The center horizontal piece on the cross stretches across the interior of the triangle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG_vUvM0J4, Hobo Beer have used this language/idea to great effect as part of their brand identity: http://hobobeerandco.co.uk/. Behind my house are railroad tracks that he had been walking. If the farmer was generous, the hobo would mark the lane so other hobos would know it was a good place to beg. My uncle was a hobo who rode the rails out of New Mexico to Sacramento CA. From all reports, he was a kind man. He was several blocks away at the local ice cream Dari. When my dad was a kid in the 1930s, he said a hobo begged his mom for food. "Hobo signs Symbols." The last time I saw him was 1962. The circle touches all three points of the triangle. To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Also, most sets contain too many signs and signs that make no sense. What a joy it was to talk to him. Can you tell me your source for your Hobo Signs? A hobo sign indicating that barking dogs are in the vicinity and the danger they possess. After his mother died when he was 8 or 9, he and my aunt were abandoned by their father, and so my dad rode boxcars throughout Pennsylvania where he encountered and heeded them everywhere he roamed. I’m captivated by their simplicity and their power and I wonder what sign hoboes would place outside my house or yours.
Maybe they were for the person making the mark.
How condescending. Just a thought. My Dad could make it sound like a train going down a track. He did settle there and remained a lumberjack until he died – in his sleep. This is called an opinion. It’s a triangle inside a circle. A symbol from the French system of hobo signs indicating that an authority figure lives at this location. A triangle with hands — the homeowner has a gun. How they represent the uppercrust, finer things, and Wall Street. Additionally, inside the triangle is a cross, the top of which meets where the top of the triangle and circle meet. My dad would recount stories of hobos stopping by his childhood home in Mississippi during the depression. They were more like nomads. The hobo had lost his forearms when he tripped while trying to catch a train. The hobos would often come to her back kitchen door and a bowl of soup would be handed to them with a slice of bread slathered with butter. This sounds like the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for hobos. Times were desperate during the depression and many women stepped up to provide these men with food. He went out to the fields around the house and came back with some rabbits. I like reading your stories of relatives. Any sign of cowardness was an indicator that you were easily overcome and either robbed or abused.
Of those, 250,000 were said to be teenagers — the economic collapse had destroyed everything in their young lives. If you haven’t heard of it before, HOBO SIGNS LANGUAGE is a system of symbols, or a code developed by Hobos during the Great Depression. She never turned down anyone who came to her door asking for food. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. If you disagree, simply ignore.
Same journey blasting across the Great Salt lake at high speed and seeing derailed cars alongside the tracks was sobering. Markings would be made on fences, buildings, trees, pavements — anywhere a message could signal help or trouble. When I’m out in the field too, I clear paths that are overgrown, and clean off trail signs that have become hidden under dirt. I was told by my Dad that my grandfather, whom I’d never met, was a hobo. Last year’s homeless survey here in L.A. indicates that together the mentally ill and substance abusers account for only 20% of those living outside.
One day I met a hobo and spent a couple of hours talking about the life he led.
Gee, even old time homeless people were superior. My mom, who is 87, said that her mom would always feed the hobos (in the 1930’s) whenever they stopped. Again… hobos were NOT the same as merely homeless. Hobo symbols would indicate, for example, that it's safe to camp nearby, or that nice, generous people live inside. Reading this story made me think that perhaps the traveller marked the x in order to remind himself that he had already asked and been given food there so as not to ask at the same place again – it was probably difficult to share what little anyone had at the time so this could have been a thoughtful gesture so as not to put too much burden on the kindly household. Dad remembers walking out into the backyard and seeing his dad sitting at the picnic table feeding an armless man. Sometimes all you have to do is stop and look. I log the places where the footpaths are bad, gates are locked and similar inconveniences on run tracking apps, and hiking community sites. A spearhead — a warning to defend yourself.
