A
hobo is a migratory worker or homeless
vagabondA vagabond is an itinerant person. Such people may be called drifters, tramps, rogues, or hobos. A vagabond is characterised by almost continuous travelling, lacking a fixed home, temporary abode, or permanent residence...
, often
pennilessThe most common measure of poverty in the United States is the "poverty threshold" set by the U.S. government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using...
. The term originated in the
westernThe Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
—probably
northwesternThe Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon and Washington, to which Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Southeast Alaska, and parts of Northern California are sometimes added...
—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike
trampIn British English and traditional American English usage, a tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as an itinerant vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round....
s, who worked only when they were forced to, and
bumBum or Bums may refer to:* a slang term for a homeless person, beggar, or a "forgotten man."* a slang term for the buttocks* a slang term for a hobo * A lazy person; slacker* B.U.M...
s, who didn't work at all, hobos were workers who wandered.
The origin of the term is unknown. Etymologist
Anatoly LibermanAnatoly Liberman is a professor in the Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches courses in linguistics, etymology, and folklore. Liberman is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia. His main graduate works, written under the auspices of the...
, writing for
Oxford University PressOxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
, says that the only details certain about its origin is that the word emerged in
American EnglishAmerican English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States.English is the most common language in the United States...
and was first noticed around 1890.
A
hobo is a migratory worker or homeless
vagabondA vagabond is an itinerant person. Such people may be called drifters, tramps, rogues, or hobos. A vagabond is characterised by almost continuous travelling, lacking a fixed home, temporary abode, or permanent residence...
, often
pennilessThe most common measure of poverty in the United States is the "poverty threshold" set by the U.S. government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using...
. The term originated in the
westernThe Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
—probably
northwesternThe Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon and Washington, to which Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Southeast Alaska, and parts of Northern California are sometimes added...
—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike
trampIn British English and traditional American English usage, a tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as an itinerant vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round....
s, who worked only when they were forced to, and
bumBum or Bums may refer to:* a slang term for a homeless person, beggar, or a "forgotten man."* a slang term for the buttocks* a slang term for a hobo * A lazy person; slacker* B.U.M...
s, who didn't work at all, hobos were workers who wandered.
Etymology
The origin of the term is unknown. Etymologist
Anatoly LibermanAnatoly Liberman is a professor in the Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch at the University of Minnesota, where he teaches courses in linguistics, etymology, and folklore. Liberman is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia. His main graduate works, written under the auspices of the...
, writing for
Oxford University PressOxford house Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. they are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP's...
, says that the only details certain about its origin is that the word emerged in
American EnglishAmerican English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two thirds of native speakers of English live in the United States.English is the most common language in the United States...
and was first noticed around 1890. 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)?" Author
Todd DePastinoTodd DePastino is an author.-Education:Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh;BA in History and Philosophy from Boston College;MA and Ph.D...
has suggested that it may come from the term
hoe-boy meaning "farmhand," or a greeting such as
Ho, boy!.
Bill BrysonWilliam McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects. Born an American, he was a resident of North Yorkshire, England, for most of his professional life before moving back to the US in...
suggests in
Made in AmericaMade In America is a nonfiction book by Bill Bryson describing the history of the English language in the United States and the evolution of American culture....
that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "
homeward
bound".
H. L. MenckenHenry Louis "H. L." Mencken , was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a student of American English...
, in his
The American LanguageThe American Language, first published in 1919, is H. L. Mencken's book about the English language as spoken in the United States.Mencken was inspired by "the argot of the colored waiters" in Washington, as well as one of his favorite authors, Mark Twain, and his experiences on the streets of...
(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.
History
It is unclear exactly when hobos were alienated on the American railroading scene. With the end of the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
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, Prof. Layal Shafee, after an exhaustive study, put the number of tramps in America at 500,000 (about .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.
The population of hobos increased greatly during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
era of the 1930s. 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. Also, riding on a freight train is a dangerous enterprise. The British poet W.H. Davies, author of
The Autobiography of a Super-TrampThe Autobiography of a Super-Tramp is an autobiography by the Welsh poet and writer William Henry Davies ....
, lost a leg falling under the wheels whilst 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.
National Hobo Convention
In 1900, the town fathers of
BrittBritt is a city in Hancock County, Iowa, U.S. and is the home of the National Hobo Convention. The population was 2,052 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Britt is located at ....
,
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of...
invited Tourist Union #63 to bring their annual convention to town, and the
National Hobo ConventionThe National Hobo Convention is held on the second weekend of every August in the town of Britt, Iowa, organized by the local Chamber of Commerce...
has been held each year in early to mid August ever since. 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.
