The Hobo: A (N)Americana Icon

I was fascinated by hobos (one of many fascinations) in my distant youth. Growing up in a small town, a resource-based community, in the latter-half of the 20th century, the legendary escape of "running away to join the circus" was always almost a "real" option. Stories of the Great Depression, mass migrations of young people in search of work, of "riding the rails", were still part of everyday chit-chat.

I think I always realized the difference between hobos and tramps, and bums -- ideological cousins somehow, but each different in their own way. Hobos travel to find work; tramps work when they have to; and bums don't work at all. [wikipedia]

In this first video, John Hodgman presents a (fake) PBS American Experience documentary episode.



In the second video, narrated by someone with exactly the right voice for this, the National Hobo Conference in Britt, Iowa, is described.



And finally, the VICE documentary about the decline and fall of the hobo: "Death of the American Hobo".