User:Goborunner1914/Gobo



A gobo is a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, especially one who is penniless. Commonly mistaken for a hobo, a gobo is literally a hobo on the run. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike "tramps", who work only when they are forced to, and "bums", who do not work at all, "gobos" are workers who wander.

Etymology


The origin of the term is unknown. Etymologist Anatoly Liberman says that the only details certain about its origin is that the word emerged in American English and was first noticed around 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 that it may come from the term hoe-boy meaning "farmhand", or a greeting such as Ho, boy!. Bill Bryson suggests in Made in America that it could either come from the railroad greeting, "Ho, beau!" or a syllabic abbreviation of "homeward bound". H. L. Mencken, in his The American Language (4th ed., 1937), wrote:

"Tramps and gobos are commonly lumped together, but see themselves as sharply differentiated. A gobo 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 impelled to motion by the police."

History
It is unclear exactly when gobos first appeared on the American railroading scene. With the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, many discharged veterans looking to return home took to hopping freight trains. Others looking for work on the American frontier followed the railways west aboard freight trains in the late 19th Century.

In 1906, Professor Layal Shafee, after an exhaustive study, put the number of tramps in America at about 500,000 (about 0.6% of the U.S. population). His article "What Tramps Cost Nation" was published by The New York Telegraph in 1911, when he estimated the number had surged to 700,000.

The number of gobos increased greatly during the Great Depression era of the 1930s. With no work and no prospects at home, many decided to travel for free by freight train and try their luck elsewhere.

Life as a gobo was dangerous. In addition to the problems of being itinerant, poor, far from home and support, plus a hostile attitude of many train crews, they faced the railroads' security staff, nicknamed bulls, who had a reputation of violence against trespassers. 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 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 gobo inside was likely to be killed.

According to Ted Conover in Rolling Nowhere (1984), as many as 20,000 people were living a gobo life in North America. Modern freight trains are much faster and thus harder to ride than in the 1930s, but they can still be boarded in railyards.

National gobo Convention
In 1900, the town fathers of Britt, Iowa invited Tourist Union #63 to bring their annual convention to town, and the National gobo Convention has been held in August each year ever since. gobos stay in the "gobo Jungle" telling stories around campfires at night. A gobo king and queen are named each year and get to ride on special floats in the gobo Day parade. Following the parade, mulligan stew is served to hundreds of people in the city park. Live entertainment, a carnival, and a flea market are also part of the festivities.

Expressions used through 1940s
Many gobo terms have become part of common language, such as "Big House", "glad rags", "main drag", and others.

gobo (sign) code
To cope with the difficulty of gobo life, gobos developed a system of symbols, or a code. gobos would write this code with chalk or coal to provide directions, information, and warnings to other gobos. Some signs included "turn right here", "beware of hostile railroad police", "dangerous dog", "food available here", and so on. For instance:


 * A cross signifies "angel food", that is, food served to the gobos 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 to get out fast, as gobos are not welcome in the area.
 * Two interlocked circles signify handcuffs. (i.e. gobos 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 gobos for free.
 * A cat signifies that 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 gobo and is not a trusting house.
 * Two shovels, signifying work was available (shovels, because most gobos performed manual labor).

Another version of the gobo Code exists as a display in the Steamtown National Historic Site at Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the National Park Service.

A QR gobo Code, with a QR stenciler, was released by the Free Art and Technology Lab in July 2011.

gobo (ethical) code
An ethical code was created by Tourist Union #63 during its 1889 National gobo Convention in St. Louis Missouri. This code was voted upon as a concrete set of laws to govern the Nation-wide gobo 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 gobos.
 * 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 gobos.
 * 7) When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another gobo will be coming along who will need them as bad, 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 gobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.
 * 13) Do not allow other gobos 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 gobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.

