Hobo Subculture Essay

Hobo subculture as one of the examples of prehistoric visual communication

Done by Kadirzhanova Bayan
F.Y. Applied Art
Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Fine Art

Introduction
Visual communication is communication through visual aid and is described as the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon. Visual communication in part or whole relies on vision, and is primarily presented or expressed with two dimensional images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, Industrial Design, Advertising, Animation colour and electronic resources. It also explores the idea that a visual message accompanying text has a greater power to inform, educate,
or persuade a person or audience.
Early humans first used simple pictures to communicate. These drawings could have been aids in hunting, a plea to the Gods for help, as well as a record of the animals killed in the hunt. Mesopotamian peoples began keeping records on tablets based on the ten fingers or decimal system using pictographs. Several hundred years later this evolved into cuneiform writing which represented the sounds of the object shown. This was passed on to the Egyptians and Phoenicians who each developed their own form of writing. The Egyptians based their writing on pictures which they called hieroglyphics. It wasn't until Champollion deciphered the Rosetta Stone in 1822 that the complexity of hieroglyphics were understood. With the development of papyrus, visual communication became portable, illustrated manuscripts were prepared as funerary texts to accompany the deceased to the afterlife. Design standards were the same regardless of whether the execution was done on stone, a wall of a temple or a papyrus scroll.
Prehistoric visual communications included everything from pictogramjs to ideographs. Ideographs were very important as they were symbols used to represent ideas or concepts. This demonstrates visual communication proficiency among prehistoric humans as they were able to communicate whole ideas through symbols, and this is also very important because it relates to the fundamentals of graphic design: being able to communicate in a visual way extremely effectively.
Visual communication in Hobo subculture
Today the hobo subculture is already forgotten; meanwhile the word usually refers to a bum. But in its origin the hobos were American nomads in the beginning of the XX century, who travelled in a search of a good life and a job in America during the Great Depression era of the 1930s. They were taking any job opportunity and never stayed long at one place. Usually they had to leave their houses only because of the shortage of the job in the region where they stayed. In other words, hobos were just the travellers, mostly good workers, but not lazy bums at all.
The origin of the term is unknown. It is unclear exactly when hobos first appeared on the American railroading scene. With the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, many discharged veterans returning home began hopping freight trains.
Life as a hobo was dangerous. In addition to the problems of being itinerant, poor, and far from home and support, plus the hostility of many train crews, they faced the railroads' security staff, nicknamed bulls, who had a reputation of violence against trespassers. Moreover, riding on a freight train is dangerous in itself. British poet W.H. Davies, author of The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp, lost a foot when he fell under the wheels when trying to jump aboard a train. It was easy to be trapped between cars, and one could freeze to death in bad weather. When freezer cars were loaded at an ice factory, any hobo inside was likely to be killed.
Nowadays, nobody can count the amount of left hobos if they still are.
The main reason is the trucks. Trucks were the part of their lives, as they were travelling on it. But now with the developing of the transportation infrastructure, almost no one can cross the border of the city for free.
As any subculture, hobos had their own ethical code and own system of symbols. In spite of the fact that it might be seen very romantic and prosaic, their lives were full of danger. They developed a secret language, visual code to cope with the uncertainties of hobo life. Hobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to others in "the brotherhood".
The whole language contained simple symbols. So, no one from the outside could read it. For example, the curve line in a circle meant that somewhere nearby is the prison or a court.
A symbol would indicate "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on. Some commonly-used signs:
A cross signifies "angel food", that is, food served to the hobos after a sermon.
A triangle with hands signifies that the homeowner has a gun.
A horizontal zigzag signifies a barking
dog.
A square missing its top line signifies it is safe to camp in that location.
A top hat and a triangle signify wealth.
A spearhead signifies a warning to defend oneself.
A circle with two parallel arrows means get out fast, as hobos are not welcome in the area.
Two interlocked circles signify handcuffs (i.e. hobos are hauled off to jail).
A caduceus symbol signifies the house has a doctor living in it.
A cross with a smiley face in one of the corners means the doctor at this office will treat hobos free of charge.
A cat signifies a kind lady lives here.
A wavy line (signifying water) above an X means fresh water and a campsite.
Three diagonal lines mean it's not a safe place.
A square with a slanted roof (signifying a house) with an X through it means that the house has already been "burned" or "tricked" by another hobo and is not a trusting house.
Two shovels signify that work was available (shovels, because most hobos performed manual labor).
Another version of the hobo code exists as a display in the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the National Park Service. There is an exhibit of hobo codes at the National Cryptologic Museum in Annapolis Junction, Maryland.
The Free Art and Technology Lab released a QR Hobo Code, with a QR stenciler, in July 2011.
Ethical code
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:
1. Decide your own life, don't let another person run or rule you.
2. When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all
times.
3. Don't take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.
4. 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.
5. When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.
6. Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals' treatment of other hobos.
7. 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.
8. Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.
9. If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.
10. Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.
11. 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.
12. Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
13. Do not allow other hobos to molest children, expose all molesters to authorities, they are the worst garbage to infest any society.
14. Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.
15. Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.
16. If present at a hobo court and you have testimony, give it. Whether for or against the accused, your voice counts!
Influence on popular culture
Passion for the romantic image of hobo can be seen in pop culture starting from 1930. Perhaps they rooted in American culture love to roads and endless trips around the country. However, it is also clear that their way of life was not favorable to the State Government, because it avoids taxes. Therefore it is often portrayed hobo as a carefree thief.
In the movie "Hallelujah, I'm lazy", 1930 Hobo appears to us minded dolt, hunted petty theft. Similarly, it happens in the movie "Emperor of the North" in 1973.
But it's all just exceptions. Most of the representatives of pop culture perceive hobo at least as a mystical prophet. 30 years after the Great Depression, Jack Kerouac elaborately described the life of the road.
Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men" - another example of American classics, which describes the lives of two migrated workers, hobos.