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Hobos
This essayist has interviewed several modern-say hobos.
This essay offers a brief, complete overview of hobos, then and now.
The True Hobo
Imagine yourself 40 plus years ago, sitting in a car waiting for a freight train to
go by. When you look up and to your astonishment, you see a person standing in
the doorway of a boxcar. You then notice they are wearing tattered clothes, have a
bandana wrapped around their neck, and slung over their shoulder is a bundle tied
to a stick. What you just imagined is a hobo.
The Webster's New World Dictionary defines a hobo as a "migratory worker." (Simon
& Schuster, 281) Is this what came to mind? Probably not, many people believe that
the hobo is homeless and a freeloading bum, by stereotyping a group of people in
society based on preconceived ideas. The hobo has played a big part in our history,
but we know so little about them. In order to avoid stereotyping the hobo, we need
to be able to understand why they became hobos, their unique lifestyle and their lives
from beginning to when they catch the westbound.*
It is not clear as to where the hobo originated from, or where the word came from,
but most agree with the definition that it came from "the description of a young man
seeking garden work, a hoe boy." (Schmidt, 5) Later, as men did not prefer being called
a boy, the word had been shortened to hobo.
To understand where hoboing reached its peak, we need to go back in history to just
after the Civil War. Many soldiers that were unable to settle down took to working
on the ever-expanding railroads. However, with the collapse of the economy and the
expansion of the railroads halted, men were now out of work. In able to search for
work somewhere else, these same men started using the rails as a means of travel in
which to get from town to town in search of new work. (Schmidt, 5) Hence, the hobo,
a migratory worker.
In later years, around the 1930s, the allure to many people to become a hobo, was
the independence and freedom that they enjoyed. Steamtrain Maury states to the author
of Done and Been that obos chose their lives because they wanted adventures, outdoor
life.* (qtd.in Schmidt, 39) Many people only dream of being able to live the free
life, but are to afraid to give up what we consider security and live in the great
outdoors. However, it is the hobo that has "the guts to live the way they enjoy."
(DeLorenzo) Does this mean that they are homeless? Maybe by what we as a society call
homeless, but not to the hobo.
As the saying goes, "Home is where the heart is," so why not live where you are the
happiest. Hobos refer to a "house being external, and a home being internal." (Schmidt,
24) A hobos real home is the jungle.
The hobo jungle is like a big camping spot. Next to wooded areas, close to a water
source or sometimes next to a bridge, for shelter, yet always within walking distance
of the freight yards. The jungle is home to many men and women alike. Anyone that
is a hobo knows of these places.
The jungles are like your home and mine. A place where we eat, bath, wash our clothes,
rest, laugh, cry, exchange stories or take care of family members that are sick. The
only difference is, in this home the occupants are not related except for a common
bond that they all share, the love of the great outdoors. Texas Madman states, "granted,
the bed may have lumps in it and the roof leaks from time to time, but I wouldn't
think of trading this home for any other." (Schmidt, 23) Many people have rules that
they live by in their own homes, just as hobos have "strict rules of etiquette" (Maury
& Hemming, 36) in the jungles.
No, the rules are not written down on paper, but all hobos that use the jungles know
them. When a hobo first enters a jungle and in keeping with the rules, the hobo does
not invite himself or herself to sit down at the first fire they see. There could
be many fires going with men around all of them, and in staying with tradition, it
is proper to go from fire to fire and introduce oneself until the hobo is asked to
sit and share the other hobos fire and food. If there is plenty, the newcomer will
be asked to sit and partake of the ood fortune* (Maury &Hemming, 37) of the other
hobos. However, if the hobo is not asked to sit down it is not taken as an insult;
the hobo knows that there is not enough to go around. In this case, the hobo will
find a suitable spot to start his or her own fire.
Later, after everyone has eaten, the hobos gather around one fire. It is around these
fires the hobos share camaraderie, they exchange stories or information about which
freights to avoid due to the "bulls," or which freights to take if they need to get
somewhere quick. Alabama Hobo explains that this is what is referred to as the "hobo
grapevine." (qtd.in Schmidt, 50) In leaving the jungle, the hobo, in following of
etiquette, would leave it the same way they found it. Taking only what they brought
with them, which usually was kept in a small bundle tied to a walking stick, and head
out to catch the next freight train.
