy blow in the ring"), whom they fought for territory in Birmingham and its surrounding districts. They held "control" for nearly 20 years until 1910, when a larger gang, the Birmingham Boys, led by Billy Kimber, overtook them. Although they had disappeared by the 1920s, the name "Peaky Blinders" became synonymous slang for any street gang in Birmingham. In 2013, the name was reused for a BBC television series entitled 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 folk etymology of Peaky Blinder is that the gang members would stitch disposable razor blades into the peaks of their flat caps, which could then be used as weapons. However, as the Gillette company introduced the first replaceable safety razor system in 1903, in the United States, and the first factory manufacturing them in Great Britain opened in 1908, this idea of the origin of the name is considered to be apocryphal. British author John Douglas, from Birmingham, said hats were used as weapons in his novel A Walk Down Summer Lane – members with razor blades sewn into their caps would headbutt enemies to potentially blind them, or the caps would be used to slash foreheads, causing blood to pour down into the eyes of their enemies, temporarily blinding them.