Hobo lingo in use up to the 1940s
| Hobo term |
Explanation |
| Accommodation car |
the cabooseA caboose or brake van or guard's van is a manned rail transport vehicle coupled at the end of a freight train...
of a train |
| Angellina |
young inexperienced kid |
| Bad Road |
a train line rendered useless by some hobo's bad action |
| Banjo |
(1) a small portable frying panA frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically a 20 to 30 cm diameter flat pan with sides that are much lower than the pan diameter and usually flared outwards, and no lid...
. (2) a short, "D" handled shovela tool used for hitting peopleA shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening....
|
| Barnacle |
a person who sticks to one job a year or more |
| Beachcomber |
a hobo who hangs around docksA dock is a man-made feature involved in the handling of boats or ships. However the exact meaning varies between different variants of the English language.-History:...
or seaports |
| Big House |
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
|
| Bindle stick |
collection of belongings wrapped in cloth and tied around a stick |
| Bindlestiff |
a hobo who steals from other hobos. |
| Blowed-in-the-glass |
a genuine, trustworthy individual |
| "'Bo" |
the common way one hobo referred to another: "I met that 'Bo on the way to Bangor last spring". |
| Boil Up |
specifically, to boil one's clothes to kill lice and their eggs. Generally, to get oneself as clean as possible |
| Bone polisher |
a mean dogThe dog is a domesticated form of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history...
|
| Bone orchard |
a graveyardA graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones. It is usually located near and administered by a church....
|
| Bull |
a railroad officer |
| Bullets |
beansBean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
|
| Buck |
a Catholic priestA priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.Priests and priestesses...
good for a dollar |
| Buger |
today's lunch |
| C, H, and D |
indicates an individual is Cold, Hungry, and Dry (thirsty) |
| California Blankets |
newspapersA newspaper is a publication containing news, information, and advertising. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most traditional papers also feature an editorial page containing columns that express the...
, intended to be used for bedding |
| Calling In |
using another's campfireA campfire is a fire lit at a campsite, usually in a fire ring. Campfires are a popular feature of camping, particularly among organized campers such as Scouts or Guides. Without proper precautions they are also potentially dangerous. A certain degree of skill is needed to properly build a...
to warm up or cook |
| Cannonball |
a fast train |
| Carrying the Banner |
keeping in constant motion so as to avoid being picked up for loitering or to keep from freezing |
| 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 |
| Crumbs |
liceLice , , also known as fly babies, are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless insects; three of which are classified as human disease agents. They are obligate ectoparasites of every avian and most mammalian orders...
|
| Doggin' it |
traveling by busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
, especially on the Greyhound bus line |
| Easy mark |
a hobo sign or mark that identifies a person or place where one can get food and a place to stay overnight |
| Elevated |
under the influence of drugs or alcohol |
| Flip |
to board a moving train |
| Flop |
a place to sleep, by extension: "Flophouse", a cheap hotel. |
| Glad Rags |
one's best clothes |
| Graybacks |
lice |
| Grease the Track |
to be run over by a train |
| Gump |
a scrap of meat |
| Honey dipping |
working with a shovel in the sewer |
| Hot |
(1) a fugitiveA fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. As a verbal metaphor and psychological concept, one might also be described as a "fugitive...
hobo. (2) a decent meal: "I could use three hots and a flop." |
| Hot Shot |
train with priority freight, stops rarely, goes faster; synonym for "Cannonball" |
| Jungle |
an area off a railroad where hobos camp and congregate |
| Jungle Buzzard |
a hobo or tramp In British English and traditional American English usage, a tramp is a long term homeless person who travels from place to place as an itinerant vagrant, traditionally walking or hiking all year round....
who preys on their own |
| Knowledge bus |
a school bus A school bus is a type of bus used for transporting children and teenagers to and from school and school events. The first school bus was horse-drawn, introduced in 1827 by George Shillibeer for a Quaker school at Abney Park in Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom, and was designed to carry 25...
used for shelter |
| Main Drag |
the busiest road in a town |
| Moniker / Monica |
a nicknameA nickname is a descriptive name given in place of or in addition to the official name of a person, place or thing. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience A nickname (also spelled "nick name") is a descriptive name...
|
| Mulligan |
a type of community stew A "Community Stew" is a stew put together by several homeless people by combining whatever food they have or can collect. Community stews are often made at "Hobo Jungles" or events designed to help homeless people.- History :...
