hoboes
Itinerant freight riders
Hoboes is the plural of hobo—a migrant worker or homeless wanderer, especially one who travels by freight train.
The word evokes early 20th-century America, when economic hardship drove people to ride the rails in search of work: Hoboes gathered in camps near the rail yard.
Unlike tramps or bums, hoboes were traditionally distinguished by their willingness to work.
Homeless, aimless wanderer
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
- wandererRootless, roving person
- trampWandering homeless person
- vagrantHomeless itinerant person
nomad · itinerant · migrant · transient · floater · rover · rambler · wayfarer
Goods being transported
- boxcarEnclosed rail freight carrier
- railyardTrain staging facility
- train hoppingRiding trains illegally
- switchyardRail sorting facility
gondola · flatcar · railroad · bull · hotshot · manifest · riding the rails · jungle
1930s global economic crisis
- Dust BowlThirties prairie ecological collapse
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- breadlineQueue for free food
- soup kitchenFacility feeding the poor
shantytown · Hooverville · migrant worker · Grapes of Wrath · Woody Guthrie · relief · New Deal · mulligan stew
Wanderer's tied bundle
- symbolsMarks conveying meaning
- chalk marksPowdery drawn lines
- monikerInformal designation for someone
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
Britt · steam train · folklore · bo · profanity · knights of the road · yegg
Outdoor fire for gathering
- mulligan stewMeat and vegetable hodgepodge
- jungle campTemporary forest dwelling
- bedrollRolled portable bedding
- blanketSoft bed covering
foraging · panhandling · day work · odd jobs · handout · back door · begging · scrounging
vagabond
Homeless, aimless wanderer
vagrant · nomad · itinerant · migrant · transient · floater · rover · rambler · wayfarer · journeyman
freight
Goods being transported
- boxcarEnclosed rail freight carrier
- railyardTrain staging facility
- train hoppingRiding trains illegally
switchyard · gondola · flatcar · railroad · bull · hotshot · manifest · riding the rails · jungle · highball
Great Depression
1930s global economic crisis
- Dust BowlThirties prairie ecological collapse
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- breadlineQueue for free food
soup kitchen · shantytown · Hooverville · migrant worker · Grapes of Wrath · Woody Guthrie · relief · New Deal · mulligan stew · panhandling
bindle
Wanderer's tied bundle
- symbolsMarks conveying meaning
- chalk marksPowdery drawn lines
- monikerInformal designation for someone
storytelling · Britt · steam train · folklore · bo · profanity · knights of the road · yegg
campfire
Outdoor fire for gathering
- mulligan stewMeat and vegetable hodgepodge
- jungle campTemporary forest dwelling
- bedrollRolled portable bedding
blanket · foraging · panhandling · day work · odd jobs · handout · back door · begging · scrounging · resourcefulness
hoboeshomeowners
Property-possessing residents
householders · homebodies · permanent residents · locals · settlers
hoboesaristocrats
Hereditary ruling class
millionaires · tycoons · captains of industry · landed aristocracy · plutocrats
hoboescompany men
Employees devoted to employer
white-collar workers · salaried employees · nine-to-fivers · corporate executives · office workers
- hobo bagCrescent-shaped soft purse
- hobo stewTransient's improvised potage
- boxcar hobo
- hobo clownComedic vagrant character type
- hobo stoveCan converted for cooking
- hobo jungleHomeless encampment near railways