Hobos: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Hobos are either homeless people viewed through an industrial-strength [[Nostalgia Filter]] or living Americana: [[The Drifter|freewheeling folks]], usually men, who for any number of reasons live a [[Perpetual Poverty|wealth-free life]], stowing away on freight trains and [[Walking the Earth|moving from town to town]] looking for campfires and a good can of beans. [[The Great Depression]] [[The Theme Park Version|Theme Park]] isn't complete without these boxcar barons.

Having been everywhere, seen everything and met everyone, hobos are full of tall tales and song — not to mention sage advice. Some may claim to have been men of status (i.e., mayors or heavyweight champs) brought low by dumb luck, while others willfully renounced the stationary life. Both varieties of hobo will recount his story in detail, if you have the time.

 

 

Unlike street persons or the colloquial bum, hobos prefer rural settings, rarely panhandle, and generally conduct their affairs with some sense of dignity and etiquette. Newcomers to hoboism are often adopted by old timers and taught to observe some variety of "The Hobo's Code". When and how a hobo receives his nickname is unclear, but every hobo has one — it's usually "Boxcar" something.

 

'''Note:''' This applies only to hobos ''as a trope''. [[Real Life]] hobos allegedly prefer to think of themselves as homeless travelers subsisting on odd jobs, whereas ''tramps'' travel without seeking work and ''bums'' do neither. We've yet to verify this with one of their rank, and note that calling a tramp or bum ''hobo'' elicits the same nonverbal response as calling him ''Gargamel''. (Unless his name is Gargamel.)

 

* ''[[Kings In Disguise]]'' was serialized for years in ''[[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse Presents]]'' and later published in book form. It's a grim look at the desperate lives of hobos during the Great Depression, and brutally deconstructs the carefree popular image of the hobo.

* In [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]], [[Marvel Comics]] (then called Timely Comics, among other name changes) had a character variously called the Fighting Hobo or the Vagabond, who was a comical hobo who fought crime. These days it's panned as [[Values Dissonance|politically incorrect]] for glossing over the hardships of real hobos' lives.

* In ''[[The Goon]]'' Hobos appear as cannibalistic cavemen who have their own language. Their leader, the Hobo King may be a caricature of Woody Guthrie.

 

** Bonus points for one of them, Hobey, who was actually a [[Society Is to Blame|beggar]] before he joined the Undersite.

 

* In the closing section of ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', Jules declares his intention to quit his job as a hitman, leave [[Los Angeles]] and "[[Walking the Earth|walk the earth]]" in the style of Caine from ''[[Kung Fu]]''. His partner, Vincent, responds that he would be nothing more than a bum. {{spoiler|Better a live bum than getting shot up in the toilet.}}

* ''[[Hobo with a Shotgun]]''

* Any of [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s Little Tramp films.

 

* In the short story "The Haunted Trailer" by Robert Arthur, the narrator finds his trailer haunted by the ghosts of three hobos.

 

* The Second Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' was basically a [[Recycled in Space|Space Hobo]].

* It seems to be a running gag in ''[[iCarly]]'' where hobos are found or mentioned as a joke.

** In "iEnrage Gibby", Carly even has a "hobo party" where everyone dresses up a hobo!

*** And the endless hobo gags have been so overused by [[Dan Schneider]] by this point that one troper is beginning to think it's used only because he thinks the word sounds funny.

* Dave Attell encountered one on his show ''[[Insomniac with Dave Attell]]''. After referring to him as a hobo, the man corrected him: "I'm a tramp."

 

== [[Music]] ==

* "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is a humorous folk song describing a fictional hobo paradise. One version ends on this deeply cynical note:

* [[Captain Beefheart]]'s song "Orange Claw Hammer" is told from the perspective of a delirious old sailor who is "on the bum where the hobos run". Also note the song "Hobo Chang Ba", from the same album: [[Trout Mask Replica]].

* "Hobo Jungle" by [[The Band]] is a song about the death of an old hobo.

* "Waltzing Mathilda" is the Australian version. It comes from a wave of German immigrants who brought with them some of their habits, such as nicknaming their awesome [[Great Coat]] Mathilda. A German swagman would refer to himself as "Auf der waltz mit mein Mathilda" (on the walk with my Mathilda), with all his belongings (swag) wrapped up in his coat.

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' basically has you playing [[Frankenstein's Monster|Frankensteinian]] hobos, whose [[Blessed with Suck|inherent attributes]] keep them on the move and outcast from society until they [[Become a Real Boy|become human]].

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In the webcomic ''[[Guttersnipe]]'', set in a [[The Theme Park Version|Theme Park Version]] ''of'' a Theme Park Version of the Great Depression, hobos have become so numerous that they have taken over the entire center third of the nation, succeeding to become a sovereign nation called 'Hobotopia.' Hobos are depicted as a roaming barbarian tribe, armed with spears and wearing nothing but loin cloths and the obligatory battered top hats.

* ''[[Hijinks Ensue]]'' features Boxcar Pete, a hobo who for some strange reason wears a monocle and [[Talk Like a Pirate|talks like a pirate]].

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In one episode of [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s series of ''[[The Little Rascals]]'', Porky ran away and met an old hobo who called himself Boxcar Bill.

* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' mentions Hobos, as well... as an urban legend on par with the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot.

* The [[Tex Avery]] characters George and Junior were often depicted as hoboes (no surprise, since they are based on Lenny and George from ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''). Their first cartoon was even titled "Henpecked Hoboes".

* In the early ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' short "Hobo Gadget Band", a band of hoboes enter a singing contest and win a big recording contract. They reject it for a life on the tracks.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

** Though closely connected to the American railways, a looser definition of hoboism requires only: transience, moochery, troubles with local authorities, and a habit of spontaneous narration. As such, hobos have a whole canon of nicknamed saints to inspire them, including "[[Confucius]]" K'ung-fu-tzu, Siddhārtha "The Buddha" Gautama, [[Jesus]] "The Christ" of Nazareth, Paul "The Apostle" of Tarsus, etc.

** The singer/historian/activist U. Utah Phillips was long famous in both American left-wing and folk-music circles for preserving the lore and history of hobos and their ethic.

[[Category:Always Male]]

[[Category:The Great Depression]]

[[Category:Poverty Tropes]]