, created by several hobos combining whatever food they have or can collect |
| Nickel note |
five-dollar bill |
| On The Fly |
jumping a moving train |
| Padding the hoof |
to travel by foot |
| Possum Belly |
to ride on the roof of a passenger car. One must lie flat, on his/her stomach, to not be blown off |
| Pullman |
a rail car |
| Punk |
any young kid |
| Reefer |
a compression of "refrigerator car". |
| Road kid |
a young hobo who apprentices himself to an older hobo in order to learn the ways of the road |
| Road stake |
the small amount of money a hobo may have in case of an emergency |
| Rum dum |
a drunkard |
| Sky pilot |
a preacher or minister |
| Soup bowl |
a place to get soup, bread and drinks |
| Snipes |
cigarette butts "sniped" (eg. in ashtrays) |
| Spear biscuits |
looking for food in garbage cans |
| Stemming |
panhandling or mooching along the streets |
| Tokay Blanket |
drinking alcohol to stay warm |
| Yegg |
a traveling professional thief |
Many hobo terms have become part of common language, such as "Big House", "glad rags", "main drag", and others.
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
A top hat, top-hat, silk hat, cylinder hat, plug hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat worn prior to and including the 19th and early 20th centuries...
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.
- Two interlocked humans signify handcuffs
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge or in the case of rigid cuffs, a bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed...
. (i.e. hobos are hauled off to jail).
- A Caduceus symbol
__FORCETOC__ The caduceus ☤ is typically depicted as a short herald's staff entwined by two serpents in the form of a double helix, and is sometimes surmounted by wings. This staff was first borne by Iris, the messenger of Hera...
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 hoboes for free.
- 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
A diagonal is a line joining two nonconsecutive vertices of a polygon or polyhedron. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word "diagonal" derives from the Greek διαγώνιος , from dia- and gonia ; it was used by both Strabo and Euclid to refer to a line connecting two vertices of a...
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 SiteSteamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad . The museum is built around and incorporates a working replica turntable and...
at
Scranton, PennsylvaniaScranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to figures released by the United States Census Bureau in 2000,...
, operated by the
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
.
Hobo ethical code
An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri. This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide Hobo Body; it reads this way:
- Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.
- When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.
- Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.
- 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.
- When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.
- Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals treatment of other hobos.
- 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.
- Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.
- If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.
- Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.
- 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.
- Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
- Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose all molesters to authorities, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.
- Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.
- Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.
- If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it, whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!
Notable hobos
- Jack Black
Jack Black, born 1881 in Vancouver but raised from infancy in Missouri, was a late 19th century/early 20th century hobo and professional burglar, living out the dying age of the Wild West. He wrote You Can't Win a memoir or sketched autobiography describing his days on the road and life as an...
- Maurice W. Graham
"Steam Train Maury" Graham was best known as five-time holder of the title "King of the Hobos", and was later known as "Patriarch of the Hobos". Born to a broken home in Ohio, he was shunted from father to mother to aunt to married siblings. In 1931, at the age of 14, Graham began riding the rails...
, known as "Steam Train Maurie".
- Joe Hill
Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström was a Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World . He was executed for murder after a controversial trial...
- Leon Ray Livingston
Leon Ray Livingston was one of the most famous hoboes of all time, travelling under the name "A No.1". He perfected the hobo symbols system, which lets other homeless people know where there are more or less generous people, free food, vicious dogs, etc. He was not a poor man; he simply preferred...
, known as "A No.1".
- Harry McClintock
Harry Kirby McClintock , also known as "Haywire Mac," was born in Knoxville, Tenn, "the son of a railroad cabinetmaker and nephew of four boomer trainmen. His drifting began when he ran away from home as a boy to join a circus...
- Utah Phillips
Bruce "Utah" Duncan Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
- Seasick Steve
Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American bluesman, although he prefers to be called "a song and dance man". He plays guitars , and sings, usually about his early life living rough and doing casual work.-Early life:Wold was born in Oakland, California. When he was four...
- Robert Joseph Silveria, Jr., known as "Sidetrack", who killed 34 other hobos before turning himself in to the authorities.
- Jim Tully
Jim Tully , was a vagabond, pugilist, and noted American writer. His critical and commercial success in the 1920s and 30s may qualify him as the greatest long shot in American literature.Born near St...
, an author who penned several pulp fiction books during the years of 1928 through 1945. One of his published works, Beggars of Life, was adapted as a silent film of the same nameBeggars of Life is an early sound film with talking sequences starring Wallace Beery as a rail-riding hobo and Louise Brooks as a girl on the run. Based on a novel called Beggars of Life by Jim Tully, the film is often regarded as Brooks' best movie...
; Mr. Tully noted that the book and movie was loosely based on his years hoboing in the western U.S.
- Christopher McCandless
Christopher Johnson McCandless was an American wanderer who adopted the name Alexander Supertramp and hiked into the Alaskan wilderness with little food and equipment, hoping to live a period of solitude. Almost four months later, he died of starvation near Denali National Park and Preserve...
a.k.a Alexander Supertramp.
