Home / Arts and Entertainment / Real Peaky Blinders: Small-Time Crooks, Big-Screen Legends
Real Peaky Blinders: Small-Time Crooks, Big-Screen Legends
22 Mar
Summary
- The real Peaky Blinders gang was active in the 1890s, not after World War I.
- Historians doubt the real gang used razor blades in their caps.
- The actual gang were petty thieves, not powerful criminals as depicted.
The "Peaky Blinders" television drama, which concluded its run in 2022, drew inspiration from a real Birmingham-based street gang that operated in the 1890s. Unlike the fictional Shelby family's rise to power after World War I, the historical Peaky Blinders were predominantly petty thieves known for muggings and bike theft.
Historians debate the gang's signature move, with many doubting the use of razor blades in caps due to cost. However, they were indeed violent, with reports of slashing opponents' foreheads to blind them. The gang's name first appeared in print in 1890 following an assault.
The real Peaky Blinders' influence waned in the 1910s, eventually being displaced by the Birmingham Gang led by Billy Kimber. While Kimber was a character in the show, he never met his fictional end by Tommy Shelby's hand but died naturally in 1945.
Beyond the gang itself, the series incorporated historical events and figures like Winston Churchill and Oswald Mosley, grounding its narrative in real-world settings and political climates of the pre- and post-World War II eras.
