# Did Anyone Ever Really Wear A Pickle Barrel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068 "2008-08-06T19:12:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/1 "2008-08-06T19:12:53Z")
> **[The Onion | America's Finest News Source.](https://www.theonion.com/)** > > The Onion brings you all of the latest news, stories, photos, videos and more from America's finest news source. Was this ever anything more than a humorous way to illustrate having lost your last dime? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/2 "2008-08-07T01:29:17Z")
I have nothing to cite but it seems highly unlikely. 1. Wooden barrels are very heavy. I’ve lifted a half-barrel (the type used as a planter) and that was a chore. I can’t imagine walking around all day with a whole barrel suspended from my shoulders. 2. You’d have to break the metal rims to get the bottom out, destroying the barrel in the process. Or cut a hole in the bottom with a saw of some sort. Would a penniless man have the tools to do this? 3. Barrels are made from somewhat exotic types of wood, and therefore expensive. That half barrel cost me $25, I think. A pair of raggedy second-hand trousers can be had for a few dollars. I’m not saying that somebody in need of clothing would go shopping for a barrel, rather that taverns and wine cellars would know the value of their barrels and not just toss the empty ones out in the street. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/3 "2008-08-07T03:28:07Z")
Wait, Rodeo Clowns? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/4 "2008-08-08T01:08:50Z")
I believe the cliche is meant to depict someone who has lost their clothing (often as a result of gambling) having to resort to some emergency means of getting home without getting arrested for indecent exposure. In other words, you find yourself naked in an alley: whaddya do? More modern depictions of the same predicament usually show a cardboard box used in the same way. (Wooden barrels used to be common containers once upon a time). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/5 "2008-08-08T02:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] I believe the cliche is meant to depict someone who has lost their clothing (often as a result of gambling) having to resort to some emergency means of getting home without getting arrested for indecent exposure. [/QUOTE] Well, in 1979, Steve Martin improvised by wearing two dogs. Of course he was in front of his own house at the time, if that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/6 "2008-08-08T02:20:12Z")
That wasn’t because he was destitute, it was because he was a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/7 "2008-08-08T02:31:21Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] That wasn’t because he was destitute [/QUOTE] Hey, all he needs is his ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair. Not one other thing, except his dog. Well, maybe not his dog. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/8 "2008-08-08T02:48:13Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] That wasn’t because he was destitute, it was because he was a jerk. [/QUOTE] Having been born a poor black child screwed with his mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/9 "2008-08-08T03:37:07Z")
Perhaps it was a nod to Diogenes of Sinope who advocated a life devoid of any luxuries and allegedly lived in a wine barrel in abject poverty. So dirt poor, living in a barrel, could be easily turned into destitutes having nothingbut a barrel to wear. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/10 "2008-08-08T05:24:20Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] [http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/why\_am\_i\_the\_only\_homeless\_man](http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/why_am_i_the_only_homeless_man) Was this ever anything more than a humorous way to illustrate having lost your last dime? [/QUOTE] I was reading an account the other day of a slave who was made to wear a barrel for a day as a form of punishment. Part of the punishment was that it was supposed to have prevented him from sitting down. I understand this form of punishment was sometimes used in the army as well. I’m not sure how the barrel being worn went from a form of punishment to an emblem of poverty. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/11 "2008-08-08T13:40:16Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] More modern depictions of the same predicament usually show a cardboard box used in the same way. [/QUOTE] As seen in “Curse of the Were-Rabbit”, where Wallace wakes up to find himself naked, and quickly dons a box – labeled “May Contain Nuts”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/12 "2008-08-08T15:30:12Z")
In _An American Werewolf in London_ after his first transformation and reversion back to human-form, the titular hero finds himself in Hyde Park naked. A quick cut and he’s clutching a balloon strategically as he flits from bush to bush looking for a way home. Another quick cut to one of my favorite quotes in all moviedom: A small boy tugs on his mother’s sleeve and complains, “A naked American man stole my balloon!” – like there’s any number of naked Irish men or Aussies hanging around Hyde Park. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/13 "2008-08-08T15:35:11Z")
Don’t know if he’s still doing it, but there’s the, “Beer Barrel Guy,” that did his thing at Denver’s Mile High Stadium. Other than a hat, socks, and shoes he claimed to wear nothing but his beer barrell. I saw him once in person and several times on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/14 "2008-08-08T16:57:29Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] I was reading an account the other day of a slave who was made to wear a barrel for a day as a form of punishment. Part of the punishment was that it was supposed to have prevented him from sitting down. I understand this form of punishment was sometimes used in the army as well. I’m not sure how the barrel being worn went from a form of punishment to an emblem of poverty. [/QUOTE] The Navy uses barrels differently: > [@](#): > > The captain of a fearsome pirate ship decides to have a talk with a rookie that is setting out for his first voyage ever. > > Captain: “So, any questions?” > > Rookie: “Just one. Since there are no women on the ship and we are at sea for months at a time, what do we do if we get…uh…you know…the urge?” > > Captain: “See that barrel over there?” > > Rookie: “Yep.” > > Captain: “See the hole in the side of the barrel?” > > Rookie: “Yep.” > > Captain: “Well, anytime you get the urge, just use that hole in the barrel. Anytime except on Tuesdays.” > > Rookie: “Why not Tuesdays?” > > Captain: “That’s your day in the barrel.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/15 "2008-10-02T23:27:19Z")
Hope it’s OK to revive this somewhat older thread. I found a reference today to something called a _Drunkard’s Cloak_ - apparently this was a punishment in the Elizabethan era - the offender would be forced to walk about the town wearing a barrel and would be derided by the public. There are woodcut prints of this practice - although I couldn’t find anything authentic looking online - but I did find this old glass plate photograph (presumably a photo of a line drawing/illustration somewhere) [http://www.geh.org/ar/strip50/m198605500072.jpg](http://www.geh.org/ar/strip50/m198605500072.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-ever-really-wear-a-pickle-barrel/459068/16 "2008-10-02T23:44:01Z")
Oops… I also found a reference from a book published in 1929, quoting another one published in 1655, mentioning the practice - although reading the commentary accompanying this quotation, it sounds like the practice itself may be have been rare or at least sparsely documented. The practice could even be completely apocryphal, but nevertheless, the account exists and could have inspired the popular images. > **[Curious Punishments of Bygone Days, 1929](https://books.google.com/books?id=45L1hJtN-o0C&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136)** > > In ransacking old court records, newspapers, diaries and letters for the historic foundation of the books Ms. Earle wrote on colonial history, she found and noted much of interest which was not used or referred to in any of those books. An...