The Language of a Hobo

I'm reading a book right now about a girl who decides to take to the rails and become a hobo.  Now before you jump on me for not being politically correct, hobo is the term used during The Great Depression through WWII to describe people who rode the rails looking for work.  Similar to migrant workers.  They were looked down upon by many but in all honesty, they were just people trying to get by without stealing, harming others or the environment and without taking handouts from the government.  They provided a very important service to many people who needed day laborers.

What I didn't know was they had a very intricate and well developed communication system.  Back then there were no cell-phones, internet - no way to instantly communicate or to get messages to one another that others couldn't read.  So they developed a system of code drawings and would leave these messages near train yards or other public places to let those who came after them know what to expect in this town or village as far as food, places to stay, police, etc.  They camped, usually along a river, in places called "jungles" so this system would also point them in the direction of the jungle for that area.

I'm sure, looking back it seems romantic and maybe a bit exciting to just ride the rails all over the U.S., seeing everything, experiencing everything, living with all of your worldly possessions on your back.  But in truth, it was a hard life of hunger, violence, loneliness and despair.  Hobos are not the same as our homeless population today.  Most of our homeless are mentally ill and do not travel around looking for work, though many homeless camps are very well organized with a social system, self-policing and a culture.  Not all homeless, but the majority have serious mental health issues for which they may get sporadic treatment.

But back to the Hobos - here is a sample of the language system they had.  I wonder if you look today, will you still see these symbols used?  It just shows that the hobos of the past were often intelligent, educated people who, due to no fault of their own, became homeless and decided to make the best of it.

And by the way, the book I'm reading is called Line by Line and it's written by Barbara Hacha.  It's the first book I've downloaded to my Kindle Fire from the Kindle Owner's Free Lending Library, a pretty cool service for Kindle Owners who are also Amazon Prime members.