Shirt Tails

The Shirt Tails were a mid-19th-century street gang based in the Five Points slum in Manhattan, New York, United States, who wore their shirts on the outside of their pants as 19th-century Chinese laborers would dress as a form of insignia and as a sign of gang group affiliation. Members kept their weapons—as many as three or four at a time—concealed beneath their shirts; this discreet measure stands in contrast to competing gangs who flaunted their weapons in order to intimidate.

This article is about a New York street gang. For the anthropomorphic Hallmark characters and animated series, see Shirt Tales.

Shirt Tails

George Catlin painting of the Five Points, Manhattan, New York City in 1827 the slum territory of the "Shirt Tails" and the other Irish criminal gangs
Founding location	Five Points, Manhattan, New York City
Years active	1830s-1860s
Territory	Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City
Ethnicity	Irish American
Membership (est.)	?
Criminal activities	street fighting, knife fighting, assault, murder, robbery
Allies	Forty Thieves, Roach Guards, Tammany Hall Chichesters, Dead Rabbits,
Rivals	Bowery Boys, Atlantic Guards

The Shirt Tails wore their wore their shirts on the outside of their pants as 19th-century Chinese laborers would dress as a form of insignia and as a sign of gang group affiliation.

Never numbering more than a few hundred members, the Shirt Tails, like many other gangs, disappeared shortly before the American Civil War (although they did participate in a coalition of gangs under the Dead Rabbits and fought against the Bowery Boys during the New York Draft Riots), with its remaining members dissipating or joining other Irish gangs.

References

• Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knoff Inc., 1927. ISBN 1-56025-275-8