Notable people who have hoboed
- Ted Conover
Ted Conover is an American author and journalist. A graduate of Denver's Manual High School and Amherst College and a Marshall Scholar, he is also a distinguished writer-in-residence in the Department of Journalism at New York University...
- Edward Dahlberg
Edward Dahlberg was an American novelist and essayist.-Background:Dahlberg was born in Boston to Elizabeth Dahlberg. Mother and son wandered through the southern and western United States until 1905, when she opened a barber shop in Kansas City. In April 1912 Dahlberg was sent to the Jewish Orphan...
- W. H. Davies
William Henry Davies or W. H. Davies was a Welsh poet and writer.- The People's Poet :He spent a significant part of his life as a tramp or vagabond in the United States and United Kingdom, but became known as one of the most popular poets of his time...
- Jack Dempsey
Jack "Manassa Mauler" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records...
- Loren Eiseley
Loren Eiseley was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s. During this period he received more than 36 honorary degrees and was a fellow of many distinguished professional societies...
- Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena.Fort's books sold well and remain in print. Today, the terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are used to characterise various anomalous phenomena....
- Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
- Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, DFC, Knight in the Military Order of William , was the writer of the 1970 book Soldaat van Oranje in which he describes his experiences in World War II, and which was made into a 1977 film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Rutger Hauer.-Early life:Hazelhoff...
- Eric Hoffer
Eric Hoffer was an American social writer and philosopher. He produced ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983 by President of the United States Ronald Reagan...
- Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer.As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas and voice work in theater, television and motion pictures. A prolific recording artist, the prominent music critic John Rockwell has been quoted in the New York Times as...
- Harry Kemp
thumb|rightHarry Hibbard Kemp was an American poet and prose writer of the twentieth century. He was known as "the "Vagabond Poet, the Villon of America, the Hobo Poet, or the Tramp Poet," and was a well-known popular literary figure of his era, the "hero of adolescent Americans."-Life and...
- Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
- Jack London
Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf along with many other popular books...
- Louis L'amour
Louis L'Amour was an American author. L'Amour's books, primarily Western fiction , remain popular, and most have gone through multiple printings...
- Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is largely remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and...
- Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature. His plays are among the first to introduce into American drama the techniques of realism, associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish playwright August...
- George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and journalist...
- Harry Partch
Harry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just...
- John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
Hobos in media
Examples of characters based on hobos include
Emmett KellyEmmett Leo Kelly , a native of Sedan, Kansas, was an American circus performer, who created the memorable clown figure "Weary Willie," based on the hobos of the Depression era. Kelly began his career as a trapeze artist...
's "Weary Willy" and
Red SkeltonRed Skelton , born Richard Bernard Skelton, was an American comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971...
's "Freddy the Freeloader".
Movies
- The Billion Dollar Hobo
The Billion Dollar Hobo is a 1977 American comedy film starring Tim Conway and Will Geer .-Plot:Conway is Vernon Praiseworthy, heir to a fortune from his late uncle, who faced poverty and misfortune during the Great Depression but managed to build up his riches despite these hardships...
(1977), starring Tim ConwayThomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television...
and Will GeerWill Geer was an American actor and social activist. His original name was William Aughe Ghere. He is remembered for his portrayal of Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton in the 1970s TV series, The Waltons....
.
- Emperor of the North Pole
Emperor of the North Pole is a 1973 American movie starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Keith Carradine. It was re-released under the shorter title Emperor of the North, and is better known under the latter name....
aka Emperor of the North} (1973), directed by Robert Aldrich. . Loosely based on Jack LondonJack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf along with many other popular books...
's The Road.
- Into the Wild
Into the Wild is a 2007 American drama film based on the 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer about the adventures of Christopher McCandless...
(2007), directed by Sean PennSean Justin Penn is an American film actor and director, also known for being a political activist. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River and Milk, as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for the former and a Screen Actors Guild Award for the latter.-Early...
, based on Jon Krakauer'sJon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.-Early life:Krakauer was born in Brookline, Massachusetts as the third of five children and was raised in Corvallis, Oregon from the age of two. His father introduced him to mountaineering as...
non-fiction book.
- Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Rozema. The screenplay by Valerie Tripp focuses on the American Girl character Kit Kittredge, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio during the Great Depression. The film is the first in the American Girl film series...
(2008), starring Abigail BreslinAbigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. The fourth youngest actress ever to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award, Breslin is best known for portraying Bo Hess in M...
, Chris O'DonnellChristopher Eugene "Chris" O'Donnell is an American actor, perhaps best known for playing Robin in the Batman films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, and more recently, Jack McAuliffe in The Company...
