Which
Logo Do YOU Like ?
Form
at bottom of this page !
New Hobo Logo
The Suggestions on this
site are only that - suggestions. Listed as they come in. Each page links
you to the next page.
A meeting of the Hobo
Family will be held to discuss and determine our NEW Symbol of what the
hobo has meant to our nation over the past 100 years and to modern hobos
as well. Your comments are welcome.
IF YOU WANT TO SEE ALL
LOGOS LISTED:
> GO
TO THIS PAGE <
http://www.oocities.org/hobotramp/HoboLogosSelect.html
OR
Take
the Tour
http://www.oocities.org/hobotramp/HoboLogo1.html
Friends of Hobos, you may leave comments in our Forum
Hobo Logo
The Britt hobo logo was first used in the 1900
convention announcements and advertising.
The figure used in the ad has been changed very
little over the years and is now found around town on school letterheads,
the city's watertower, on the highway welcome sign, as well as on restaurant
menus.
The "Britt hobo" is thought to be Tourist Union 63 President Onion Cotton. Onion Cotton is the hobo who agreed to bring the convention to Britt in 1900.
A heavy coat was home for this 1900 hobo and the only way to keep under garments clean.
A bindle stick and personalized head gear are appropriate for the logo hobo and are typical of the 1990 hobos. Hobos over the years have been known on sight by their hats and walking sticks.
Tied to the bindle stick is a grub box and a tomato can. The hobo carries a tube in his other hand, most likely this is a rolled up convention announcement. Some reproductions over the years have turned the tube into a beer can, but it is unlikely that the 1900 hobo carried a beer, as beer in cans weren't yet manufactured.
The symbols under the Britt Hobo are a draw pin and a link coupler, the fixtures used to hook early railroad cars together. They are symbolic of the Tourist Union and of the Britt conventions - a linking up, forming a union, a coming together.
Hobos had their own symbol code to communicate with one another. The symbols were used to point out good camp sites, good water sources, a kind person, travel directions or the authorities.
The Britt Hobo
Whatta'
ya think ?
This friendship with Hobos began with the aspirations
of three Britt men, Thomas A. Way, T.A. Potter, and W.E. Bradford, in 1900.
Their desire was to gain some attention for the small
Iowa town to "do something different to show
the world that Britt was a lively little town capable of doing anything
that larger cities could do."
Way and Potter read a report in the Chicago paper that Tourists Union No. 63 had elected as officers Onion Cotton, of Danville, Illinois and Grand Head Pipe Charles F. Noe, of Sycamore, Illinois. They wrote to Noe and invited him to bring the Hobo Convention to Britt in 1900. Noe wrote them that he would come out to Britt and look the ground over, providing Way and Potter would defray his carfare and expenses. They agreed.
It was an autumn day in 1899 that Noe arrived at the Milwaukee depot and was met by Way and Potter. They wined and dined the Grand Head Pipe, then called in an attorney, W.E. Bradford, to guide the proceedings and see that they were legal. They also invited Phil Reed, a newspaper man connected with the Britt News. The four men must have guaranteed athta the Hobo Convention would go over big in Britt, for Noe agreed to bring the convention to Britt in 1900 and the 22nd day of August was set as the date.
Bailey of Britt, a nationally known humorist
and an ardent conventioneer, assumed the publicity end of the promotion,
and various other men took responsible positions on the
committees. The novelty of the convention
appealed to newspaper reporters everywhere, and everyone talked it up,
taking the matter as a joke - except the promoters.
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Check
Out Hobos of America & Tourist Union #63 History
Hobo Kings and Queens
http://www.oocities.org/hobotramp/HoboLogosAbout.html
(Britt)
1900
Charles Noe
1933-35
Hairbreadth Harry
1936
Scoop Shovel Scotty
1937
King David II
1940-45
Hobo Ben Benson
1946
Skeet Simmons
QUEEN Polly Ellen Pep
1947
Hiway Johnny Weaver
QUEEN Polly Ellen Pep
1948
Hobo Ben Benson
QUEEN Polly Ellen Pep
1949
Cannonball Eddie
QUEEN Box Car Myrtle
1950
Hobo Ben Benson
QUEEN Box Car Myrtle
1951
Cannonball Eddie
QUEEN Sylvia Davis
1952
Scoop Shovel Scotty
QUEEN Sylvia Davis
1953
Hobo Ben Benson
QUEEN Sylvia Davis
1954
Scoop Shovel Scotty
QUEEN Box Car Betty Link
1955
Scoop Shovel Scotty
QUEEN Box Car Betty Link
1956
Hobo Ben Benson
1957
Scoop Shovel Scotty
1958
Arizona Bill
QUEEN Box Car Betty Link
1959
Scoop Shovel Scotty
QUEEN Box Car Betty Link
1960
King David I
1961
King David I
1962
Scoop Shovel Scotty
1963
Pennsylvania Kid Wilson
1964
Beef Steak Charlie
1965
Hardrock Kid
1966
Pennsylvania Kid
1967
Hardrock Kid
1968
Pennsylvania Kid
1969
Slow Motion Shorty
QUEEN Box Car Myrtle
1970
Hardrock Kid
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1971
Pennsylvania Kid
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1972
Hardrock Kid
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1973
Steamtrain Maury
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1974
Slow Motion Shorty
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1975
Hardrock Kid
QUEEN Adventurer Jan
1976
Steamtrain Maury
QUEEN LuAnn Uhden
1977
Sparky Smith
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1978
Steamtrain Maury
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1979
Steamtrain Maury
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1980
Sparky Smith
QUEEN Cinderbox Cindy
1981
Steamtrain Maury
QUEEN Hobo Lump
1982
Hobo Bill Mainer
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1983
Mountain Dew
QUEEN Hobo Lump
1984
Fry Pan Jack
QUEEN Slo Freight Ben
1985
Frisco Jack
QUEEN Longlooker Mic
1986
Ramblin' Rudy
QUEEN Minneapolis Jewel
1987
Alabama Hobo
QUEEN Hobo Lump
1988
Fishbones
QUEEN Would-be-hobo
1989
El Paso Kid
QUEEN Slo Freight Ben
1990
Songbird McCue
QUEEN Gypsy Moon
1991
Ohio Ned
QUEEN Minneapolis Jewel
1992
Roadhog, USA
QUEEN Connecticut Shorty
1993
Iowa Blackie
QUEEN Blue Moon
1994
Sidedoor Pullman Kid
QUEEN New York Maggie
1995
Luther the Jet Gette
QUEEN Cinderbox Cindy
1996
Liberty Justice
QUEEN Come On Pat
1997
Frog
QUEEN Minneapolis Jewel
1998
New York Slim
QUEEN Cinders
1999
Preacher Steve
QUEEN Slo Freight Ben
2000
Bo Grump
QUEEN Mad Mary
2001
Grandpa
Dudley
QUEEN DeRail
2002 KING
& QUEEN TO BE ELECTED IN AUGUST, 2002