Hobo

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File:Mime Artist.jpg
A mime dressed as a hobo

Hobo is a term that refers to certain wandering persons without homes, particularly those who make a habit of hopping freight trains. The iconic image of a hobo is that of a downtrodden, shabbily-dressed and perhaps drunken male, one that was solidified in American culture during the Great Depression. Hobos are often depicted carrying a bindle.

The hobo imagery has been employed by entertainers to create wildly successful characters in the past, most famously Emmett Kelly's "Weary Willy" and Red Skelton's "Freddy the Freeloader".

Origins

The origin of the term is not confirmed, though there are popular theories.

Author Todd DePastino has suggested that it may come from the term hoe-boy meaning "farm hand", or a greeting such as Ho, boy! [1]. Bill Bryson suggests that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a contraction of "homeward bound". Others have said that the term comes from the Manhattan intersection of HOuston and BOwery, where itinerant people once used to congregate; or from the Japanese word hōbō meaning "in all directions." (It's worth noting that "hobo," a similar-sounding Japanese word, means "high school teacher.")

Still another theory of the term's origins is that it derives from the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, which was a terminus for many railroad lines in the 19th century. The word "hobo" may also be a shortening of the phrase which best describes the early hobo's method of transportation, which was "hopping boxcars."

History

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, who had a reputation for being rough with trespassers. If that wasn't enough, riding on a freight train is 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".

National Hobo Convention

The National Hobo Convention is held in Britt, Iowa each year in early to mid August. Hobos come to town and 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 as live entertainment, a carnival, and a flea market give everyone something to do.

Hobo lingo

  • Accommodation car - The caboose of a train
  • Angellina - young inexperienced kid
  • Banjo - A small portable frying pan.
  • Big House - Prison
  • Bindle stick - Collection of belongings wrapped in cloth and tied around a stick
  • Bone polisher - A mean dog
  • Bull - A railroad officer
  • Cannonball - A fast train
  • Catch the Westbound - to die
  • Chuck a dummy - Pretend to faint
  • Cover with the moon - Sleep out in the open
  • Cow crate - A railroad stock car
  • Crums - Lice
  • Doggin' it - Traveling by bus
  • Easy mark - A hobo sign or mark that identifies a person or place where one can get food and a place to stay overnight
  • Honey dipping - Working with a shovel in the sewer
  • Hot - A fugitive hobo
  • Hot Shot - train with priority freight, stops rarely, goes faster
  • Jungle - An area off a railroad that hobos camp and congregate in
  • Knowledge bus - A schoolbus used for shelter
  • Moniker / Monica - A nickname
  • On The Fly - jumping a moving train
  • Punk - any young kid
  • Slop-tart - a girl who will give pleasure in exchange for weapons
  • Road kid - A young hobo who apprentices himself to an older hobo in order to learn the ways of the road
  • Rum dum - A drunkard
  • Soup bowl- A place to get soup, bread and drinks
  • Snipes - Cigarette butts "sniped" (found in ashtrays or wherever)
  • Spear biscuits - Looking for food in garbage cans
  • Yegg - A travelling professional thief

Hobo Code

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 party.
  • A triangle with hands signifies that the homeowner has a gun.
  • Sharp teeth signify a mean dog.
  • A square missing its top line signifies it is safe to camp in that location.
  • A top hat and a triangle signify wealth.
  • A bellend 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.
  • 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 cat signifies that a kind lady lives here.
  • A wavy line (signifying water) above an X means fresh water and a campsite.
  • Three diagonal lines means 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 hoboes did manual labour).

Naturally, hobo code would vary from place to place around the country.

Notable hobos

Hobos in media

Books and movies

See article: List of books and films about hobos and freighthopping.

Television

BBC Radio 4 recently broadcast a one off programme about the Hobo Convention entitled "Hobo Heaven"

Songs

See also

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