Renee, […] a look at this website, it shows a paralled world of signs that transients, hobos and travellers used to leave messages […], […] a look at this website. Believe you’re referencing The Fugitive, 1963 TV series (David Janssen, William Conrad) or 1993 movie with same title (Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones). They somehow knew to make their way to her house.
(nb: A Hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. https://www.symbols.com/category/52/Hobo+signs. Thanks for the post, it brought back some great memories with my pop. I have heard the stories of the x on a telephone pole next to her house, as she always fed the Hobos, but it was such a wonderful surprise to come across this article, that validates our families story. STANDS4 LLC, 2020.
Part of that journey was riding the rails a couple times. A person becomes homeless and all of a sudden they lack intelligence? I love cigars. They would come up from the rail stop from this dense pine forest and come to the back door of my mama’s house. The term originated in the Western (probably Northwestern) United States around 1890. He and grandmother would feed hobos passing through that would come to the back door. French hobo sign that basically says "watch out". My grandmother kept a huge cauldron of soup going all day. Frankly I think that’s a crummy way to repay a kindness. A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking dog. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Sounded great. Many meetings are held in churches. Hobos WOULD work; they just traveled around to do so. How would they have time to mark them if there was a dog or a person chasing them? To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos were workers. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Deathly-Hallows-symbol. She was not the only lady in her neighborhood serving them. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. No chastisement needed. To cope with the uncertainties of life, hobos developed a system of symbols they’d write with chalk or coal to provide fellow “Knights of the Road” with directions, help, and warnings. A caduceus symbol — doctor living in the house.
Just as a spoken language has it’s own dialects and words for different areas a sign language would be the same. If that’s what the family was having, that’s what the tramps ate as well. Such a different ‘childhood’. A circle with two parallel arrows — get out fast, hobos aren’t welcome. Any ideas? There was a sort of hobo encampment there among some trees. The Great Depression (1929–1939) was when numbers were likely at their highest, as it forced an estimated 4,000,000 adults to leave their homes in search of food and lodging. Non-Commercial Logos | Contacting Silvertoad: Hobo Logos..or Hogos?....No? She would feed them and they would be on their way. Do you really think people would choose to be homeless?
The center horizontal piece on the cross stretches across the interior of the triangle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG_vUvM0J4, Hobo Beer have used this language/idea to great effect as part of their brand identity: http://hobobeerandco.co.uk/. Behind my house are railroad tracks that he had been walking. If the farmer was generous, the hobo would mark the lane so other hobos would know it was a good place to beg. My uncle was a hobo who rode the rails out of New Mexico to Sacramento CA. From all reports, he was a kind man. He was several blocks away at the local ice cream Dari. When my dad was a kid in the 1930s, he said a hobo begged his mom for food. "Hobo signs Symbols." The last time I saw him was 1962. The circle touches all three points of the triangle. To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Also, most sets contain too many signs and signs that make no sense. What a joy it was to talk to him. Can you tell me your source for your Hobo Signs? A hobo sign indicating that barking dogs are in the vicinity and the danger they possess. After his mother died when he was 8 or 9, he and my aunt were abandoned by their father, and so my dad rode boxcars throughout Pennsylvania where he encountered and heeded them everywhere he roamed. I’m captivated by their simplicity and their power and I wonder what sign hoboes would place outside my house or yours.
Maybe they were for the person making the mark.
How condescending. Just a thought. My Dad could make it sound like a train going down a track. He did settle there and remained a lumberjack until he died – in his sleep. This is called an opinion. It’s a triangle inside a circle. A symbol from the French system of hobo signs indicating that an authority figure lives at this location. A triangle with hands — the homeowner has a gun. How they represent the uppercrust, finer things, and Wall Street. Additionally, inside the triangle is a cross, the top of which meets where the top of the triangle and circle meet. My dad would recount stories of hobos stopping by his childhood home in Mississippi during the depression. They were more like nomads. The hobo had lost his forearms when he tripped while trying to catch a train. The hobos would often come to her back kitchen door and a bowl of soup would be handed to them with a slice of bread slathered with butter. This sounds like the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for hobos. Times were desperate during the depression and many women stepped up to provide these men with food. He went out to the fields around the house and came back with some rabbits. I like reading your stories of relatives. Any sign of cowardness was an indicator that you were easily overcome and either robbed or abused.
