Hobo Primer

NOTE: In preparing for this weekend’s Hobo Party, I decided I ought to do a bit of research, as I do for most of my posts on this blog. Little did I know, however, that the rich history of hobos would provide such interesting fodder and force me to write a Hobo Primer entry, so that those, like me, who are unfamiliar with the life of the hobo come to the Hobo Party prepared.

Oh the freedom of the hobo. Who wouldn’t want to emulate one of these toothless, smelly wanderers of the byways and railroads. Cokesbury, in promoting its Hobo Party, makes the life of wandering with a bindle over your shoulder sound damn right idyllic:

Every now and then, when our duties seem a little irksome, we are inclined to envy the freedom of the vagabond of the road and field. So for one evening let’s pretend that we are hobos and revel in the freedom of clothes and manners that they seem to enjoy. A hobo party would fit well into the Fall social program, because it is then that the southward migration of the hobo begins, or it would fit equally well into the Spring program, when the return to the north is made.

So, are they talking about hobos or monarch butterflies?

Before we continue with the ribbing, however, we’d best educate ourselves about the hobo. They’re more organized than you’d think, what with their annual Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, and their Hobo Code.

Hoboistas are also wont to point out the subtle difference behind words that are interchangeably used to describe a hobo among the general, non-hobo population, to wit (and from Wikipedia):

A hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the western—probably northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike tramps, who worked only when they were forced to, and bums, who didn't work at all, hobos were workers who wandered.

I offer this bit of education here because Cokesbury seems to use these terms interchangeably, when obviously they are not meant to be used one for the other. Bear in mind, then, if in a quote from Cokesbury the term “tramp” or “bum” appears, it is a quotation only, not a slur on true hobos. Thus I hope to assuage any conflict or hurt feelings that may come from the world’s Hobo Community. Bottom line: don’t call a hobo a bum or a tramp. Bums and tramps probably wouldn’t mind a bit of hobo upward mobility, if it meant a change in title only, not in obligation.

Hobos also seem to have their own national anthem or theme song, namely the ever-popular Big Rock Candy Mountain.



I’ll close this entry with the cherubic face of Burl Ives. So until this weekend, keep singing!