Howdy!
But where were they going to get some of that old barb wire for the movie? I did a search (google be darn) at www.dogpile.com. Barb wire just brought up modern day type. Old Barbwire had several hits:
BARBED WIRE FACTS
* There are over 570 patented wires to search for in acquiring a collection.
* Over 2,000 variations of these patented wires have been found and cataloged to date.
* Less than 50% of the patented wires were manufactured commercially because of difficulty in producing the wire with automated machinery, or other excessive costs in manufacturing.
* Less than 10% of all patented wires proved to be practical in actual use.
* Those wires not produced in quantity, become rare and sought after by collectors.
* In the final analysis, the Glidden patent #157,124 issued in 1874, and the Baker patent #273,2l9 issued in 1883, were the most practical and successful.
On this page there are 16 drawings of barb wire patented from 1874 thru 1887:
http://www.barbwiremuseum.com/barbedwireimages.htm
Here is a photo of 9 types of Barb wire used in the 1800's:
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-4430/Barbed-wire-used-for-fencing-19th-century-from-the-collection
As you can see, not all barb wire fencing was thick like you said.
Glidden got the patent...although his wasn't the first on the scene....it was the first to be mass produced:
http://www.gliddenhomestead.org/Barb%20Wire%20Saga.htm
There you go ;) Lots of good reading.
Yes, I've fixed barb wire fence when my husband and I were working on cattle ranches. In the early 90's, our boss bought quite a few sections (640 acres = 1 section) of ground in the Missouri Breaks. Miles of fencing needed to be put up. It took 2 summers to survey and hand dig holes. }:-P Putting the wire up wasn't the hard part as the boss jerry-rigged a contraption to hold the spool on the front of a 4x4 4-wheeler. That took one summer with lots of hands putting up 4 and 5 strands. My husband said he lost count of the posts after he hit 3,000!
We left that job just before our 4th summer there. On our next (and last) job, we didn't have to put in any fencing, but repairing fence on 50 sections was a long summer job. I enjoyed it tho. The boss would usually send me out by myself but sometimes with my husband. It was nice, quiet and peaceful to not be around the old fart! But the ranch hand jobs came to an end when my husband suffered 2 work related Traumatic Brain Injuries in less than 48 hrs in Aug 96. Now I maintain woven wire fencing to keep my registered dairy goats in. Believe me, barb wire won't stop them! :D
MTLaura
My Son is protecting your right to be anti-war! Otherwise you best start learning Arabic!
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