hobo

Two hobos walking along railroad tracks, after being put off a train. One is carrying a bindle.

A hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, especially one who is penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century.^[1] Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not work at all, 'hobos' are workers who wander.^[1][2]

Etymology

Informal three-quarter length portrait of three hobos sitting under a covered structure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1929.

The origin of the term is unknown. Etymologist Anatoly Liberman says that the only details certain about its origin is that the word emerged in American English and was first noticed around 1890.^[1] Liberman points out that many folk etymologies fail to answer the question: "Why did the word become widely known in California (just there) by the early Nineties (just then)?"^[1] Author Todd DePastino has suggested that it may come from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand," or a greeting such as Ho, boy!.^[3] Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound".^[4] H. L. Mencken, in his The American Language (4th ed., 1937), wrote:

Tramps and hobos are commonly lumped together, but in their own sight they are sharply differentiated. A hobo or bo is simply a migratory laborer; he may take some longish holidays, but soon or late he returns to work. A tramp never works if it can be avoided; he simply travels. Lower than either is the bum, who neither works nor travels, save when impelled to motion by the police.^[2]

History

It is unclear exactly when hobos first appeared on the American railroading scene. With the end of the American Civil War in the mid 19th Century, many soldiers looking to return home took to hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American frontier followed railroads westward aboard freight trains in the late 19th Century.

In 1906, Professor Layal Shafee, after an exhaustive study, put the number of tramps in America at 500,000 (about 0.6% of the U.S. population). The article citing this figure, "What Tramps Cost Nation", was published by The New York Telegraph in 1911 and estimated the number had surged to 700,000.^[5]

The population of hobos increased greatly during the Great Depression era of the 1930s.^[6] With no work and no prospects at home, many decided to travel for free via freight trains and try their luck elsewhere.

Life as a hobo was a dangerous one. In addition to the problems of being itinerant, poor, far from home and support, and the hostile attitude of many train crews, the railroads employed their own security staff, often nicknamed bulls, who had a reputation for being rough with trespassers.^{[citation needed]} Also, riding on a freight train is a dangerous enterprise. The British poet W.H. Davies, author of The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, lost a foot falling under the wheels while trying to jump a train. One could easily get trapped between cars, or freeze to death in bad weather. When freezer cars were loaded at an ice factory, any hobo inside was likely to be killed.^[7]

According to Ted Conover in Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes (1984), as many as 20,000 people live the hobo life in North America today. Modern freight trains are much faster and harder to ride than in the 1930s, but can still be boarded in railyards.^[8]

National Hobo Convention

In 1900, the town fathers of Britt, Iowa invited Tourist Union #63 to bring their annual convention to town, and the National Hobo Convention has been held in August each year ever since.^[9] Hobos stay in the "Hobo Jungle" telling stories around campfires at night. A hobo king and queen are named each year and get to ride on special floats in the Hobo Day parade. Following the parade, mulligan stew is served to hundreds of people in the city park. Live entertainment, a carnival, and a flea market are also part of the festivities. They also win money for the parade to help them get food.

Culture

Lingo in use up to the 1940s

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Many hobo terms have become part of common language, such as "Big House", "glad rags", "main drag", and others.

Hobo (sign) code

Hobo code at a Canal Street Ferry entrance in New Orleans, Louisiana

To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. Some signs included "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on. For instance:

• A cross signifies "angel food," that is, food served to the hobos after a sermon.
• A triangle with hands signifies that the homeowner has a gun.^[10]
• A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking dog.^[9]
• A square missing its top line signifies it is safe to camp in that location.
• A top hat and a triangle signify wealth.
• A spearhead signifies a warning to defend oneself.
• A circle with two parallel arrows means to get out fast, as hobos are not welcome in the area.^[9]
• Two interlocked humans signify handcuffs. (i.e. hobos are hauled off to jail).
• A Caduceus symbol signifies the house has a medical doctor living in it.
• A cross with a smiley face in one of the corners means the doctor at this office will treat hobos for free.
• A cat signifies that a kind lady lives here.^[9]
• A wavy line (signifying water) above an X means fresh water and a campsite.
• Three diagonal lines mean it's not a safe place.
• A square with a slanted roof (signifying a house) with an X through it means that the house has already been "burned" or "tricked" by another hobo and is not a trusting house.
• Two shovels, signifying work was available (Shovels, because most hobos did manual labor).

