~Once found, please re-hide the container carefully so that it won't be found by muggles!~
Hobos, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but they are each distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works.
While drifters have always existed, it is unclear exactly when hobos first appeared on the American railroading scene. With the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, many discharged veterans returning home began hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American Frontier followed the railways west aboard freight trains in the late 19th century. An exhaustive study in 1906 estimated the number of tramps in the United States at about 500,000. The number of hoboes increased greatly during the Great Depression era of the 1930s.
Around the end of World War II, railroads began to transition from steam to diesel locomotives, making jumping freight trains more difficult. This, in combination with increased postwar prosperity, led to a decline in the number of hobos.
The origin of the term hobo is unknown. Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America (1998) that it could come from a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound". It could also come from the words "homeless boy" or "homeless Bohemian".
Hobos had their own slang, songs, art, glyphs/code, graffiti, poetry and justice system. For some examples, scroll past the puzzle.
Code/Glyphs: The symbols of the code served as directions, recommendations, or warnings, especially for those that may be illiterate.
The story goes that hobo typically tagged tree trunks or scrawled impermanent coded messages in chalk, charcoal, or grease pencil in boxcars, under bridges, on water tower bases, walls, fences, sewer trestles and other surfaces in or near railroad yards where other hoboes were likely to pass by. Although there remains little concrete anthropological evidence that the code was widely used, it makes for an interesting story, and figured it would make a good puzzle for the rail trail.
SOLVE FOR THE FOLLOWING:
(Always use digit on right for a 2 digit number)
Slang:
- Balling the jack - A freight train which is rolling fast.
- Beanery - A railroad eating house. Beanery queen is a waitress.
- Bedroom of stars - a city park
- Bindle stick-a collection of belongings wrapped in cloth and tied around a stick
- Bone orchard - A graveyard. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- Bone polisher – a vicious dog
- Boxcar tourist - A hobo.
- Bracelets - Handcuffs.
- Bump gums - To talk about nothing worthwhile
- California blankets-newspapers, intended to be used for bedding on a park bench
- Catch the westbound – to die
- Cooties-body lice
- Cow catcher - A metal frame on the front of a locomotive to remove obstructions from the tracks.
- Doggin’ it – taking the (Greyhound) bus
- Eat snowballs-to go northward or stay in colder climates in the winter
- Flintstone Kids - The latest generation of hobos. More likely to have orange hair, skateboards, and fleece than scraggly beards and long wool coats. Also known as the nose ring nation.
- Grease the track-to be run over by a train
- Hooch or Alki-liquor
- Pearl diver - A dishwasher.
- Pie in the sky - One's reward in the hereafter. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- Possum belly - To ride on top of a passenger train. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- Red lead - Ketchup. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- River rat - Someone who spends their life around the rivers and waterways. They would rather travel from place to place using inland waterways and rivers for travel. Also some one who lives in shacks, house boats, etc. along the rivers and waterways.
- Scrape the mug - To shave. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- Sky pilot - A preacher.
- Son of Adam -A hobo willing to do a chore for a handout.
- Spearing biscuits - To fish food out of garbage cans.
- Stamp tramps - Tramps who ride between multiple cities, collecting food stamps at each stop. New restrictive food stamp policies have greatly reduced the number of stamp tramps.
- Stew builder - A hobo camp cook, a kitchen mechanic.
- Throw your guts - To squeal.
- Ticket - A broad board about a foot or a foot and a half long, with a groove cut in it. The groove would fit down over the rod, and made a seat for riding the rods.
- Timber wolf - A worker in the woods, a logger.
- Tin cans - Used by hoboes as cookware and as drinking cups. Tin cans they use for fruits, you know, the kind that are coated on the inside. They're safe to cook out of, without fear of poisoning, and about 3 in different sizes can make up a whole cookin outfit.
- Tin roof - A free drink. So-called because it is “on the house.”
- Toadskins - Paper money. Source: American Tramp and Underworld Slang.
- Tokay blanket-drinking alcohol to stay warm
- Touching hearts - Begging. Also known as panhandling, putting the rigging on, and putting the touch on someone.
- Twist a dream - To roll a cigarette.
- Wooden nickels - Carved wooden nickels was a common hobby among hobos. Some of them were quite skilled at it and carried elaborate sets of carving tools with them, including tiny chisels, files, and clamps. They would trade these nickels for food, money, or a night's shelter.
Songs: Big Rock Candy Mountain
Art: In the late 1950's, the name “tramp art” began appearing in literature to describe what had previously been called “chip work.” Tramps and hoboes made “tramp art” to barter for room & board. Tramp art began after the Civil War with decorating wooden cigar boxes. Examples of can be found in the background photo/gallery.
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