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!"
Can you imagine a song with"cigarette trees, alcohol springs and a whiskey lake nowadays?
Great episode! Kinda what I remember of the Hoe Boys around here.
Aw, you brought a smile to my face, remembering my mother’s stories as well. Born 1923, lived less than a mile from the railroad tracks. As dirt poor as her family was, they did have food most of the time, and there were always chores to help out with.
Her recollection of the hobos that would stop, work, eat, tell stories, then move on, were the stories...places and things they could only imagine (imagination! another ingredient missing from our modern day utopia). She asked once how they knew to stop at thier small farm house ... the man told her that the telegraph/phone poles had markings on them, he said that the marking said you could work for food, can sleep (in the barn) with story-telling. Most did both. Grandma hated it. Grandpa loved the company.
Those ancient Egyptian Heiroglyphics are starting to make more sense.
Bump for later
“How did they pack all of their belongings in a handkerchief tied to a stick?”
Bigger on the inside like the TARDIS from Doctor Who?
Quite a few. My father grew up dirt poor in a house along the railroad tracks in central Ohio. Hobos were always stopping by for food, which was scarce, but they always asked what work could be done for a meal.
I knew you would come through. LOL
Here are a few of more from Mac McClintock.
AIN’T WE CRAZY - Harry “MAC” McClintock - 1928
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJ6FF2bxbE
IF I HAD MY DRUTHERS by Harry ‘MAC’ McClintock 1929
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWiDizNJ8AA
THE OLD CHISHOLM TRAIL by Harry MAC McClintock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46TugT22_k
Could you imagine how bad that hobo’s breath is after eating a can of sardines? Pew Wee’s expression in the 3rd pic gives us some idea.
We all wish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxcar_Willie
Boxcar Willie
Boxcar Willie, born as Lecil Travis Martin (September 1, 1931 – April 12, 1999) was an American country music singer, who sang in the “old-time hobo” music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat.[2] “Boxcar Willie” was originally a character in a ballad he wrote, but he later adopted it as his own stage name.
Martin was born in Sterrett, Texas in 1931. He joined the United States Air Force in 1949, and served as a flight engineer for the B-29 Super Fortress during the Korean War in the early 1950s. In Lincoln, Nebraska, Martin was once sitting at a railroad crossing and a fellow that closely resembled his chief boom operator, Willie Wilson, passed by sitting in a boxcar. He said, “There goes Willie.” He pulled over and wrote a song entitled “Boxcar Willie”.[citation needed] It eventually stuck and became Martin’s nickname.
Hobo’s Meditation by JIMMIE RODGERS (1932)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ_xj3aDjWU
A tramp is a migratory non-worker.
A bum is a stationary non-worker.
No, hobos work. Tramps and bums don’t. See above.
Death of the American Hobo (Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWHh9W5IeBo
No, real old-time hobos preferred short-term employment to hand-outs when it was available. My father always drew a distinction between hobos and bums, a distinction very much in favor of the former, partly based on bums just wanting hand-outs, hobos preferring to earn their keep.
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