hobo signs
As mentioned, my Hobo sign post.
I was thinking about them the other night, whilst watching O Brother Where Art Thou, which is one of my favorite movies.
Hobo Signs were used during the depression to signal places where hobos could find work or a bed or meal. Sometimes they were used as warnings and were often drawn on walls, sidewalks, fences and posts.
I love Hobo signs in the same way I love nautical flags and semi fore and sign language.
Here are 50 that I swiped from cyberhobo.com:
I find them sweet and caring...You may sleep in the hayloft.
Hopefully there weren't too many dyslexic hobos. Number 11 and number 12 could be tricky.
Of course the BIRD means free telephone. Like my phone bill isn't big enough - now I'll have all kinds of extra HOBO USE charges. There's probably tax on that too.
I think several of these would make great tee shirts. I'd like to walk around with a DOUBTFUL tee, and I'm fond of Hit the road! Quick!
I think number 31 really means: Venison served here.
Hobos must have been a considerate bunch - as illustrated by number 42.
There were doctors who didn't charge for their services...it seems like this must have been a gentler time - households willing to feed strangers (in exchange for "religious talk"), people warning others about dangerous areas or watch dogs... I need to research more to find out how large the community of hobos was.
I'm thinking of putting number 48 and 49 on my front door.
I was thinking about them the other night, whilst watching O Brother Where Art Thou, which is one of my favorite movies.
Hobo Signs were used during the depression to signal places where hobos could find work or a bed or meal. Sometimes they were used as warnings and were often drawn on walls, sidewalks, fences and posts.
I love Hobo signs in the same way I love nautical flags and semi fore and sign language.
Here are 50 that I swiped from cyberhobo.com:
I find them sweet and caring...You may sleep in the hayloft.
Hopefully there weren't too many dyslexic hobos. Number 11 and number 12 could be tricky.
Of course the BIRD means free telephone. Like my phone bill isn't big enough - now I'll have all kinds of extra HOBO USE charges. There's probably tax on that too.
I think several of these would make great tee shirts. I'd like to walk around with a DOUBTFUL tee, and I'm fond of Hit the road! Quick!
I think number 31 really means: Venison served here.
Hobos must have been a considerate bunch - as illustrated by number 42.
There were doctors who didn't charge for their services...it seems like this must have been a gentler time - households willing to feed strangers (in exchange for "religious talk"), people warning others about dangerous areas or watch dogs... I need to research more to find out how large the community of hobos was.
I'm thinking of putting number 48 and 49 on my front door.
Comments
I've interpreted this to mean:
A) This is the kind of shitty neighborhood where residents do drugs, so we shall distribute our literature here.
B) This car is just shitty enough to tell me the person who drives it does drugs, but it's not so shitty that the owner wouldn't be able to splurge on a nice new one-hitter or bong in the shape of a Joshua tree.
So, yeah... I want people to think I'm armed.
Couple of these would be great, actually. I really like hobo signs. If you watch the series Mad Men, there's an episode in a flashback where a hobo stops and the guy's dad lies to him, and when the hobo leaves me makes the sign of 'dishonest man' on their post.
O Brother Where Art Thou is an amazing movie. The acting, the music, the adaptation itself. Even the other day, our preschooler overheard us saying "Do NOT...seek.. the treasure!" and now he does it too.
jbhat
Hobo signs are very interesting. I'd like to know more.
I especially like that #11 and #12 are very "breast"like.
But that could just be my 12yr old humor at its finest
Interesting. And agreed, some of these would definitely be fun tshirts.
I have visions of hobos all over the town and one coming upon the 'a beating awaits you here' and just as he's read it, he looks up, starts looking around and thwack. Gets a beating.
Such is my humour at the moment and the seemingly incessant watching of The Simpsons.
She said that there were hobo signs carved into the wooden post outside our house, but I'm not sure which ones. I'll ask and let you know!
We didn't have people come through daily, but every couple weeks or so according to my mom. That was as late as 1980. The community had to be somewhat decent sized to be seeing them that often.
These signs just go to show that you can find a community just about any place you look. Very comforting.
That being said, I would totally wear #s 25, 31, 32, 35, 40, 42 and 49 on a t-shirt.
Along with my brand new baqua mirror (concave as I'm all considerate like that) and hedge we're putting in soon.
Things just might approve in the hood.
I never knew these existed.
ErinH
mom2
Thank you.
The only Problem I see is number 48. It doesn't mean "A good place to hang out" it means "A good place for a hand out". I don't think you'd want that sign on your door. LOL
CyberHobo Fixed it on the website.
"OK, I will...ahem...'la vee' "
My belief is, the way the world is going, we're going to see *more* hobos, not less!!!
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