Street guys who grew up in the inner city, New York City for instance, garnered a liking for them because pigeons (in the old days spelled as pidgeons) were all around our neighborhoods. Everywhere you looked they were landing on rooftops, telephone wires, sidewalks, etc., whether it was Downtown New York, up in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens.

So I imagine from starting to feed them, they become somewhat friendly and eventually domesticated. And lots of guys starting collecting them and housing them in makeshift pigeon coops fellas would build on the roofs of our homes or apartment houses. Most often they trained these pigeons for racing and a competition of sorts. It became a real big thing for a time too.

But it's strictly a city thing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt anyone in the suburbs (anywhere) was into it the way city guys were.

It was more of a thing that older generation guys from the 1930s to 1960s did. The younger set didn't take to it the way their predecessors did. Today its not a thing among 99% of the younger set.

Remember too that it wasn't only knock-around guys who had a fascination with racing pigeons. Many legit guys loved em too. In my neighborhood alone a knew of several dozen fellas who were crazy about their pigeons. Very proud and protective of the "flock" so to speak.

If you could look down from above, you could see all the makeshift coops with the little slanted roofs and chicken wire on them atop many homes and apartment houses.

I guess you could say it was a phenomena of sorts