To find the origins of the American hobo, you have to go back to the late 1860s, a time of upheaval in the United States. The Civil War (1861-1865) laid the country to waste, ripping apart families and destroying towns. After the war, soldiers on both sides often discovered they had no home to return to, and no job.

What were hobos in the 1930s?

During the Great Depression, millions of unemployed men became “hobos,” homeless vagrants who wandered in search of work. Once-proud men, the hobos rode the rails or hitchhiked their way across America, in search of jobs and a better life.

What is a female hobo called?

bo-ette - a female hobo.