Tweet-a-Week: Bowery B'hoys

The Bowery B'hoys (a slang term that dubbed the working class class males based in New York) were known for being fun-loving but rowdy boys that were often seen around the city. The Bowery B'hoys loved entertainment, so unsurprisingly, Barnum's American Museum was a favorite attraction of theirs. Naturally Whitman would have been conscious of the existence of the Bowery B'hoys. Critics suggest that Whitman was inspired by the b'hoy culture and had drawn references from that culture into his poetry. Undoubtedly, Whitman does share some of the happy-go-lucky party nature of the b'hoys. However, to say that Whitman himself was a b'hoy would be a mistake.