Hobo facts for kids
Hobo is a word for a homeless person who travels to different cities and towns to look for work. Hobos usually travel by train "hopping" (riding in empty train freight railcars without paying for a ticket), or sometimes "riding the rods" (lying dangerously near the train wheels, underneath the cars).
Hobos stay in very cheap hotels in cities, or camp in simple shelters ("shanties") in shanty towns near the rail yards. There were many hobos during the Great Depression in the United States because many people lost their jobs and homes. Many people blamed President Herbert Hoover for the Depression, so hobo camps were sometimes called "Hoovervilles".
Images for kids
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Cutaway illustration of a hobo stove, a portable wood-burning stove using air convection
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1920s guide to a supposed traditional beggar's code in France. 1. Poor welcome, disagreeable people. 2. Danger. 3. Beware of prison. 4. Nothing doing. 5. Eats. 6. Can get anything by threatening. 7. Do not threaten the people in the house. 8. Take vengeance. 9. Might give in. 10. Look out for the dog. 11. Brutal owner. 12. Money given here. 13. Men and dogs ready to attack. 14. Woman alone with child or servant. 15. Hard luck stories are profitable. 16. Charity given. 17. Insist and they'll give in. 18. Talk religion
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Mailbox at Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. The symbols on the post were originally drawn by hoboes during the Great Depression.
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Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid, 1921