, Julia OrmondJulia Karin Ormond is an English actress who has appeared in film and television and on stage.-Early life and education:...
and Max ThieriotMaximillion Drake "Max" Thieriot is an American actor. During the 2000s, he appeared in several Hollywood films, including Catch That Kid, The Pacifier, Nancy Drew, Jumper, and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl....
. Directed by Patricia RozemaPatricia Rozema is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Rozema was born in Kingston, Ontario and raised in Sarnia, Ontario. Her parents, Jacoba Berandina and Jan Rozema, were Dutch Calvinists...
.
- Sullivan's Travels
Sullivan's Travels is a American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a satire about a movie director, played by Joel McCrea, who longs to make a socially relevant drama, but eventually learns that comedies are his more valuable contribution to society. The film features one...
(1941), directed by Preston SturgesPreston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated screenwriter and film director born in Chicago....
.
- Tokyo Godfathers
is a 2003 anime film by Japanese director Satoshi Kon.Tokyo Godfathers is Kon's third animated movie, which he wrote and directed. Keiko Nobumoto, noted for being the creator of the Wolf's Rain series and a head scriptwriter for Cowboy Bebop, was also involved in the film's production...
(2003), an animeis animation originating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". Anime originated about 1917.Anime, like manga , has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world...
directed by Satoshi Konis a Japanese director of anime films. Kon started his career as a manga artist and editor in Young Magazine, and then made his screenwriting debut with "Magnetic Rose", a section of the anthology film Memories...
.
- Wild Boys of the Road (1933), directed by William A. Wellman
William Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...
- Resurrecting the Champ
Resurrecting the Champ is a 2007 drama film directed by Rod Lurie and written by Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett, based on the L.A. Times Magazine article by J.R. Moehringer. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, and Alan Alda, among others. It was filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.-Box...
(2007), starring Samuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor. After Jackson became involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then, films. He had several small roles, before meeting his mentor, Morgan Freeman, and the director Spike Lee...
and Josh HartnettJoshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and film producer. He came to fame after his first film role, in 1998's Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and as Matt Eversmann in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down.-Biography:...
, directed by Rod LurieRod Lurie is an Israeli-American director, screenwriter and former film critic.-Early life and career:The son of internationally syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie, he was born in Israel but moved to the United States at a young age, growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Honolulu,...
.
Books
- All the Strange Hours: The Excavation of a Life, by Loren Eiseley
Loren Eiseley was an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s. During this period he received more than 36 honorary degrees and was a fellow of many distinguished professional societies...
, 1975. ISBN 0-8032-6741-X
- The Areas of My Expertise
The Areas of My Expertise is a satirical almanac by John Hodgman. It is written in the form of absurd historical stories, complex charts and graphs, and fake newspaper columns. Among its sections are a list of 700 different hobo names and complete descriptions of all 51 US states...
by John HodgmanJohn Kellogg Hodgman is an American voice actor, author and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require, he is known for his personification of a PC in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertising campaign and his correspondent...
- 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
Edward Dahlberg was an American novelist and essayist.-Background:Dahlberg was born in Boston to Elizabeth Dahlberg. Mother and son wandered through the southern and western United States until 1905, when she opened a barber shop in Kansas City. In April 1912 Dahlberg was sent to the Jewish Orphan...
- Evasion
Evasion is a book that spun off from a zine of the same name. It was published by CrimethInc. in 2003. The book is comprised of 108 pages of slightly revised text from the original zine along with 162 pages of new material....
by Anonymous
- From Coast to Coast with Jack London by "A-No.-1" (Leon Ray Livingston
Leon Ray Livingston was one of the most famous hoboes of all time, travelling under the name "A No.1". He perfected the hobo symbols system, which lets other homeless people know where there are more or less generous people, free food, vicious dogs, etc. He was not a poor man; he simply preferred...
)
- Hard Travellin': The Hobo and His History, by Kenneth Allsop. ISBN 0-340-02572-7.
- Hobo
Hobo, or Hobo: A Young Man's Thoughts On Trains and Tramping in America, is non-fiction, autobiographical novel written by Eddy Joe Cotton ....
, by Eddy Joe Cotton, 2002. ISBN 0-609-60738-3
- The Hobo - The Sociology of the Homeless Man, by Nels Anderson
Nels Anderson was an early American sociologist. He studied at the University of Chicago under Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess, whose concentric zone theory was one of the earliest models developed to explain the organization of urban areas...
, 1923.
- The Jungle
The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and journalist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote this novel to highlight the plight of the working class and to remove from obscurity the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century...
by Upton SinclairUpton Sinclair, Jr. , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning prolific American author who wrote over 90 books in many genres. He achieved considerable popularity in the first half of the 20th century, gaining particular fame for his 1906 muckraking novel The Jungle. The book...