Hobos have names for the different types of freight trains that they hop. The "hotshot"
is a freight that goes on through. The hobo uses this train if he wanted to get
somewhere quick. The "manifest" is a freight that has special cargo and needs to be
moved in the shortest time possible. The hobo is guaranteed to get to the next town
without any stops. (Schmidt, 46) It is by using the freight trains that the hobo is
able to move from job to job around the country. Hobos are especially careful not
to run into the "bulls," which are the railroad police. Often times the bulls are
"brutal and sadistic", but not all bulls are like that. (Maury & Hemming, 3) The bulls
are hired by the railroads to keep non-paying passengers off of the trains. They have
been known to shoot or throw the hobo off of the trains. In order not to be caught
by the bulls, the hobo waits at the edge of town, before hopping a moving train heading
out. When the train is almost to its destination, the hobo repeats the process for
jumping off, at the edge of town, but before it comes to a full stop in the rail yard.
Many hobos have learned unique ways in which to judge the speed of the train before
jumping off. Alabama Hobo states that the way he determines if a train is moving too
fast, is to get on the bottom of a ladder and put his foot down, f that foot flies
up and hits you in the rump, that train is going too fast*.* (qtd.in Schmidt, 49)
It is then best to wait a few more minutes for the train to slow down more, to avoid
the risk losing a limb, or your life. Although hobos ride the rails as non-paying
passengers, they do work along the way.
Many hobos have some sort of trade that they are good at. Reefer Charlie states that
he knows one woman that "was a registered nurse." (qtd.in Schmidt,10) She carries
her uniform and shoes with her so that she is able to find work in hospitals. Sometimes
though, the hobo is not able to put their talents to use. In which case, they are
willing to work doing anything, whether it is picking fruits, harvesting fields, brick
laying, construction or working in the oil fields of Texas. However, if a paying
job is not available, they might knock on the backdoors of homes or businesses and
ask if there is any work to be done in exchange for food. Perhaps, this is where
bartering one service for another came from. Unlike many Americans that go to work
for security, family obligations or to pay debts, the hobo has no commitments, and
they are adept at traveling on "zero dollars a day." (Maury & Hemming, 3) It is because
of this the hobo is free to leave when the ron road* (Maury & Hemming, 127) beckons
them.
Hobos try not to over stay their welcome in the towns that they pass through, for
many towns prefer them to leave as soon as their work is complete. There is one small
town in America that openly welcomes the hobo; it is Britt, Iowa. Many hobos consider
this town to be heir official capital.* (Maury & Hemming, xvi)
In fact, Britt has been holding an annual convention for hobos each year since1933.
It is during this weeklong event that hobos from all over gather to share with
townspeople, visitors and reporters their fascinating stories of travels,
experiences and unique lifestyle. At the end of the week all in attendance pay
tribute to the hobos that have caught the “westbound.*
The "westbound" is the expression hobos have for when a fellow hobo has passed on.
(Maury & Hemming, 3) In 1977, a tradition began with the burial of the Hard Rock Kid,
( Maury & Hemming, 189) by being buried in what is known as obos Row,* (Maury &
Hemming, xvi) located in the Britt cemetery. Since then, many hobos have requested
to have their remains cremated and brought to Britt to be buried. "Bandanas are spread
over each marker," (Schmidt, 26) a symbol of the hobo uniform. For many hobos catching
the estbound,* is the only way that they leave the iron road, while others gave
up the road and went on to become prominent citizens. Jack London, Supreme Court
Justice William O. Douglas, Pultizer Prize Winner James A. Michener (American Hobo
Association) to just name a few.
Imagine you are waiting for the same freight train to go by. Now imagine the person
that you see standing in the doorway of that boxcar is you. You are now a hobo, free
to roam the country, working along the way. You have no commitments, no time clocks
to punch, and you call a jungle your home. When you pass through Britt, Iowa make
sure you stop at the local cemetery and pay your respects to the hobos that have caught
the westbound.
Works Cited
DeLorenzo, Fran. Fran's Hobo Page. (03/29/00). http://www.worldpath.net/~ministrel/
Graham, Maury and Hemming,
Robert J. Tales of the Iron Road: My Life as King of the Road.
New York: Paragon House, 1990
National Hobo Asscociation. "The Hobo Heart Soul."
What is a Hobo? National Hobo Association. (03/29/00).
Schmidt, Jaqueline K. Done and Been. Bloomington,
Indianapolis:Indiana University Press, 1996
Simon & Schuster.The New Webster's Dictionary.
New York, NY: Pocket
Books, 1995
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