History and Meaning

The name "Barking Irons" comes from a 19th century slang term for pistols. The term was created by gangs of youths that haunted New York's infamous Bowery. The Bowery, a theatre district for much of the century, was a critical proving ground for indigenous American culture in the 19th century. Uniquely American art forms such as tap-dancing, minstrel shows, concert saloons, freak shows and vaudeville all gained popularity in the Bowery theatres of the time.

The cultural well-spring of New York's Bowery also helped to usher in a sexual revolution in the latter part of the 19th century. The Bowery continues to be a source of urban folklore and mythology.

Historically Themed Collections

Barking Irons has been noted for the extensive historical research and chronicling that is weaved into its products. Storylines have been a driving inspiration for seasonal collections as well as individual designs.

Past Barking Irons collections have drawn inspiration from characters such as P.T. Barnum and his fire-tormented American Museum, as well as the notorious reign of Boss Tweed and his Tammany Hall, New York's brawling fire companies, the devilish dens of the Bowery, such as Blind Tiger and Satan's Circus.

Other collections have focused on the literary sons of early New York and America such as the poet Walt Whitman and writers like, Herman Melville, Stephen Crane, and musicians such as, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, and Stephen Foster.

The history in Barking Irons essentially utilizes the strange mystique, stories, and legends of the Bowery as a critical stage for the telling of American folklore through a modern lens.