From the cowboys keeping cattle in line to the soldiers on the battlefield keeping enemies at bay, barbed wire has cut its way into the history books.

When Joseph F. Glidden introduced the perfected invention of barbed wire back in 1873 it quickly took the world by storm.

Though, like all inventions, it took several milestones to reach with the original idea which actually dates all the way back to Englishman Richard Newton in 1845. Over the course of time, adding clusters of sharp spikes at intervals along the thin steel wire would prove to be possible.

Toward to the 19th century, demand for barbed wire soared to new heights. With the American frontier moving westward, the scare availability of traditional fencing materials like wood and stone in the Great Plains meant unfavorably high costs. In comparison, barbed wire was considerably less expensive to purchase and near effortless to install.

Of course, ranchers and farmers weren’t the only ones who wanted the cattle retaining technology. So did the railroad companies to keep livestock from wandering on their tracks. Within time, barb wire would also find its way into the battlefield with its first appearance back in the Spanish American war and Russo Japanese War.

When World War I rolled around barbed wire offered a solution to keeping combatants out of the trenches. As a deterrence, it also helped paved the wave for more machine gun and grenade action thanks to the larger distance of separation.

History aside, gentlemen who get barbed wire tattoos get them for numerous reasons. For starters the style can act as a symbol of war with a memorial-based meaning behind it. It can also serve as a reminder of being a prison behind penitentiary bars whether through combat or crime.

Religious gentlemen can interrupt barbed wire as a symbol of the Crown of Thorns Jesus once wore. While, farmers and rangers might just like the idea based upon its heritage in relation to their line of work. In reality, there’s a lot of different reasons males go with the traditional design, some of which have far deeper meanings.