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 0-416-00721-X.
- Lonesome Traveler
Lonesome Traveler is a 1960 novel by American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac. It is a compilation of Kerouac's journal entries about traveling the United States, Mexico, Morocco, the United Kingdom and France, and covers similar issues to his previous novels , such as relationships, various jobs,...
, by Jack Kerouac ("The Vanishing American Hobo")
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a 2006 novel by Kate DiCamillo. Following the life of a china rabbit, the book won the 2006 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in Fiction...
, By *Kate DiCamilloKatrina Elizabeth "Kate" DiCamillo is an American children's author. She is known for her Newbery Award-winning books including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and the Mercy Watson series.-Biography:...
- Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California....
, by John SteinbeckJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
- On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
, by Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
- One More Train to Ride: The Underground World of Modern American Hobos by Clifford Williams
Clifford Williams is an American professor and chair of the department of Philosophy at Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois. Williams is an historian of contemporary hobo culture and a part time hobo, known in that subculture as "Oats."-Bibliography:* Free Will and Determinism:...
.
- Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression by Errol Lincoln Uys, (Routledge, 2003)ISBN 0-415-94575-5
- Riding Toward Everywhere by William T. Vollmann, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-125675-2
- The Road, by Jack London
Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf along with many other popular books...
- Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes by Ted Conover
Ted Conover is an American author and journalist. A graduate of Denver's Manual High School and Amherst College and a Marshall Scholar, he is also a distinguished writer-in-residence in the Department of Journalism at New York University...
- Paperback: 304 pages, Publisher: Vintage (September 11, 2001), ISBN 0-307-727-868
- Stumptown kid
- Stumptown kid :By Carol Gorman and Ron J. FindleyIn a small Iowa town in 1952, eleven-year-old Charlie Nebraska, whose father died in the Korean War, learns the meanings of both racism and heroism when he befriends a black man who had played baseball in the Negro Leagues.----- Main characters...
, By Carol Gorman and Ron J. Finley
- Tramping on Life (1922) and More Miles (1926), by Harry Kemp
thumb|rightHarry Hibbard Kemp was an American poet and prose writer of the twentieth century. He was known as "the "Vagabond Poet, the Villon of America, the Hobo Poet, or the Tramp Poet," and was a well-known popular literary figure of his era, the "hero of adolescent Americans."-Life and...
- Waiting for Nothing, Tom Kromer
Tom Kromer was an American writer known for his one novel, Waiting for Nothing, a classic account of vagrant or hobo life during the nineteen-thirties. Dedicated "to Jolene, who turned off the gas," the work is an intensely realistic account of life as a homeless man during the Great Depression...
- You Can't Win, by Jack Black
Television and radio
- The Littlest Hobo
The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series, based upon a 1958 American film directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The show first aired from 1963 to 1965, and was then revived for a popular second run on CTV from 1979 to 1985.-Concept:...
- A movie and TV series about a dog of the same name.
- Mad Men
Mad Men is an American period drama television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The show is broadcast on the American cable network AMC and is produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007 and completed its second season on October 26, 2008...
Episode "The Hobo Code" - The protagonist has a flashback to his childhood, when a hobo's brief visit teaches young Don/Dickie something about his father and something about life.
- Hobo 13 an episode of Invader Zim, it states that the Hobo race are probably homeless typies of aliens.
- Many cartoons depicts hobos as main or secondary characters, hobo related activities such as traveling by train, with a bindle
Bindle is a term used to describe the bag, sack, or carrying device stereotypically used by the sub-culture of hobos...
, or in company of hobos. For example, 8 Ball Bunny (1950) with Bugs BunnyBugs Bunny is a fictional character who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, which became Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1945. In 2002, he was named by TV Guide as the greatest cartoon character of all time, an honor he shares...
, Merrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies was the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in...
Hobo Gadget Band (1939), Mouse Wreckers (1948) and MGM's Henpecked Hoboes (1948).
Songs
Musicians known for hobo songs include
Ramblin' Jack ElliottRamblin' Jack Elliott is an American folk performer.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Elliott grew up Jewish and inspired by the rodeos at Madison Square Garden, wanted to be a cowboy. Though encouraged to follow his father's example and become a surgeon, Elliott rebelled, running away from...
,
Utah PhillipsBruce "Utah" Duncan Phillips was a labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller, poet and the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest". He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist...
,
Jimmie RodgersJames Charles Rodgers , known as "Jimmie," was a country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
,
Seasick SteveSteven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, is an American bluesman, although he prefers to be called "a song and dance man". He plays guitars , and sings, usually about his early life living rough and doing casual work.-Early life:Wold was born in Oakland, California. When he was four...
