Ha! I love this! Also, I have absolutely no idea what the codes mean! Will be looking for clues.

Cynthia

The origin of the term hobo is unknown. According to etymologist Anatoly Liberman, the only certain detail about its origin is the word was first noticed in American English circa 1890. Liberman points out that many folk etymologies fail to answer the question: "Why did the word become widely known in California (just there) by the early Nineties (just then)?" Author Todd DePastino has suggested it may in fact be a race and was derived from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand", or a greeting such as Ho, boy! Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America (1998) that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound".[4] It could also come from the words "homeless boy". H. L. Mencken, in his The American Language (4th ed., 1937), wrote:

Tramps and hobos are commonly lumped together, but see themselves as sharply differentiated. A hobo or bo is simply a migratory laborer; he may take some longish holidays, but sooner or later he returns to work. A tramp never works if it can be avoided; he simply travels. Apart from either is the bum, who neither works nor travels, save when propelled to motion by the police.

They used their code like a kind of 'Michelin' guide, to let others of their tribe which towns to avoid, or which jails had good food or beds!!

{{gwi:607675}}

This give you an idea of what others look like - and maybe some clues??!!

Nancy.

Looks like it's you and me again, Cynthia.

Notables who have hoboed
Nels Anderson, American sociologist
Raul Hector Castro
Ralph Chaplin, author of labor anthem "Solidarity Forever"
The sociologist Ted Conover rode the rails doing research for his writing; Rolling Nowhere was the book he wrote as a direct result of his research.
W. H. Davies
Jack Dempsey
U Dhammaloka
Loren Eiseley
Woody Guthrie
Harry Kemp
Jack Kerouac
Louis L'amour
Jack London
Robert Mitchum
George Orwell
Harry Partch
Carl Sandburg
Seasick Steve
Philip Taft, labor historian
Dave Van Ronk
Dale Wasserman

An interesting list!!

Nancy.

I'm checking in late. This is our town summer celebration weekend with a free garden tour tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the on and off rain showers will have moved on by then.

No idea what the signs mean but will ponder them. Quite a list of characters. Seems to me that doing a short stint as a hobo was "the thing to do" at one time, especially for writers, ie: experience America.

Where do you two come up with all this neat trivia, so far I haven't a clue, but I am growing a tomato called Box Car Willie this year will that count for something :).
I've been out in the garden weeding all morning but it's getting too hot now so I'm hiding in the house watching TCM, just watched 'Kim'. Tonight it will be 'A Touch of Frost' on our Knowledge Network, I think I've see all of the episodes but they're still good second time around. I'll check back later for more clues.

Annette

Nothing is coming to me yet.

Cynthia,

I love A Touch of Frost Annette - I get Knowledge as part of my time-shifting package. It's like our TVO, or TV Ontario, in the States, PBS. Maybe someday I'll have to do some cockney slang, like Frost using 'porky-pies' for lies. He'd cross someone off who told those!!

Notable hobos:
Jack Black (author)
Charles Elmer Fox, author of Tales of an American Hobo (Singular Lives) (1989)
Maurice W. Graham, a.k.a. "Steam Train Maury"
Joe Hill
Monte Holm, author of Once A Hobo: The Autobiography of Monte Holm (1999), died in 2006 at age 89.
Leon Ray Livingston, a.k.a. "A No.1"
Sean Malone, a.k.a. "Meandering Malone"
Christopher McCandless, a.k.a. "Alexander Supertramp"
Harry McClintock
Utah Phillips
Robert Joseph Silveria, Jr., a.k.a. "Sidetrack", who killed 34 other hobos before turning himself in to the authorities
T-Bone Slim
Bertha Thompson, a.k.a. "Boxcar Bertha" was widely believed to be a real person. Sister of the Road was penned by Ben Reitman and presented as an autobiography.
Jim Tully, an author who penned several pulp fiction books, 1928 through 1945.
Steven Gene Wold, a.k.a. "Seasick Steve"

Nancy.

I think I have number one from the clues in Nancy's last post.

Box Car Willie is full of green tomatoes. Have grown it before and was pleased with the taste and number of tomatoes produced. Either some of my labels got mixed up or the seeds were mislabeled as fruit is not looking like I expected on some varieties.

If you get #1, #3 should make sense. Sorry for my messy computer writing! #2 is tougher, and I am seeking divine inspiration for clues for you all.

Nancy.

I've been looking in from time to time today, so don't think I'm ignoring your interesting question, Nancy. We have GKs here for a couple of weeks along with the GKs that live next door. Things are hopping and quiet time is hard to come by.

The only halfway decent thought I have had so far is about sign number 1 -- maybe it's a warning about a town?

Will ponder more, given the opportunity.

TM

Ahh half-way decent you say?? lol - quite decent I say.

{{gwi:607677}}
This one means saloons in town!! I am a really bad drawer!!

Nancy.

Hmmm...maybe if #1 is warning against going to a certain town, #3 is saying a town is ok?

Cynthia

C'est bon, Cynthia~~

Nancy.

1. a man who lies
2. something religious, church?
3. If the lines are streets the center must be the main street

Like the last sign, when you give the answer it is easy to see how it fits

I think I'll tag along with Cyn, her answers seem to fit :).

Annette

Boy, hope I am right, Annette.

I also think Bobbie is right about the religion aspect to #2 since it seems Nancy gave a clue hinting at that. So, I will take Bobbie's thought one step further and say maybe a church with a soup kitchen?

Cynthia

C'est bon, Cynthia~~

Nancy.

OK, that was tougher to give clues for than I thought it would be....any my drawing really is awful - it seems so easy!!

OK, so #1 says Town is Hostile. #2 is church or religious people. #3 says Main street is good for begging.

An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National Hobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri.[ This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide Hobo Body; it reads this way:

Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.
When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.
Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.
Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants. By doing so you not only help a business along, but ensure employment should you return to that town again.
When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.
Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals' treatment of other hobos.
When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as badly, if not worse than you.
Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.
If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.
Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.
When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.
Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose all molesters to authorities, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.
Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.
Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.
If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it. Whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!

Interesting how organized they were (are?) They seemed honourable folk. So, as to stars:

As near as I can tell, for Annette, Bobbie and Cynthia:

For Tm - excellent deduction:

Here are a few more symbols for your amusement. They were made with chalk or coal, whatever was to hand.

Thanks for playing - see you all next week.

Nancy - who is back to work today :(

Thanks, Nancy! Very very good question. So interesting-and amazing they were so organized.

Hope everyone is nice to you today! Thanks for the fun.

Cynthia

Thanks for the interesting question and explanation. A very good ethical code.

Thanks, Nancy. Have you ever heard The Hobo's Lullaby? I have it on a Pete Seeger record, and here's a link to a Woody Guthrie version.

Have a good week.

TM

I can't get GardenWeb to accept the link so you'll have to copy and paste:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN_xvE79iXE&feature=kp