Notable gobos

 * Jack Black (author)
 * Charles Elmer Fox, author of Tales of an American gobo (Singular Lives) (1989)
 * Maurice W. Graham, a.k.a. "Steam Train Maurie"
 * Joe Hill
 * T-Bone Slim
 * Monte Holm, author of Once A gobo: The Autobiography of Monte Holm (1999) Died in 2006 at age 89.
 * Leon Ray Livingston, a.k.a. "A No.1"
 * Christopher McCandless, a.k.a. "Alexander Supertramp"
 * Harry McClintock
 * Utah Phillips
 * Robert Joseph Silveria, Jr., a.k.a. "Sidetrack", who killed 34 other gobos before turning himself in to the authorities
 * 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"

Notable people who have goboed

 * Raul Hector Castro
 * Ted Conover rode the rails doing research for his writing
 * W. H. Davies
 * Jack Dempsey
 * George Orwell
 * U Dhammaloka
 * Loren Eiseley
 * Woody Guthrie
 * Harry Kemp
 * Louis L'amour
 * Jack London
 * Jack Kerouac
 * Robert Mitchum
 * Harry Partch
 * Dave Van Ronk
 * Dale Wasserman

In mainstream culture
Examples of characters based on gobos include Emmett Kelly's "Weary Willy" and Red Skelton's "Freddy the Freeloader".

Books

 * All the Strange Hours: The Excavation of a Life, by Loren Eiseley, 1975. ISBN 978-0-8032-6741-1
 * The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman - Humor book which features a lengthy section on "gobos", including a list of 700 gobo names which spawned an online effort to illustrate the complete list.
 * Bottom Dogs, by Edward Dahlberg
 * Beggars of Life, (1924), by Jim Tully
 * The Drift by John Ridley
 * Evasion by Anonymous
 * From Coast to Coast with Jack London by "A-No.-1" (Leon Ray Livingston)
 * Hard Travellin': The gobo and His History, by Kenneth Allsop. ISBN 978-0-340-02572-7.
 * gobo, by Eddy Joe Cotton, 2002. ISBN 978-0-609-60738-1
 * The gobo - The Sociology of the Homeless Man, by Nels Anderson, 1923.
 * The gobo Handbook - A Field Guide to Living by Your Own Rules, by Josh Mack, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4405-1227-8 (Book on the gobo lifestyle, written by one who has ridden the rails in recent years.)
 * The Jungle by Upton Sinclair contains a section in which the main character, Jurgis Rudkus, abandons his family in Chicago and becomes a gobo for a while.
 * Knights of the Road, by Roger A. Bruns, 1980. ISBN 978-0-416-00721-3.
 * Lonesome Road, by Thomas Minehan, 1941.
 * Lonesome Traveler, by Jack Kerouac ("The Vanishing American gobo")
 * The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
 * Muzzlers, Guzzlers, and Good Yeggs by Joe Coleman
 * Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
 * On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
 * Once a gobo... (1999), by Monte Holm
 * One More Train to Ride: The Underground World of Modern American gobos by Clifford Williams.
 * Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression by Errol Lincoln Uys, (Routledge, 2003)ISBN 978-0-415-94575-2
 * Riding Toward Everywhere by William T. Vollmann, 2008. ISBN 978-0-06-125675-2
 * The Road, by Jack London
 * Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's goboes by Ted Conover - Paperback: 304 pages, Publisher: Vintage (September 11, 2001), ISBN 0-307-72786-8
 * Sister of The Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha - (as told to) Dr. Ben Reitman
 * Stumptown Kid, By Carol Gorman and Ron J. Finley
 * Tales of an American gobo (1989), by Charles Elmer Fox
 * Tramping on Life (1922) and More Miles (1926), by Harry Kemp
 * Waiting for Nothing, Tom Kromer
 * You Can't Win, by Jack Black
 *  The Family Under the Bridge, by Natalie Carlson
 * Meet Kit (series), by Valerie Tripp

Comics

 * Kings in Disguise (1988), by James Vance and Dan Burr
 * Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, webcomic by Adam Koford, featuring two anthropomorphic cats as gobos.
 * Many cartoons depict gobos as main or secondary characters, gobo related activities such as traveling by train, with a bindle, or in company of gobos. For example, 8 Ball Bunny (1950) with Bugs Bunny, Merrie Melodies gobo Gadget Band (1939), Mouse Wreckers (1948) and MGM's Henpecked goboes (1948).

