Posted on 11/28/2015 3:57:04 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine
At the 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis, a strict ethical code was established for all hobos to follow. Here are some tips we could all use, no matter what you carry in your rucksack.
1. YOU DO YOU.
"Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you."
2. SHOW SOME RESPECT.
"When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times."
3. DON'T BE AN OPPORTUNIST.
"Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos."
4. GET A JOB.
"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. BE A SELF-STARTER.
"When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts."
6. SET A GOOD EXAMPLE.
"Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals' treatment of other hobos."
7. BE MINDFUL OF OTHERS.
"When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as badly, if not worse than you."
8. DON'T LITTER.
"Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling."
9. LEND A HAND.
"If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help."
10. PRACTICE GOOD HYGIENE.
"Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible."
11. BE COURTEOUS WHEN YOU'RE RIDING THE RAILS ...
"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. ... AND WHEN YOU'RE NOT.
"Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard."
13. HELP OUT THE KIDS.
"Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home."
14. SAME GOES FOR HOBOS.
"Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday."
15. LEND YOUR VOICE.
"If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it. Whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!"
BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAINS - Harry Mac McClintock - 1928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKk_kPmAk4
HALLELUJAH! I’M A BUM - Harry MAC McClintock - 1928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKbIkYGsIg
Interesting, wonder how many followed it?
Seemed to generally work until the mental homes were emptied
Don’t know. You’d have to ask the FReepers here that are older than dirt.
Good lord, these were hobos? Not even “normal” members of society follow hese rules.
Yep, there’s a few.
Sounds like rules for modern liberals.
Every welfare recipient should be held to this standard!
Interesting. Too bad bums don’t act this way today.
In the 50,s, Grandpa used to take one of us Grandkids for a walk every evening. There was a blueberry bush by the railroad tracks and we went to pick berries in season. Since it was by railroad tracks, hobos used to sit there. Grandpa would have me wait while he asked the hobos to vacate the area for awhile. They always did and remained out of sight until I had a few berries.
Etymology[edit]
The origin of the term is unknown. According to etymologist Anatoly Liberman, the only certain detail about its origin is the word was first noticed in American English circa 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 it may be derived from the term hoe-boy meaning “farmhand”, or a greeting such as Ho, boy![3] Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America (1998) that it could either come from the railroad greeting, “Ho, beau!” or a syllabic abbreviation of “homeward bound”.[4] It could also come from the words “homeless boy”. H. L. Mencken, in his The American Language (4th ed., 1937), wrote:
Tramps and hobos are commonly lumped together, but see themselves as 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.
Source: Wikipedia
There’s a big difference between a bum and a hobo.
L
My Mom grew up on a farm in the 1920s & 1930s. They had no money, but usually had food. They kept a table for the bums. Most nights, 2-3 would show up. They would lend a hand with chores and get a home cooked meal. They never stole anything, were nice to the kids, and said please & thank you.
Apparently. A big difference.
Jack Dempsey was a hobo in his teens, and he said he always had to be prepared to defend himself from older and larger men. And while it wasn’t something someone would be explicit about in those days, it was clear from his description that was wasn’t just being robbed he had to defend himself against.
My Mom had similar stories.Back then a lot of decent people were just down on their luck.
Sad, but true.
Ha...I’m not older than dirt yet, but approaching it.
As a kid the railroad went through our town and there was a rural area by the tracks where most of them stayed. They knew the homes they could come to where folks would find them something to eat. They didn’t come into town after dark or late in the evening, if they did the cops would tell them to be out before the sun went down and they meant it.
Don’t ever remember a problem and my grandmother was one of the people they came to for a bite.
Of course those were the days when there were mental institutions and the Hobos I came across were always polite and kept to themselves.
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