![]() ![]() Hobo Cat image from National Cytological Museum exhibit courtesy ideonexus. During the period of the Great American Depression, hobos created a system of symbols to communicate and assist fellow travelers. Looking for a sign: Hobo Communication in the Depression, NSA Cryptologic Museum virtual tour Hobos, Clarendon Hills Historical Society The symbol of the cat must have given comfort to the hobo who encountered it the way that the cats who live in our homes comfort us today. One of the symbols in the hobo code is a cat, which meant that a kind woman lives here. A symbol would be left on a tree, fence post, or mailbox post to provide information about the people who lived there. Hobos scrawled the secret language with whatever writing implements were availablea lump. To help each other know whether the town they were entering was hospitable or contained hazards, the hobos created pictographs that they would write with chalk or coal to warm each other of potential dangers or points of interest nearby. Hobo signs are symbols that hoboes used to provide direction for others on the road. These symbols, really hieroglyphs, appeared on posts and bridge abutments, on fences and outbuildings. ![]() There’s a team of archaeologists exploring a hobo jungle at a dig in rural Pennsylvania. It was a dangerous way to live, with hostile railroad guards, fast-moving trains, and inhospitable local residents who didn’t trust the hobos who passed through. After 9/11 it becomes so hard to hop a freight that only a few hardcore hobos remain. Inspired by hobo symbols, the warchalking marks were conceived by a group of friends in June 2002 and publicised by Matt Jones who designed the set of icons and produced a downloadable document containing them. Some of these symbols became the basis for the hobo symbols that flourished in North American starting in the late 19 th century and through the Depression. They caught free rides on freight trains to get from place to place as they traveled across the United States. Warchalking is the drawing of symbols in public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi network. Hobos were migratory workers, traveling from place to place in search of menial work on farms, factories, or for individuals. ![]() Did you know that hobos used the symbol of the cat? Displaying all worksheets related to - Hobo Symbols. ![]()
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