Of those, 250,000 were said to be teenagers — the economic collapse had destroyed everything in their young lives. If you haven’t heard of it before, HOBO SIGNS LANGUAGE is a system of symbols, or a code developed by Hobos during the Great Depression. She never turned down anyone who came to her door asking for food. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. If you disagree, simply ignore.
Same journey blasting across the Great Salt lake at high speed and seeing derailed cars alongside the tracks was sobering. Markings would be made on fences, buildings, trees, pavements — anywhere a message could signal help or trouble. When I’m out in the field too, I clear paths that are overgrown, and clean off trail signs that have become hidden under dirt. I was told by my Dad that my grandfather, whom I’d never met, was a hobo. Last year’s homeless survey here in L.A. indicates that together the mentally ill and substance abusers account for only 20% of those living outside.
One day I met a hobo and spent a couple of hours talking about the life he led.
Gee, even old time homeless people were superior. My mom, who is 87, said that her mom would always feed the hobos (in the 1930’s) whenever they stopped. Again… hobos were NOT the same as merely homeless. Hobo symbols would indicate, for example, that it's safe to camp nearby, or that nice, generous people live inside. Reading this story made me think that perhaps the traveller marked the x in order to remind himself that he had already asked and been given food there so as not to ask at the same place again – it was probably difficult to share what little anyone had at the time so this could have been a thoughtful gesture so as not to put too much burden on the kindly household. Dad remembers walking out into the backyard and seeing his dad sitting at the picnic table feeding an armless man. Sometimes all you have to do is stop and look. I log the places where the footpaths are bad, gates are locked and similar inconveniences on run tracking apps, and hiking community sites. A spearhead — a warning to defend yourself.
Renee, […] a look at this website, it shows a paralled world of signs that transients, hobos and travellers used to leave messages […], […] a look at this website. Believe you’re referencing The Fugitive, 1963 TV series (David Janssen, William Conrad) or 1993 movie with same title (Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones). They somehow knew to make their way to her house.
(nb: A Hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. https://www.symbols.com/category/52/Hobo+signs. Thanks for the post, it brought back some great memories with my pop. I have heard the stories of the x on a telephone pole next to her house, as she always fed the Hobos, but it was such a wonderful surprise to come across this article, that validates our families story. STANDS4 LLC, 2020.
Part of that journey was riding the rails a couple times. A person becomes homeless and all of a sudden they lack intelligence? I love cigars. They would come up from the rail stop from this dense pine forest and come to the back door of my mama’s house. The term originated in the Western (probably Northwestern) United States around 1890. He and grandmother would feed hobos passing through that would come to the back door. French hobo sign that basically says "watch out". My grandmother kept a huge cauldron of soup going all day. Frankly I think that’s a crummy way to repay a kindness. A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking dog. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Sounded great. Many meetings are held in churches. Hobos WOULD work; they just traveled around to do so. How would they have time to mark them if there was a dog or a person chasing them? To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos were workers. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Deathly-Hallows-symbol. She was not the only lady in her neighborhood serving them. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. No chastisement needed. To cope with the uncertainties of life, hobos developed a system of symbols they’d write with chalk or coal to provide fellow “Knights of the Road” with directions, help, and warnings. A caduceus symbol — doctor living in the house.
Just as a spoken language has it’s own dialects and words for different areas a sign language would be the same. If that’s what the family was having, that’s what the tramps ate as well. Such a different ‘childhood’. A circle with two parallel arrows — get out fast, hobos aren’t welcome. Any ideas? There was a sort of hobo encampment there among some trees. The Great Depression (1929–1939) was when numbers were likely at their highest, as it forced an estimated 4,000,000 adults to leave their homes in search of food and lodging. Non-Commercial Logos | Contacting Silvertoad: Hobo Logos..or Hogos?....No? She would feed them and they would be on their way. Do you really think people would choose to be homeless?
