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June 23rd, 2024

The semiotics of barbed wire fence

A historical museum in Gothenberg, Nebraska, showcases a unique collection of ranch-specific barbed wire fences. The exhibit highlights the cultural and historical significance of barbed wire in land ownership and communication.

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The semiotics of barbed wire fence

In a visit to a historical museum in Gothenberg, Nebraska, a unique collection of barbed wire fences specific to each ranch or tract was showcased. The collection, assembled by Roy Farnstrom, featured different strands with distinctive patterns serving as "signature barbs" for ranchers to identify their land. Barbed wire revolutionized land division on the Great Plains after its invention in 1867, replacing costly wooden fences. The museum also displayed barbed wire from WWI and other wars. In a nearby feed store, another collection with signature barbs was curated by Barbara Jean Hartman, reflecting the region's naming practices. The article delves into the historical significance of barbed wire in marking ownership, akin to branding practices, and draws parallels with ancient tamgas used by Central Asian peoples. The discussion in the comments section touches on related topics like the role of bicycles in settling the Great Plains and the manufacturing process of barbed wire. Overall, the article explores the semiotics and cultural importance of barbed wire fences in the context of land ownership and communication in the Great Plains.

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Link Icon 9 comments
By @kens - 5 months
The article shows an interesting collection of different types of barbed wire with a name on each one. The article claims that different types of barbed wire allowed ranchers to tell at a glance if the land and animals belonged to them. Unfortunately, that theory is completely made up and wrong. The names on the barbed wire are the manufacturers not the ranchers. Different manufacturers produced different styles of wires due to patents and functionality reasons.

For instance, the first wire in the article is labeled "Kelly loose barb". That corresponds to the Michael Kelly patent [1]. The next name is Scutt, describing the improved barbed wire invented by H. B. Scutt [2].

[1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US283614A [2] https://patents.google.com/patent/US195239A

By @vessenes - 5 months
This was interesting but I don't know if semiotics is a large part of the essay. I was hoping to get a deconstruction of barbed wire fence as a security measure in different parts of the world. My experience living in South Africa for a while was that to an American eye, barbed wire on top of a wall codes as "this neighborhood is unsafe". To a South African it codes as "this home is protected and safe" -- very different reactions. There were a few houses in my neighborhood in Cape Town that refused barbed wire, and I always respected them immensely and thought of them as sort of hold-overs from a less violent period in the country's history.
By @sdsd - 5 months
Not related to TFA but the word "semiotics" to me is very evocative of this set of academic subjects in the 70s that were just kind of shelved. Right along with cybernetics or women's lib. Here in Guatemala there was a used book fair and in the English section they had a book for 80 cents about cybernetics, which I've neglected to read, but now think I ought to read soon :)
By @keiferski - 5 months
I don't think Deleuze and Guattari actually talk about it directly, but barbed wire seems like a perfect example of a technology that turns smooth space into striated space. Basically smooth spaces are vast and open, like the sea or the great plains, whereas striated spaces are ones organized, put under a grid, etc.

https://www.christianhubert.com/writing/smoothstriated

By @ortusdux - 5 months
Very interesting! Makes me think of the barbed wire telephone networks -

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/barbed-wire-telephone-...

By @banga - 5 months
Interesting collection, but this statement gave me pause:

"there was nothing out here but millions of buffalo and some scattered Indians"

By @chanandler_bong - 5 months
I read an article a long time ago that drew a direct correlation between the need to contain/separate livestock in the American West and the battlefields of World War I.

Basically, as settlers moved westward, they needed to contain their livestock as well as separate sheep and cows. Sheep apparently eat grass down to the ground whereas cows don't, thus sheep would deprive cows of food.

So, barbed wire was developed for this purpose and the military saw the utility of it as well. Fast-forward to WWI and the vast battlefields there and needing an inexpensive way to slow enemy advances on foot. This led to the development of tanks to overcome the barbed wire obstacles. Machine guns also became more useful as a way to spray large areas when attacking troops were held up by the obstacles.

By @alamortsubite - 5 months
If the author is reading this, you really should check out the barbed wire exhibits at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City [1] and the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in LaCrosse, KS [2]. Next-level.

1: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/explore/barbed-wire/

2: https://www.rushcounty.org/BarbedWireMuseum/BWexhibits.html

By @underlipton - 5 months
Barbed wire fence is a great example of technology that was originally meant for capitalist ends - specifically, to allow for the slicing up of a commons for private use - eventually employed to literally rip apart people.