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. "Blinder" was a familiar Birmingham slang term, still used today, to describe something or someone of dapper appearance.
Peaky Blinders is a crime drama centred on a family of mixed Irish Traveller and Romani origins based in Birmingham, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of the First World War. It centres on the Peaky Blinders street gang and their ambitious, cunning crime boss Tommy Shelby.
Unlike the gang of the TV series, the Peaky Blinders had faded into obscurity by the 1920s. The outbreak of the Great War undoubtedly had an impact on their dominance, and over time, the gang was usurped by Billy Kimber's Birmingham Boys, who in turn were ousted from power by the Sabini gang in the 1930s.
Peaky Blinders is a 2013 British drama series that tells the story of the criminal gang of the same name. Led by Thomas Shelby, they control Birmingham during the 1920s and 1930s. Through bribery, violence, extortion and illegal trafficking, they consolidate their grip on the city.
🔵 Peaky - Peaky Blinders Meaning - Peaky Examples - Peaky Blinders Origin - British Slang
Why are they called Peaky Blinders?
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. "Blinder" was a familiar Birmingham slang term, still used today, to describe something or someone of dapper appearance.
What does it mean when someone calls you a peaky blinder?
Contrary to popular opinion (see below), the name of the gang may have actually originated with style: Peaky for their peaked caps and Blinder as Birmingham slang for a striking gentleman.
There are some marked differences between the BAFTA-winning BBC drama series named after the gang and the story of the real Peaky Blinders. Firstly, Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, and most of the other main characters, are fictional.
As to why the show is ending slightly earlier than fans expected, there appear to be a number of factors. Knight, for example, is busier than ever, and is having to juggle his time between Peaky Blinders and a number of other projects, including Season 2 of his Apple TV+ drama See.
Is Thomas Shelby a true story Thomas Shelby the real Peaky Blinders?
Though Tommy Shelby is a fictional character, real-life Peaky Blinders ringleader Thomas Gilbert serves as a partial inspiration. The first person to be named as a Peaky Blinder was a man named Henry Lightfoot. Henry later went to fight in WWI, a subject Peaky Blinders touches on with Tommy's character.
The Shelbys are specifically of Irish-Romani descent and refer to themselves as Gypsies, but their lifestyle differs from other Gypsy characters in the show. The use of the term "Gypsies" in Peaky Blinders is historically accurate, though many Romani people now prefer terms like "Rom" or "Roma."
It can mean to start dating a very attractive woman, and it can also be to pull off something amazing. If you went out 'on the pull' you were looking for a woman. If you were successful you 'pulled her'. A blinder is a stunningly attractive woman, though this may be more localised slang (London)
If you've ever noticed that Shelby never eats on the show, that's because it was an accidental choice that later turned into an intentional decision. Once fans noticed this quirk, Murphy and Knight decided to turn it into a “Tommy thing,” which added to the character's obsessive industriousness.
The IRA has been a constant background influence throughout the entire Peaky Blinders series, but are now taking a step into the foreground, working directly with Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in order to advance their own agenda.
"They used their hats with razor blades sewn in to rob people. That's what a Peaky Blinder was. "When they hit someone or headbutted someone on the nose while wearing one, it would cause their victim temporary blindness."
Admiral Grove and Powis Street are tiny lanes nestled in Liverpool, which served as the Shelby's 'turf' in Small Heath. It's also where you can find the childhood home of The Beatles' Ringo Starr at 10 Admiral Grove. Check out Peaky Blinders Official Tours for other Liverpool filming locations.
The emergence of more powerful rival gangs, particularly the Birmingham Boys and the Sabini gang, led to the eventual decline of the Peaky Blinders in the 1930s. Many of them retreated away from urban Birmingham to the relative obscurity of the rural countryside.
Even six seasons in, this is still one of the most gritty, gripping and genuinely addictive shows to come out of the UK this century. Content collapsed. The series, Peaky Blinders shines because it's complex, thoughtful to watch, and forces us to think about morals and the greyness between right and wrong.
Thomas Michael Shelby was born in Birmingham, England, around 1890 to an Irish Traveller and Romani family. He grew up in the Small Heath neighbourhood of Birmingham.
The phrase was inspired by John Milton's “Paradise Lost” where the “red right hand” represents divine vengeance. The violence of the song carried over into Cave's next album Murder Ballads, which references both Milton and “Red Right Hand” in its opening track “Song of Joy”.
Thomas Michael Shelby was born in 1890, making him 29 years old at the beginning of Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy, who plays Tommy, was in his mid-30s at the time of shooting the first season.
No. The Shelby's are not Romani, who do indeed originate in northern India. The Shelby's are Travellers, who originate in Ireland. Their Irish heritage and continuing ties to Ireland are referenced several times throughout the series.
Tommy and others are seen smoking Opium throughout the series as a coping mechanism. Over 5000 cigarettes were smoked on the show. Characters drink frequently onscreen, become drunk, and act violent and clumsy. One character has an opium habit, and a 10-year-old child smokes a cigarette onscreen.
Peaky Blinders revolves around World War One veterans who suffer from PTSD. The show portrays the symptoms of PTSD in ways that are both obvious and not so obvious. Real-life veterans rarely got the help they needed, partially because of social stigmas.
