Peaky Blinders
criminal gang in Birmingham, England
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racketeering, illegal bookmaking, and control of gambling. By the 20th century, members wore signature outfits that typically included tailored jackets, lapelled overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, silk scarves, bell-bottom trousers, leather boots, and flat caps.
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 30 years until 1920, 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, Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle and Joe Cole, is a crime story about a fictional crime family operating in Birmingham just after World War I.
Etymology
Birmingham historian Carl Chinn believes the name is 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.
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This entry incorporates text from “Peaky Blinders” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.