Online Encyclopedia
Hobo
A hobo was a member of a distinctive sub-culture of homeless, travelling workers in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They were particularly associated with the railroads, as they had the reputation for freighthopping--hitching free rides from place to place in the baggage cars of trains.
Hobos generally apply the term hobo only to itinerant people who work. In contrast, they define a tramp as a itinerant person who does not work and they define a bum as a homeless person who neither travels nor works.
The population of hobos increased during times of economic trouble, and their numbers increased greatly during the Great Depression. With no work and no prospects at home, many decided to travel and try their luck elsewhere.
Nowadays there are few railroad-riding hobos left, though there are still small numbers of them. Some itinerant individuals today travel by car rather than rail, but still identify themselves as hobos.
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. These showed little mercy to hobos they found. If that wasn't enough, riding on a freight train is highly dangerous. One can easily fall under the wheels or 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. Hobos tended to band together for protection and formed an informal 'brotherhood'.
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Hobo symbols
To cope with the difficulty of hobo life, hobos developed a system of symbols. Hobos would write these symbols 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. Naturally, hobo symbols would vary from place to place around the country.
Hobos in media
Fiction books
- James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice
- John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
- Upton Sinclair: The Jungle (the part where Jurgis escapes from Chicago)
- Emperor of the North Pole : Film starring Lee Marvin, Keith Carradine and Ernest Borgnine.
Nonfiction books
- Ted Conover: Rolling Nowhere (about modern-day hobos, published 1981)
- Jack London: The Road
- Jack Black: You Can't Win
- Lloyd Morain: The Human Cougar
- Anonymous: Evasion, published by CrimethInc
Films
- Catching out : 2003 documentary about modern hobos; IMDB http://imdb.com/title/tt0337595/
Television
- "The Simpsons" TV series. Episode #269, "Simpsons Tall Tales"
Songs
- Don McLean: The Legend of Andrew McCrew, 1974
- Big Rock Candy Mountain, generally attributed to Harry McClintock
See Also
- National Hobo Convention , held in Britt, Iowa by the Hobo Foundation
External Links
- Fran's Hobo Page http://www.worldpath.net/~minstrel/hobosign.htm , by Fran DeLorenzo. Includes hobo history and a glossary of hobo signs.