USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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.

Detailed explanation-2: -Though not called hobos, but frequently referred to merely as tramps, men had long been traveling around picking up work. Most modern hobos, however, trace their lineage to the building of the railroads and the end of the Civil War.

Detailed explanation-3: -“In the old days when most of the boys were working in the agricultural section of the West, they were referred to as just ‘boys. ‘ Then, to distinguish them from other workers, the name of one of their tools, the hoe, was applied to them and they became ‘hoe-boys. ‘ From that it was only one step to ‘hoboes.

Detailed explanation-4: -hobo (plural hobos or hoboes) (Canada, US) A wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum. (Canada, US) Any migratory laborer, whether homeless or not.