, and
Boxcar WillieBoxcar Willie was an American "hobo music" singer.-Biography:Born Lecil Travis Martin near the town of Ovilla, Texas, Boxcar Willie was an American country music singer who sang in the "hobo music" style...
.
Examples of hobo songs include:
- "Big Rock Candy Mountain
"Big Rock Candy Mountain" is a song about a hobo's idea of paradise - a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne, and similar to the cavalryman's concept of Fiddler's Green....
" by Harry McClintockHarry Kirby McClintock , also known as "Haywire Mac," was born in Knoxville, Tenn, "the son of a railroad cabinetmaker and nephew of four boomer trainmen. His drifting began when he ran away from home as a boy to join a circus...
- "Cold Water" by Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
- "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum
"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" is an American folk song that responds with humorous sarcasm to unhelpful moralizing about the circumstance of being a hobo....
" recorded by Harry McClintock, Al JolsonAl Jolson was an American singer, comedian, and actor. According to PBS, he is considered the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America"...
, and others
- "Hard Travelin'" and "Hobo's Lullaby
"Hobo's Lullaby" is a song written by Goebel Reeves, and famously performed by various people including folk singer Woody Guthrie, his son Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris, the Kingston Trio, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott...
" by Woody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
- "Hobo" by The Hackensaw Boys
The Hackensaw Boys are an Americana band from Charlottesville, Virginia inspired by punk, bluegrass, and old-time music. They formed as a quartet consisting of Tom Peloso, David Sickmen, Rob Bullington, and Robbie St. Ours in the fall of 1999. Since settling on a six member line up they've toured...
- "Hobo Bill", "I Ain't Got No Home" and "Mysteries of a Hobo's Life" by Cisco Houston
Gilbert Vandine 'Cisco' Houston was an American folk singer who is closely associated with Woody Guthrie due to their extensive history of recording together....
- "Hobo Blues" and "The Hobo
-Cast:* Billy West - The Hobo* Oliver Hardy - Harold * Leo White - Mr. Fox* Bud Ross* Virginia Clark - Dolly...
" by John Lee HookerJohn Lee Hooker was an African American singer-songwriter and blues guitarist, born in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues...
- "Hobo Chang Ba" by Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet is an American musician and painter, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called The Magic Band, which was active between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s...
- "Hobo Flats" by Oliver Nelson
Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
- "The Hobo Song" by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash , born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
- "Hobo's Lullaby
"Hobo's Lullaby" is a song written by Goebel Reeves, and famously performed by various people including folk singer Woody Guthrie, his son Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris, the Kingston Trio, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott...
" (aka "Weary Hobo"), written by Goebel ReevesGoebel Reeves was an American folk singer. His most famous song is "Hobo's Lullaby," which has been covered by a variety of singers, notably Woody Guthrie and his son Arlo....
, recorded by various artists including Woody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, Arlo GuthrieArlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, Emmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists.-...
, Pete SeegerPeter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and a key figure in the mid-20th century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early '50s as a member of The Weavers, most notably the 1950 recording of Leadbelly's...
, The Kingston TrioThe Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group originated as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
, Ramblin' Jack Eliot and Danny Kyle
- "Morning Glory
Morning Glory is a pre-Code American drama film which tells the story of an eager but unstable would-be actress whose good looks draw more attention than her acting. It stars Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Adolphe Menjou. The movie was adapted by Howard J. Green from the play by Zoe...
" by Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
lyrics by Larry BeckettLarry Beckett is a poet and songwriter, best known for his collaborations with Tim Buckley in the late-1960s.-Early life:...
- "I Am a Lonesome Hobo
"I Am A Lonesome Hobo" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released in 1967 on his eighth studio album, John Wesley Harding.The lyrics to "I Am A Lonesome Hobo" tells of the typical riches to rags tradition, where a man openly admits to being a hobo having "tried my hand at bribery,...
", "Only a Hobo" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" by Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
- "Jack Straw
Jack Straw is a rock song written by Bob Weir and Robert Hunter in the Troubadour tradition. The track appeared on the Grateful Dead album, Europe '72, and was frequently performed live by the band....
" by Robert HunterRobert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
and Bob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
- "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet is a 1971 composition by Gavin Bryars. It is formed on a loop of an unknown tramp singing a brief stanza. Rich harmonies, comprising string and brass, are gradually overlaid over the stanza. The piece was first recorded for use in an Alan Power documentary which...
" a recording of a hobo singing on a London street, by composer Gavin BryarsRichard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.- Career :Born in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire,...
.
