Melville/Qulin Historical Society
Volume 4 Issue 8 |
August 2008 |
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Our Mission Statement
The mission of the Melville/Qulin Historical Society: to preserve and perpetuate the history, artifacts and heritage of the Qulin, Missouri area; to raise and expend funds for this purpose; to solicit memberships and to disseminate information and knowledge to the general public; to present various programs, performances and productions which are designed to heighten public awareness and appreciation for our heritage.
OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE AUGUST 14TH AT 6.00 P.M. AT THE MUSEUM.
HOBO SUBCULTURE
(The end of a fascinating hobo era)
By: Lola Scott Haynes
After having read the fascinating Hobo history written by our club President, Glen Sedrick, in the last newsletter (vol. 4 issue 7, July 2008) I was compelled to add a bit more to this history and tell you some various names which were used in the Hobo subculture language. Glen thought it would be a great idea. Those of you who are my age or older will get a thrill out of reading this “Hobo” story and it will bring back many memories to you. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it for us.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, a study of the subcultures of the Hobo’s showed there were a variety of names for the Hobos as we knew them to be called. These names and what they meant were:
Hobo: a person who wandered and worked,
Tramp: a person who wandered and wouldn’t work,
Bum: a person who couldn’t wander and wouldn’t work.
The Hobo life ended for the most part in the 1930’s, but it spawned various terms that added spice to the language. REEFERS were refrigerated railroad cars. JUNGLES were Hobo camps on the side of the railroads. A LUMP was a lunch Hobos were given to take away and eat. A SIT-DOWN meant they were invited to eat with a family, a prized invitation.
There were about ten names for LICE, including CRUMBS, COOTIES, and SEAM-SQUIRRELS. The term BUGGY, often used to mean crazy, comes from lice and the feeling that one’s head in crawling. A fine toothed comb was used here.
Hobos gave us BULL for a policeman, CUSH for easy, as in riding on a cushion inside a railroad car, COLLAR for getting arrested, and on the LAM for fleeing. CHI for Chicago, K.C. for Kansas City, PHILLY for Philadelphia, and MINNIE for Minneapolis.
Hobos usually went by nicknames. Since injuries were common, some names stemmed from physical problems. BLINKIES were those who had lost an eye. LEFTIES were those who had lost an arm. And the way they spoke identified them as part of the subculture.
Hobos would leave large pots in their jungles for other Hoboes. A Hobo would bathe in the nearest source of water and use the pots to “boil-up”, meaning boil his clothes.
Carrying the banner meant walking all night to keep from being arrested.
Hoboes formed a migratory work force, unskilled or semiskilled, working in such jobs as harvesting, lumbering, railroad track repairs and construction.
Women Hobos sometimes were harvesters or cooks, or just chose to travel, usually disguised as men and always wearing pants, because that’s the only way they could ride trains.
The Hobo subculture primarily was in the Midwest and West with some in the East. Hobos tended to stay away from the South because of chain gangs and strict enforcement of vagrancy laws. There also was a ready pool of unskilled labor in the South.
There was de facto segregation in the Hobo jungles, but blacks and whites sometimes traveled together, another reason for avoiding the South in that era.
Hobos liked to spend the winter in cities in areas called HOBO HEMIAS; districts with cheap lodging, second hand clothing stores, saloons and other businesses that catered to them.
Most hobos were under 30, after which they tended to settle down unless they were stricken with wanderlust. In 1924, there were close to 2 million Hobos.
Almost every major city outside the South had a Hobo college that served as an educational forum, a social gathering place and a source of information about social programs and train schedules. The colleges were sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Welfare Association. Hobo colleges faded in the 1920’s and the subculture all but died in the 1930’s, because there was less need for the kind of labor Hobos did and because there was a large population base everywhere and no need for a traveling workforce.
In addition, trains became fast and more streamlined and therefore harder to ride, and the automobile brought more hitchhiking.
During the depression, the country experienced massive economic relocation because of people looking for work, but they were not a part of the Hobo subculture.
The Hobo language was something that could be carried anywhere as a means of identification. Hobos were part of the working class culture, not skid row bums or street people.
Delving into the Hobo subculture is like researching the hole of a doughnut; you have to go all around it, and there never seems to be an ending. However, with the next few pages, I am calling it the end of a fascinating era of time.
ENJOY!!
NEXT MONTH LOLA (SCOTT) HAYNES WILL TELL HER PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH SOME OF THE HOBO’S THAT TRAVELED THROUGH THE QULIN AREA.
“STAY TUNED”