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Hobohemia
Hobo: by Stephan Vanfleteren
Rail-riding hobo culture has been traced back to just after the Civil War, when many men who had fought rode the rails to get home, venture west for work farming, laying rails, and similar temporary work, or simply were unable to rejoin conventional society. Some claim that from this time up until the 1920s was the golden age of hobodom, when hobo culture, language, conventions and art emerged—these were hobos who willingly lived as migrants, unlike so many of the hobos of the '30s, who were forced into that life.
Just how free these early hobos were and how difficult their lives were is lost to history, but the texts by Reitman, Guthrie and Anderson were early peeks into their world, informed by varying degrees of experience and colored by fictionalization. These inform America's hobo myth, which is in many ways the only way the traditional hobo lives on today. Though some still ride the rails, changes in industrial and agricultural technology, consolidation of rail companies, faster trains and more effective security have for decades eroded hobo culture to the point that the camaraderie of yore has all but disappeared.
“Photo” Bill Daniel, who rode the rails for years while taking photos and filming a documentary about hobo graffiti, described the modern rail-riding world as much more difficult and dangerous than the good old days. In addition to the problems mentioned above, the breakdown of hobo culture means that nobody's got your back, and there are apparently many riders who look to rip off and attack others. While there are still some riding the rails looking to work—nowadays, mostly Latino migrants—most who ride today either scam the food stamp system in various states or are recreational hobos, more akin to the “tramps” that rode before, those who traveled by rail but didn't work if they could help it. These new hobos often revere and document the old hobo culture, but they are not migrant workers—many are actually college students and yuppies—and so are not hobos in the original sense of the term, which all but died decades ago.
What Should Be Call Them?
If today's hobos aren't really hobos, what are they then? Should we just call them "crazy people"? It seems that you're post points out the fact that real hobos are sane people who are just down on their luck, and college punks who head out on the road must have something wrong with their heads. I agree with this. I don't think today's homeless can be put together with the homeless of yesteryear. Most of the homeless people I encounter in New York City are so drained of energy from drugs or alcohol that the idea of them trying to hitch a ride on a railcar would be like watching a man put to death. Maybe if the hobos of today were a little more entrepreneurial they'd be a little more fun and easy to talk to. I might even give them some change if I knew they were out there, jumping around on trains, encountering America in ways I've never even dreamed of.
The articles point out that
The articles point out that among the rail-riders, the terms "hobo", "tramp", and "bum" came into use to describe three different castes of homeless person.
According to the hobos, a "hobo" is a migrant worker with no fixed home, a "tramp" is the same, but one who is not looking for work, and a "bum" is someone who is neither trying to work nor migratory (unless they're forced to be), these often being alcoholics and drug addicts. Even the hobos didn't think very highly of bums, it seems.
Who misses it?
Your post makes me wonder, with the death of a hobo culture, who grieves? Is it the yuppies and thrill-seeking students and writers, who would never have been part of it to begin with? Has the hobo culture died with the actual hobos? Should we, as NYU students regret the disappearance of this hobo culture? What is it to us? I wish I could answer these questions, but for now I thought I'd put them out there for collective consideration. Thanks for the information.
Hobo Culture
It's interesting to take a look at the hobo culture over the years. What is a hobo? It seems that it has gone from a romanticized way of life in the 20's to a necessity for many in the 30's and now is perhaps a romanticized way of life yet again for college students and yuppies looking for adventure or on the run from the real world. I feel like "Hobos" now are essentially a group of young people looking to emulate the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, Kerouac, etc. Somehow in our world of unnecessary luxuries and a society where success is measured by how much you own, it has become cool for our generation to at least give the appearance of living simply; living the hobo life. And I wonder if in the Golden Age of Hobodom in the 20's began in the same sort of way, that perhaps bored youth wanted to emulate the heros who were forced to travel and sought to create their own adventures. If that is the case then perhaps Hobodom is not dead; it is still very much alive.