Another version of the Hobo Code exists as a display in the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the National Park Service.

Hobo (ethical) code

An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri.^[11] This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide Hobo Body; it reads this way:

1. Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.
2. When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.
3. Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.
4. Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants. By doing so you not only help a business along, but ensure employment should you return to that town again.
5. When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.
6. Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals' treatment of other hobos.
7. When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as bad, if not worse than you.
8. Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.
9. If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.
10. Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.
11. When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.
12. Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
13. Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose all molesters to authorities, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.
14. Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.
15. Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.
16. If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it. Whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!

Hobos

In mainstream culture

Examples of characters based on hobos include Emmett Kelly's "Weary Willy" and Red Skelton's "Freddy the Freeloader".

Books

• All the Strange Hours: The Excavation of a Life, by Loren Eiseley, 1975. ISBN 978-0-8032-6741-1
• The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman - Humor book which features a lengthy section on "hobos", including a list of 700 hobo names which spawned an online effort to illustrate the complete list.
• Bottom Dogs, by Edward Dahlberg
• Beggars of Life (1924), by Jim Tully
• Evasion by Anonymous
• From Coast to Coast with Jack London by "A-No.-1" (Leon Ray Livingston)
• Hard Travellin': The Hobo and His History, by Kenneth Allsop. ISBN 978-0-340-02572-7.
• Hobo, by Eddy Joe Cotton, 2002. ISBN 978-0-609-60738-1
• The Hobo - The Sociology of the Homeless Man, by Nels Anderson, 1923.
• The Hobo Handbook - A Field Guide to Living by Your Own Rules, by Josh Mack, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4405-1227-8 (Book on the Hobo lifestyle, written by one who has ridden the rails in recent years.)
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair contains a section in which the main character, Jurgis Rudkus, abandons his family in Chicago and becomes a hobo for a while.
• Knights of the Road, by Roger A. Bruns, 1980. ISBN 978-0-416-00721-3.
• Lonesome Road, by Thomas Minehan, 1941.
• Lonesome Traveler, by Jack Kerouac ("The Vanishing American Hobo")
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
• Muzzlers, Guzzlers, and Good Yeggs by Joe Coleman
• Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
• On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
• Once a Hobo... (1999), by Monte Holm
• One More Train to Ride: The Underground World of Modern American Hobos by Clifford Williams.
• Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression by Errol Lincoln Uys, (Routledge, 2003)ISBN 978-0-415-94575-2
• Riding Toward Everywhere by William T. Vollmann, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-125675-2
• The Road, by Jack London
• Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes by Ted Conover - Paperback: 304 pages, Publisher: Vintage (September 11, 2001), ISBN 0-307-727-868
• Sister of The Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha - (as told to) Dr. Ben Reitman
• Stumptown Kid, By Carol Gorman and Ron J. Finley
• Tales of an American Hobo (1989), by Charles Elmer Fox
• Tramping on Life (1922) and More Miles (1926), by Harry Kemp
• Waiting for Nothing, Tom Kromer
• You Can't Win, by Jack Black

Comics

• Kings in Disguise (1988), by James Vance and Dan Burr
• Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, webcomic by Adam Koford, featuring two anthropomorphic cats as hobos.
• Many cartoons depict hobos as main or secondary characters, hobo related activities such as traveling by train, with a bindle, or in company of hobos. For example, 8 Ball Bunny (1950) with Bugs Bunny, Merrie Melodies Hobo Gadget Band (1939), Mouse Wreckers (1948) and MGM's Henpecked Hoboes (1948).

