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Hobo

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A mime dressed as a hobo
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A mime dressed as a hobo

Hobo is a term that refers to certain wandering homeless people, particularly those who make a habit of freighthopping. 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".

Contents

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! [link]. 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".

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" can 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".

Hobo lingo

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:

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

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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