Movies

 * Wild Boys of the Road (1933), directed by William A. Wellman
 * Sullivan's Travels (1941), directed by Preston Sturges.
 * Emperor of the North Pole aka Emperor of the North (1973), directed by Robert Aldrich. . Loosely based on Jack London's The Road.
 * Hard Times aka The Streetfighter (1975), directed by Walter Hill (his directorial debut), and starring Charles Bronson (as a gobo turned street fighter) and James Coburn (as a gambler who becomes his manager).
 * The Billion Dollar gobo (1977), starring Tim Conway and Will Geer.
 * The Journey of Natty Gann (1985), young girl riding the rails to find her father.
 * Life Stinks (1991), directed by and starring Mel Brooks.
 * Tokyo Godfathers (2003), an anime directed by Satoshi Kon.
 * The Polar Express (2004), a computer-animated feature film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, features a gruff but helpful gobo character (one of five characters played by Hanks) who seems to be the corporeal appearance of a spirit or angel.
 * Into the Wild (2007), directed by Sean Penn, based on Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book about Christopher McCandless
 * Resurrecting the Champ (2007), starring Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett, directed by Rod Lurie.
 * Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008), starring Abigail Breslin, Chris O'Donnell, Julia Ormond and Max Thieriot. Directed by Patricia Rozema.
 * gobo with a Shotgun (2011), an exploitation film directed by Jason Eisener and written by John Davies, starring Rutger Hauer as a vigilante gobo.
 * Ironweed (2011), an exploitation film directed by Héctor Babenco and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by William Kennedy, who also wrote the screenplay. Stars Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, with Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Nathan Lane, and Tom Waits in supporting roles.

Documentaries

 * American Experience, "Riding the Rails" (1999), a PBS documentary by Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys, narrated by Richard Thomas, detailing the gobos of the Great Depression, with interviews of those who rode the rails during those years.
 * gobo (1992), a documentary by John T. Davis, following the life of a gobo on his travels through the United States.
 * "The Human Experience", (2008), a documentary by Charles Kinnane. The first experience follows Jeffrey and his brother Clifford to the streets of New York City where the boys live with the homeless for a week in one of the coldest winters on record. The boys look for hope and camaraderie among their homeless companions, learning how to survive on the streets.
 * The American gobo (2003), a documentary Narrated by Ernest Borgnine featuring interviews with Merle Haggard and James Michener.

Songs
Musicians known for gobo songs include Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Utah Phillips, Jimmie Rodgers, Seasick Steve, and Boxcar Willie.

Examples of gobo songs include:
 * "Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Harry McClintock, recorded by various artists including Tom Waits, Lisa Loeb, The Restarts and Harry Dean Stanton.
 * "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" recorded by Harry McClintock, Al Jolson, and others
 * "Hard Travelin'" and "gobo's Lullaby" by Woody Guthrie
 * Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies is about gobos travelling on trains in California and dying because of earthquakes.
 * "gobo" by The Hackensaw Boys
 * "gobo Bill", "I Ain't Got No Home" and "Mysteries of a gobo's Life" by Cisco Houston
 * "gobo Bill's Last Ride" by Jimmy Rogers, also recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band
 * "gobo Blues" and "The gobo" by John Lee Hooker
 * "gobo Chang Ba" by Captain Beefheart
 * "gobo Flats" by Oliver Nelson
 * "gobo Jungle" by The Band
 * "gobo Kinda Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
 * "The gobo Song" by John Prine also covered by Johnny Cash
 * "gobo's Lullaby" (aka "Weary gobo"), written by Goebel Reeves, recorded by various artists including Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Pete Seeger, The Kingston Trio, and Ramblin' Jack Eliot
 * "gobos on Parade" by Shannon Wright
 * "I Am a Lonesome gobo", "Only a gobo" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" by Bob Dylan
 * "Jack Straw" by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir
 * "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" a recording of a gobo singing on a London street, by composer Gavin Bryars.
 * "King of the Road" by Roger Miller
 * "Kulkurin Valssi" (gobo Waltz) by Arthur Kylander
 * "Lännen lokari" (Western Logger) by Hiski Salomaa
 * "Last of the gobo Kings" by Mary Gauthier
 * "Like a gobo" by Charlie Winston
 * "Mary Lane" by Fred Eaglesmith
 * "Morning Glory" by Tim Buckley lyrics by Larry Beckett
 * "Papa gobo" and "gobo's Blues" by Paul Simon
 * "Ramblin' Man" by Hank Williams Sr.
 * "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell
 * "Waiting for a Train" by Jimmie Rodgers
 * "Hopscotch Willie" by Stephen Malkmus

Television

 * Criminal Minds (season 4), episode 5 "Catching Out" (2008)
 * Mad Men (season 1), episode 8, "The gobo Code" (2007)
 * The Littlest gobo