Last week my husband and I watched a movie that took place during the great depression of the 1930's in the United States. In the movie there were several hobo's. The hobo's used a very unique way to communicate. It was called the hobo sign language. I thought this was very fascinating and I wanted to see if these were true facts. So I did a little research and this is the true history behind the language.
During times of economic hardship, people turn to the road to see if they can make their luck somewhere else. As such, back in the days of the Great Depression, the U.S. saw an increase in the hobo population. Walking along long roads or hitching rides on trains, these hobos would travel about, looking for a place where they could get lucky and find a better home. Of course, such a life of wanderlust was difficult, especially since one has to travel without knowing anything of the landscape or local populace.
To combat this ignorance, the hobos came up with an ingenious sign language to communicate to each other along the way. This is not like the sign language that hearing-impaired people use to communicate; rather, it was markings and drawings that hobos would leave along the road for their fellow travelers. The research that I've come across states that the hobo code is still used today.
These are 13 plus hobo signs that I wanted to share.