What a stupid generalization. In the words of Susan Kare, who designed the original Macintosh icons, “This kind of symbol appeals to me because it had to be really simple, and clear to a group of people who were not going to be studying these for years in academia.”. During that time the country was still more agricultural than metropolitan which is why they rode the rails to get work on the farms and packing houses. Both were excellent. Mama would give them some beans and corn bread or something. A French hobo sign indicating that this dwelling is wired by an alarm.
Two shovels — work available (shovels, because most hobos performed manual labour). The reason we have the misconception that all homeless have these issues is because they are the most conspicuous. My dad told me about hobo signs.
Mike, love that statement about the cigar. Grandfather came from Saginaw, Michigan, and rode the rails down to the Southwest. You can handle them, respondents, even the ones that are different from yours. The Railroad through the Valley was across a big field in the back, hobos used to come walking across the field to our house and when she saw them coming, she got a bag of food and a jar of water ready to give them. A wavy line (signifying water) above an X — fresh water and a campsite. French hobo sign- the policeman in this area is bad. It made such a lasting impression on me that after high school I took off and hitchhiked around the country. In the ‘old days’ EVERYTHING was better. There may be one or more signs that give the same message or, at times, there may be slightly different meanings for a sign.
Men were dominant, women were subservient, minorities and gays stayed quiet or got beaten and killed, and in general everything just had a rosy glow about it. Chicago was a major hub, as was Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Green Bay, South Pekin, St. Louis. My grandparents lived in the hills of Vermont. A different time then. This symbol possesses a number of different connotations (most notably as the "equals" concept in mathematics), but in the British system of hobo signs it indicates that here you can find a place to sleep for the night. A hobo symbol that signifies water not to be drink.
The center horizontal piece on the cross stretches across the interior of the triangle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avG_vUvM0J4, Hobo Beer have used this language/idea to great effect as part of their brand identity: http://hobobeerandco.co.uk/. Behind my house are railroad tracks that he had been walking. If the farmer was generous, the hobo would mark the lane so other hobos would know it was a good place to beg. My uncle was a hobo who rode the rails out of New Mexico to Sacramento CA. From all reports, he was a kind man. He was several blocks away at the local ice cream Dari. When my dad was a kid in the 1930s, he said a hobo begged his mom for food. "Hobo signs Symbols." The last time I saw him was 1962. The circle touches all three points of the triangle. To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Also, most sets contain too many signs and signs that make no sense. What a joy it was to talk to him. Can you tell me your source for your Hobo Signs? A hobo sign indicating that barking dogs are in the vicinity and the danger they possess. After his mother died when he was 8 or 9, he and my aunt were abandoned by their father, and so my dad rode boxcars throughout Pennsylvania where he encountered and heeded them everywhere he roamed. I’m captivated by their simplicity and their power and I wonder what sign hoboes would place outside my house or yours.
Maybe they were for the person making the mark.
How condescending. Just a thought. My Dad could make it sound like a train going down a track. He did settle there and remained a lumberjack until he died – in his sleep. This is called an opinion. It’s a triangle inside a circle. A symbol from the French system of hobo signs indicating that an authority figure lives at this location. A triangle with hands — the homeowner has a gun. How they represent the uppercrust, finer things, and Wall Street. Additionally, inside the triangle is a cross, the top of which meets where the top of the triangle and circle meet. My dad would recount stories of hobos stopping by his childhood home in Mississippi during the depression. They were more like nomads. The hobo had lost his forearms when he tripped while trying to catch a train. The hobos would often come to her back kitchen door and a bowl of soup would be handed to them with a slice of bread slathered with butter. This sounds like the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for hobos. Times were desperate during the depression and many women stepped up to provide these men with food. He went out to the fields around the house and came back with some rabbits. I like reading your stories of relatives. Any sign of cowardness was an indicator that you were easily overcome and either robbed or abused.
