Tweet-a-week: Bowery B'hoy

The Bowery B'hoys, were a group of young men that hail from the working-class of New York in the Five Points District in the Bowery section. Their presence was prominent at around the late 1840s during the Pre-Civil War period. They dressed to impress; their suits, hats, cravats, and overall style resembled that of a gentleman, but their swagger and overall "badass" hook was in their "swing" in their walk and demeanor. They were not push-overs by any means and had pride for their independence and being able to do as he pleases for himself; they also were adventurous and daring, motivated to impress their equally flamboyant g'hals. After fulfilling their commitments to their jobs, family, and friends, they enjoyed unwinding in saloons and brothels and let loose.


It has been said that these men were "patriotically chauvinistic" (thought not nativists, per se, according to Tyler Anbinder) but, besides their "day-time" jobs lives, one could say they're also the rugged, city version of a countryside loafer. Their clothes, while seemingly aristocratic and maybe too tight for their skins, so to speak, are more like their red flag, calling all eyes on them and their swagger. Definitely a sort of character that can and possibly relate with Whitman. While there's the pleasure in being the rebel outside social norms who also enjoys grabbing some beer after working in the smith shop or farm and lying on the grass daring the world to look him in the eye, there's also that pride and freedom from being a slave to said social norms. Gangs and loafers aren't exactly the pretty picture history would like to share, but they're part of that time's (and even now) culture and story.

Anbinder, Tyler. Five Points: the 19th-century New York City neighborhood that invented tap dance, stole elections, and became the world's most notorious slum. New York: The Free Press, 2001. Web. <http://books.google.com/books?id=NbQa9adIJfkC&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=bowery b'hoy&source=bl&ots=4ecV9ds4aX&sig=BAhNUmgZ-Pweegx02aU0fyN-sRE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zs5FT86NF8zciQK40M3tCA&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBg