No mention of trains?
Fascinating.
I love the way he was so proactive about protecting children.
Bump
The Hobo Convention occurs in a small town in Iowa every year. https://www.britthobodays.com/
My senior citizen friend remembers attending the Hobo Convention in Britt in the 1930’s. Yes, the always elected a king.
Relative to #4 of Jeff Davis’ ‘rules’, a lot of the old hoboes seem to have been gifted in certain arts involving carving and constructing art objects from waste wood - which art became common during several depression eras. Some surviving items are apparently pretty valuable, now.
It’s interesting that this is now called ‘Tramp Art’, even though it wasn’t only ‘tramps’ who engaged in it; and there are even little museums dedicated to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramp_art
thanks for the post! very enlightening “Americana.” and brings back memories of my dad.
apparently hobo traveling was a common means, by no means, of travel for my dad’s generation. he used it to do a year at Kent State back before he went to the Pacific as a Marine. funny, told me once he also tried his hand as an amateur boxer in the service. had a few bouts on island venues and gave it up after encountering a “pro,” a guy whom he said was so quick he couldn’t even hit him. said the guy couldn’t knock him out, though.
also a handsome guy back in the day too, apparently he was the poor boy, hired help, at a Kent State sorority house for whom all the girls made a play for before he left for the war.
boy, it strikes me, he’d done more, and had more adventures, before he was 25 then i’ve done all my life. and he was just getting started. greatest generation indeed. or maybe the most fearless generation, nothing to lose generation?
shoot, we boomers better man up after the mess we’ve made of everything. i’m sure my dad is looking down and shaking his head.
I did a communications project when in college on the ‘Secret Signs of Hobos’. Source Coronet magazine sometime during the 1960’s
Definitions: Bum=Drinks and doesn’t work and doesn’t travel;
Tramp=Drinks and travels, doesn’t work,
Hobo=works and travels.
As they traveled around, Hobos left secret signs for others to follow and make things easier .