Of those, 250,000 were said to be teenagers — the economic collapse had destroyed everything in their young lives. If you haven’t heard of it before, HOBO SIGNS LANGUAGE is a system of symbols, or a code developed by Hobos during the Great Depression. She never turned down anyone who came to her door asking for food. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. If you disagree, simply ignore.
Same journey blasting across the Great Salt lake at high speed and seeing derailed cars alongside the tracks was sobering. Markings would be made on fences, buildings, trees, pavements — anywhere a message could signal help or trouble. When I’m out in the field too, I clear paths that are overgrown, and clean off trail signs that have become hidden under dirt. I was told by my Dad that my grandfather, whom I’d never met, was a hobo. Last year’s homeless survey here in L.A. indicates that together the mentally ill and substance abusers account for only 20% of those living outside.
One day I met a hobo and spent a couple of hours talking about the life he led.
Gee, even old time homeless people were superior. My mom, who is 87, said that her mom would always feed the hobos (in the 1930’s) whenever they stopped. Again… hobos were NOT the same as merely homeless. Hobo symbols would indicate, for example, that it's safe to camp nearby, or that nice, generous people live inside. Reading this story made me think that perhaps the traveller marked the x in order to remind himself that he had already asked and been given food there so as not to ask at the same place again – it was probably difficult to share what little anyone had at the time so this could have been a thoughtful gesture so as not to put too much burden on the kindly household. Dad remembers walking out into the backyard and seeing his dad sitting at the picnic table feeding an armless man. Sometimes all you have to do is stop and look. I log the places where the footpaths are bad, gates are locked and similar inconveniences on run tracking apps, and hiking community sites. A spearhead — a warning to defend yourself.
Renee, […] a look at this website, it shows a paralled world of signs that transients, hobos and travellers used to leave messages […], […] a look at this website. Believe you’re referencing The Fugitive, 1963 TV series (David Janssen, William Conrad) or 1993 movie with same title (Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones). They somehow knew to make their way to her house.
(nb: A Hobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. https://www.symbols.com/category/52/Hobo+signs. Thanks for the post, it brought back some great memories with my pop. I have heard the stories of the x on a telephone pole next to her house, as she always fed the Hobos, but it was such a wonderful surprise to come across this article, that validates our families story. STANDS4 LLC, 2020.
Part of that journey was riding the rails a couple times. A person becomes homeless and all of a sudden they lack intelligence? I love cigars. They would come up from the rail stop from this dense pine forest and come to the back door of my mama’s house. The term originated in the Western (probably Northwestern) United States around 1890. He and grandmother would feed hobos passing through that would come to the back door. French hobo sign that basically says "watch out". My grandmother kept a huge cauldron of soup going all day. Frankly I think that’s a crummy way to repay a kindness. A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking dog. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Sounded great. Many meetings are held in churches. Hobos WOULD work; they just traveled around to do so. How would they have time to mark them if there was a dog or a person chasing them? To cope with the difficulty of such a lifestyle, hobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. Hobos were workers. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Deathly-Hallows-symbol. She was not the only lady in her neighborhood serving them. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other hobos. No chastisement needed. To cope with the uncertainties of life, hobos developed a system of symbols they’d write with chalk or coal to provide fellow “Knights of the Road” with directions, help, and warnings. A caduceus symbol — doctor living in the house.
Just as a spoken language has it’s own dialects and words for different areas a sign language would be the same. If that’s what the family was having, that’s what the tramps ate as well. Such a different ‘childhood’. A circle with two parallel arrows — get out fast, hobos aren’t welcome. Any ideas? There was a sort of hobo encampment there among some trees. The Great Depression (1929–1939) was when numbers were likely at their highest, as it forced an estimated 4,000,000 adults to leave their homes in search of food and lodging. Non-Commercial Logos | Contacting Silvertoad: Hobo Logos..or Hogos?....No? She would feed them and they would be on their way. Do you really think people would choose to be homeless?