- "King of the Road
"King of the Road" is a 1965 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller.The lyrics tell of a hobo who despite being poor revels in his freedom, describing himself facetiously as the "king of the road".-History:...
" by Roger MillerRoger Dean Miller was a Grammy and Tony Award winning American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
- "Like a Hobo
"Like a Hobo" is a 2009 song recorded by British singer-songwriter Charlie Winston. It was the lead single from his second album Hobo on which it appears as the second track. Released in April 2009, the song achieved great success in Belgium where it was ranked since January thanks to downloads,...
" by Charlie WinstonCharlie Winston is an English singer-songwriter, and the brother of singer Tom Baxter. Born in Cornwall in 1978, he grew up in Bungay, Suffolk where his parents owned the King's Head Hotel.-Band:...
- "Last of the Hobo Kings" by Mary Gauthier
Mary Gauthier is an American folk singer-songwriter. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Mary was adopted by an Italian Catholic couple in Thibodaux, Louisiana...
- "Kulkurin Valssi" (Hobo Waltz) by Arthur Kylander
Arthur Arkadius Kylander was Finnish American folk musician, singer, song-writer, mandolinist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World.-Background:...
- "Lännen lokari" (Western Logger) by Hiski Salomaa
Hiski Salomaa, born Hiskias Möttö was a Finnish American folk singer and song writer. Born in Kangasniemi, Finland, Salomaa moved to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, in 1908 after the death of his mother. There, he made his living as a tailor...
- "Papa Hobo" and "Hobo's Blues" by Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter. He entered the public consciousness in 1965 as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, along with longtime artistic partner Art Garfunkel. Simon solely wrote most of duo's songs, including such memorable songs as "The Sound of Silence", "The Boxer",...
- "Streets of London
Streets of London may refer to:*Streets of London , 1969, written by Ralph McTell.*Streets of London , 1983, text adventure.*The Streets of London, 1929, crime film....
" by Ralph McTellRalph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
- "Waltzing Matilda
"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad, a country folk song, and has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia"....
" by Banjo PatersonAndrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
See also
- Freight Train Riders of America
The Freight Train Riders of America is an American gang of homeless men who move about in railroad cars, particularly in the northwestern United States.-History and background:...
, a brotherhood of hobos
- Freighthopping
Freighthopping or train hopping is the act of surreptitiously hitching a ride on a railroad freight car. In the United States, this became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as...
- Hobo nickel
The hobo nickel is a sculptural art form involving the creative modification of small-denomination coins, essentially resulting in miniature bas reliefs. The nickel, because of its size, thickness, and relative softness, was a favored coin for this purpose...
, an art form associated with hobos
- John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman is an American voice actor, author and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require, he is known for his personification of a PC in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertising campaign and his correspondent...
, humorist who writes about hobos
- Midnight Hobo
Midnight Hobo may refer to one of the following.*A 1978 short story by Ramsey Campbell *A strong liquor from the Questionable Content webcomic...
- Wobbly lingo
Wobbly lingo is a collection of technical language, jargon, and historic slang used by the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies, for more than a century.-Origin and usage:...
, the jargon of the hobos who joined the unionThe Industrial Workers of the World is an international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. At its peak in 1923 the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a...
- "Hobo With a Shotgun", parody trailer created by the fictional Dartmouth Pictures, included in the movie Grindhouse
- Kirby
Kirby is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded as an agricultural settlement along the Southern Pacific railroad, the city was transformed into a suburban community upon its incorporation in 1955. The population of 8,673 ...
, TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
, the "hobo capital of Texas"
- Hobos on Parade by Shannon Wright
- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats is a series of cartoons created by Adam "Ape Lad" Koford that features two anthropomorphic hobo cats named Kitteh and Pip...
- a comic series about two anthropomorphic hobo cats
External links
- In Search of the American Hobo 1876-1939 from American Studies at the University of Virginia
- North Bank Fred contains numerous photographs, links, stories, and academic reports about hoboes and freighthopping.
- Fran's Hobo Page, by Fran DeLorenzo. Includes hobo history and a glossary of hobo signs.
- Slackaction: Hobo Signs & Symbols
- Hobo Sign Language In El Paso from an El Paso Community College
El Paso Community College is a community college district headquartered in El Paso, Texas. EPCC operates five campuses in the Greater El Paso area, as well as courses offered at nearby Fort Bliss....
website
- "700 Hobos", MP3 of John Hodgman's recording of 700 hobo names, from archive.org
- Iowa Hobo Foundation
- Hobo's in the U.S.A., a photo documentary on hobos by Stephan Vanfleteren, a Belgian photographer.
- "Hobo Marks" Photographic examples of the marks that hobos leave to record their path and status.