Movies

• The Billion Dollar Hobo (1977), starring Tim Conway and Will Geer.
• Emperor of the North Pole aka Emperor of the North (1973), directed by Robert Aldrich. OCLC 70283150. Loosely based on Jack London's The Road.
• Hard Times aka The Streetfighter (1975), directed by Walter Hill (his directorial debut), and starring Charles Bronson (as a hobo turned street fighter) and James Coburn (as a gambler who becomes his manager).
• Hobo with a Shotgun (2011), an exploitation film directed by Jason Eisener and written by John Davies, starring Rutger Hauer as a vigilante hobo.
• Into the Wild (2007), directed by Sean Penn, based on Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book about Christopher McCandless
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008), starring Abigail Breslin, Chris O'Donnell, Julia Ormond and Max Thieriot. Directed by Patricia Rozema.
• The Polar Express (2004), a computer-animated feature film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, features a gruff but helpful hobo character (one of five characters played by Hanks) who seems to be the corporeal appearance of a spirit or angel.
• Resurrecting the Champ (2007), starring Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett, directed by Rod Lurie.
• Sullivan's Travels (1941), directed by Preston Sturges.
• Tokyo Godfathers (2003), an anime directed by Satoshi Kon.
• Wild Boys of the Road (1933), directed by William A. Wellman

Documentaries

• American Experience, "Riding the Rails" (1999), a PBS documentary by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys, narrated by Richard Thomas, detailing the hobos of the Great Depression, with interviews of those who rode the rails during those years.
• Hobo (1992), a documentary by John T. Davis, following the life of a hobo on his travels through the United States.

Songs

Musicians known for hobo songs include Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Utah Phillips, Jimmie Rodgers, Seasick Steve, and Boxcar Willie.

Examples of hobo songs include:

• "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Harry McClintock, recorded by various artists including Tom Waits, Lisa Loeb, The Restarts and Harry Dean Stanton.
• "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" recorded by Harry McClintock, Al Jolson, and others
• "Hard Travelin'" and "Hobo's Lullaby" by Woody Guthrie
• "Hobo" by The Hackensaw Boys
• "Hobo Bill", "I Ain't Got No Home" and "Mysteries of a Hobo's Life" by Cisco Houston
• "Hobo Blues" and "The Hobo" by John Lee Hooker
• "Hobo Chang Ba" by Captain Beefheart
• "Hobo Flats" by Oliver Nelson
• "Hobo Jungle" by The Band
• "Hobo Kinda Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• "The Hobo Song" by Johnny Cash
• "Hobo's Lullaby" (aka "Weary Hobo"), written by Goebel Reeves, recorded by various artists including Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, and Ramblin' Jack Eliot
• "Hobos on Parade" by Shannon Wright
• "I Am a Lonesome Hobo", "Only a Hobo" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" by Bob Dylan
• "Jack Straw" by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir
• "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" a recording of a hobo singing on a London street, by composer Gavin Bryars.
• "King of the Road" by Roger Miller
• "Kulkurin Valssi" (Hobo Waltz) by Arthur Kylander
• "Lännen lokari" (Western Logger) by Hiski Salomaa
• "Last of the Hobo Kings" by Mary Gauthier
• "Like a Hobo" by Charlie Winston
• "Mary Lane" by Fred Eaglesmith
• "Morning Glory" by Tim Buckley lyrics by Larry Beckett
• "Papa Hobo" and "Hobo's Blues" by Paul Simon
• "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell
• "Waiting for a Train" by Jimmie Rodgers

Television

• Criminal Minds (season 4), episode 5 "Catching Out" (2008)
• Mad Men (season 1), episode 8, "The Hobo Code" (2007)
• The Littlest Hobo

See also

• Freight Train Riders of America, a brotherhood of hobos
• Freighthopping
• Hobo nickel, an art form associated with hobos
• Kirby, Texas, the "hobo capital of Texas"
• Shoulder pole
• Wobbly lingo, the jargon of the hobos who joined the union

References

Further reading

External links

Look up hobo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• In Search of the American Hobo 1876-1939 from American Studies at the University of Virginia
• Fran's Hobo Page, by Fran DeLorenzo. Includes hobo history and a glossary of hobo signs.