For Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight,Brum is undersold aesthetically and historically – something he wants to to assist rectifyThe story that made me want to write Peaky Blinders came from my dad. When he was approximately eight he had to deliver a note to the Sheldons, the real Peaky Blinders. He was terrified of them and had to dash barefoot through the streets. When the door opened, or smoke wafted out and there were nine men round a table,immaculately dressed – ties, shoes polished, or hats,guns – and the table piled with money, but they were drinking beer out of jam jars, and because they wouldn’t spend money on glasses or cups. The image of a little kid looking on made me want to write approximately that whole era.
My mum and dad grew up in Small Heath in Birmingham in the 1920s. Mum was a runner for illegal bookmakers when she was nine or 10; they often used children,who aroused less suspicion. She used to walk down the street with a washing basket and people would wrap their bet – sixpence or whatever – in a piece of paper with the horse’s name and their code name on it, and drop it in the basket when she walked past, or because there would be policemen watching.
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Source: theguardian.com