Starting in the late 1800’s and it grew very rapidly in the 1930’s, people turned to the road to see if they can make it better somewhere else. Back in the days of the Great Depression, the United States saw an increase in the hobo population. Walking along roads or hitching rides on trains, these hobos would travel all over, looking for a place where they could get “lucky” and find a job and a better home. Of course, such a life of wanderlust was very difficult, especially since one has to travel without knowing anything of the places they were going, the people that lived there or local local laws.
To combat this ignorance, the hobos came up with a sign language to communicate to each other along the road. This is not like the sign language that hearing-impaired people use to communicate; rather, it was markings and symbols that hobos would leave along the road for their fellow travelers / hoboes. Whether a sign told others of locations of important places in town, the attitudes of the locals to hobos, or the best places to beg, the hobo sign language has helped many get by in hard times. To this day they are still used around the world.
The variety of messages passed between hobos are incredible. There are some basic traveling symbols such as “go this way,” “don’t go that way,” or “get out fast.” Then there’s praises and warnings of the locals – “doctor, no charge,” “police officer lives here, not kind to hobos,” “dangerous neighborhood,” “you may sleep in barn.” Some of my favorites messages I’ve heard of are “good lady lives here, tell a hard luck story,” “fake illness here,” “road spoiled, full of other hobos., A Dangerous Man live here, bad dogs, etc.”
Hobo signs were typically drawn onto telephone poles using chalk, charcoal or some other type of temporary writing material that would wash out in time with the weather. Sometimes they would write on railroad trestle, rocks, stationary boxcars, or even on houses when referring to those who lived inside. Billboards later became very handy for Hoboes to post their messages. When road or new tracks opened the signs soon followed.
The hobo sign language was hardly a formal system, constantly changing from Hobo to Hobo. The signs had to keep up with new times (such as the addition of roads), and like most languages it had its own dialects in different parts of the country. Also, the signs were often changed when it became evident that locals were writing hobo signs for their own amusement. One had to keep meeting up at hobo gatherings (Hobo Jungles) to keep on top of the current system.
Much of the hobo sign language has been forgottin in time, due to its outdated methods. The need for the language has decreased as well; there are so few hobos now than there were in the 1930’s, and the progress of technology has made the use of signs somewhat outdated. Still, it is nice to see that wanderlust still will leave hints for their fellow “Knights of the Road”.
