hobos

Hobos are a historical term for itinerant workers who traveled, especially by hopping freight trains, in order to seek temporary or seasonal employment. The terms tramp and bum have been used to distinguish among itinerant populations: hobos generally sought work, tramps wandered with little desire to work, and bums were perceived as non-working. The terminologies and boundaries varied by era and region.

Originating in the United States in the late 19th century, hobos became especially associated with the expansion of railroad networks and later with the Great Depression of the 1930s, when many workers traveled in search of jobs. Hobos formed communities and networks along rail lines, using informal routes and seasonal labor markets in agriculture, mining, and distribution. The hobo lifestyle declined after World War II due to improved social welfare, rising urbanization, law enforcement, and changes in transportation.

Practice and culture: Hobos often traveled by freight car, using signals or signs to communicate with others about safe routes, available work, or danger. The code of hobo signs, chalk marks, or painted symbols allegedly indicated information about landlords, employers, or hazards. They sometimes stayed in temporary camps known as hobo jungles near rail yards or towns, and relied on mutual aid networks and informal labor pools.

Today the term is rarely used in a precise sense; few people identify as hobos in the historic sense, though itinerant labor and freight-hopping narratives persist in literature and film. The historical phenomenon remains a subject of study in American social and labor history and is often examined in relation to economic distress, migration, and the rail transportation system.