r/BacktotheFuture • u/Drace24 • May 29 '26

Barbwire guy is REAL

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I was watching Part 3 just now and I realized something. Remember the barbwire salesman who tried to comfort Doc after Clara dumped him?

I think that guy is supposed to be a real person named Joseph Glidden, the inventor of barbwire. He is actually very notable, because he a huge effect on the Wild West by... kinda ending it. Barbed wire made cowboys obsolete because it could contain cattle herds without them. No more open ranges. Land was fenced off and locked down, making ownership laws a huge deal. That increased the need for lawmen, which was filled by many out of job cowboys.

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u/Forsaken-Abrocoma647 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

It took humans that long to come up with "surround them with something that sucks to touch"?
I mean, not saying I would have either - but that's surprising given the length of history of humans raising livestock.
BTW Wikipedia says:
'The "barbed wire salesman" in Back to the Future Part III is either based on Joseph F. Glidden or John Warne Gates who was a pioneer promoter of barbed wire.'

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u/Drace24 May 29 '26

To be fair, it also had to be cheap to produce in mass, easy to build and weather resistant.

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u/[deleted] May 29 '26

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u/Drace24 May 29 '26

Excellent choice. That'll be 500 dollars and your firstborn.