Oh, and I'll be ridin' the rails travelling for much of the next four days, so you'll all still have plenty of chances to mock me while I'm away.
Of course, it was even more difficult to be a hobo in mid-nineteenth century England, when the Poor Law Unions' Gazette published notices of, and rewards for the return of, men who had deserted their wives and children, whose maintenance was now chargeable upon the parish. If you were a man with a "full face," a "fresh complexion," and a "crooked finger," who "sometimes [travelled] with a basket, selling clothes-lines, brushes, sponges, &c.," you can believe they would totally find you.
It may have been LB who told me about this book in the first place, but I feel like no thread should discuss hobos without mentioning Jack London's book about being a hobo. This is the part that did me in.
Is there a taxonomy of rootless types, from Odysseus to Lonesome Rhodes to Taran Wanderer? If so, what is/are the axes of position? Cleanliness? Wanderlust? Propensity to serial murder?
That article on McCollum is long, but a great read.
What post, lo whatever many years ago?
Knew a hobo, once. Rode him some rails and everything. He was a nice guy. Not that interesting, though.
McCollum has a relatively extensive Wikipedia entry where you can get a few updates. Basically, more of the same including, On August 31, 2010, McCollum was arrested for the 27th time and charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property in connection with the theft of a private bus from a Trailways terminal in Hoboken, N.J (he drove it around "JFK Airport and Jamaica, NY."
Between the hobos, the trainspotters and photographers, and the maniacal model railroad buffs; the railroads must certainly have the largest amateur to professional enthusiasm of any economic endeavor.
10: In sheer numbers of impassioned amateurs, surely; but on the other hand I think the enthusiasm of many of the professionals is likewise quite high.
What post, lo whatever many years ago?
(RTFA.)
12: NO THANK YOU. AND STOP CALLING ME SHIRLEY.
Depends whether you consider the military to be an economic endeavour, Professor Chomsky.
In which a posting with links to an article suggested by someone I had a conversation with the other night reminds me of something I referenced but couldn't remember the details of in that conversation and, having googeln, I post them here instead of disclosing them directly to my erstwhile conversational partner: Ted Conover's Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America's Hoboes is the book where the guy (as you can see) rides the rails with America's hobo(e?!)s.
Which probably came up last time this was discussed but I didn't live here, so to speak, at that time. Bonus track: he also wrote a book about being a guard at Sing Sing.
15,12: Yeah, military did occur to me. Sex didn't, though.
16.last: being a guard at Sing Sing.
Maybe he met McCollum there.
16: I heard him interviewed about his book on Sing, Sing on Chris Lydon's call-in radio show The Connection several years ago. A lot of people criticized Lydon for being too pompous, and he certainly did talk over his guest some time, but this was much better than Terry Gross's interview, because Lydon had actually taught in a prison program.
19: In general, I avoid spending major amounts of time thinking about what I'm thinking about . However, examination of my private thoughts reveals there is a kernel of truth in your assertion.
15,12: Yeah, military did occur to me. Sex didn't, though.
I thought you had at least one kid?
22: Sex didn't occur to me, I occurred to sex.
