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| Rumors often swept Bronx high schools in the 1950s and 1960s that "the Baldies were coming" to confront the student body, at the generally docile ] and the more macho, all-male ]. Such rumors would often bring along a large police presence, and long disruptions. | Rumors often swept Bronx high schools in the 1950s and 1960s that "the Baldies were coming" to confront the student body, at the generally docile ] and the more macho, all-male ]. Such rumors would often bring along a large police presence, and long disruptions. | ||
| FORDHAM BALDIES AKA. FORDHAM DAGGERS AND DAGGERETTES | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| The baldies were not bald. They got there name from a guy named Gerbaldy, or from the Bald Eagle. The older members were the FORDHAM DAGGERS. The Fordham Baldies had many brutal rumbles with the Harlem Redwings. "I knew the older Baldies from Jennie's Luncheonette, where they hung out. | |||
| Also the younger Daggers and the Baldies from Piggy's Candy Store. The time period was 1954 through 1965. Do you remember the shooting at Piggy's in 1954 or 55? It was the Harlem Redwings retaliation on the Baldies for an incident that day at Orchard Beach." The Fordham Baldies were one of the gangs featured in the movie "The Wanderer". Turns out he was an innocent bystander. Unless this was a separate incident, the gang was not the Redwings, but the Sinners. I remember them strutting their stuff on the boardwalk dressed in black bikini bathing suits with red piping. They all wore sleeveless tops with Young Sinners on the back. The front had the letters YS and an image of a young devil sucking on a baby bottle while holding a pitchfork in his hand. Hard to forget. The skirmish happened in the water. A Baldy broke a beer bottle over a Sinner's head and stuck the glass in his thigh. The Sinner took his revenge at Orchard Beach with a semi-automatic that he made in shop class. Violent ingenuity! | |||
| ⚫ | This was found to be a nice touch in the Wanderers movie, but in reality, the Fordham Baldies were named for the Bald Eagle and had the ] or "D.A." hairstyle made famous by ] and ] from Happy Days | ||
| ==Popular culture== | ==Popular culture== | ||
Revision as of 16:41, 21 January 2011
 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article by providing more context for the reader. (April 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In the 1950s and 60s the youth gangs in the Bronx, New York, emerged with a particular notoriety.
History
Gangs of the Bronx included
- the Fordham Baldies
- the Ducky Boys Gang aka the Ducky Gang
- the Fordham Flames
- the Golden Guineas (a predominantly Italian-American gang)
- the Villa Avenue Gang
- the Bailey Gang
- the Archer Boys
- the Guinea Dukes
- the Shamrock Gang
- the Hot Boyz
There were two other Bronx gangs in the early fifties (holdover gangs that were active in 1949) The first of these two were the Fordham Aggies which were basically an Irish gang that emanated out of Decatur Avenue from Fordham Road to 194 St and hung out in Scotti's poolroom as well as in the H&H ice cream parlor. In fact there were two major gang fights between them and the Fordham Baldies. The Aggies won the first, the second was a stand off.
The other gang was the "Shamrocks" which were a formidable man for man gang, but which never had any major confrontations because just their existence alone scared everybody off. They were a gang around the Inwood section of upper Manhattan.
Rumors often swept Bronx high schools in the 1950s and 1960s that "the Baldies were coming" to confront the student body, at the generally docile Bronx High School of Science and the more macho, all-male DeWitt Clinton High School. Such rumors would often bring along a large police presence, and long disruptions.
FORDHAM BALDIES AKA. FORDHAM DAGGERS AND DAGGERETTES The baldies were not bald. They got there name from a guy named Gerbaldy, or from the Bald Eagle. The older members were the FORDHAM DAGGERS. The Fordham Baldies had many brutal rumbles with the Harlem Redwings. "I knew the older Baldies from Jennie's Luncheonette, where they hung out. Also the younger Daggers and the Baldies from Piggy's Candy Store. The time period was 1954 through 1965. Do you remember the shooting at Piggy's in 1954 or 55? It was the Harlem Redwings retaliation on the Baldies for an incident that day at Orchard Beach." The Fordham Baldies were one of the gangs featured in the movie "The Wanderer". Turns out he was an innocent bystander. Unless this was a separate incident, the gang was not the Redwings, but the Sinners. I remember them strutting their stuff on the boardwalk dressed in black bikini bathing suits with red piping. They all wore sleeveless tops with Young Sinners on the back. The front had the letters YS and an image of a young devil sucking on a baby bottle while holding a pitchfork in his hand. Hard to forget. The skirmish happened in the water. A Baldy broke a beer bottle over a Sinner's head and stuck the glass in his thigh. The Sinner took his revenge at Orchard Beach with a semi-automatic that he made in shop class. Violent ingenuity!
This was found to be a nice touch in the Wanderers movie, but in reality, the Fordham Baldies were named for the Bald Eagle and had the Duck's Ass or "D.A." hairstyle made famous by Tony Curtis and Fonzie from Happy Days
Popular culture
- Richard Price's novel The Wanderers and movie of the same name starring young Ken Wahl and Karen Allen document early Bronx gangs. Much of the film was shot in the neighborhoods depicted, including the residential neighborhoods, the armed forces recruiting center on the Fordham Road overpass above the Grand Concourse, and Krum's ice cream parlor 100 yards/meters south on the Grand Concourse. Although the movie's heroes, The Wanderers were fictitious, the movie's villains were explicitly named The Fordham Baldies.
- A Bronx Tale depicts gang activities in the Belmont "Little Italy" section of the Bronx
- Bronx filmmaker James Hannon is currently working on a documentary series on Bronx Gangs of 1950s & 1960s. The first in the series will be about the Ducky Boys Gang—A real 1960s gang that was portrayed in the fictional movie The Wanderers. This documentary is slated to be released in early 2008. The 2nd in the series after that will be the Fordham Baldies - another real 1950s gang in the Bronx featured in The Wanderers
There was also a large member Irish gang called the Shamrocks.
External links
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