''Hobo News'', alternately ''"Hobo" News'', was an early 20th-century newspaper for homeless

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

s ( hobos). It was published in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

by the

International Brotherhood Welfare Association The International Brotherhood Welfare Association (IBWA) was a mutual aid society for hobos founded in 1905–1906. It was the second largest after the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It was started by James Eads How who had inherited a for ...

(IBWA) and its founder

James Eads How James Eads How (1874 - 1930) was an American organizer of the hobo community in the early 20th century. He was heir of a wealthy St. Louis family but chose to live as a hobo and to help the homeless migrant workers. The newspapers often referred ...

. ''Hobo News'' was important for legitimatizing the hobo identity and has been credited as a predecessor to the modern street newspaper movement.

Original newspaper

''Hobo News'' was published monthly with 16 pages and no advertisements, and was distributed by street sellers for five cents in

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

areas. A subscription was 50 cents annually. In 1919, it was raised to ten cents per issue or one dollar per year. At its height, ''Hobo News'' reached a circulation of 20,000. The newspaper's slogan, "Of the hoboes, by the hoboes and for the hoboes", and reader submissions formed a significant part of the paper. Content included poems, essays, travelogues, and articles about the life and lore of hobos, as well as news about labor organizing and unemployment. Recurring writers included John X. Kelly, Nicholas Klein, and William Schweitzer. More famous were Nina van Zandt Spies (widow of August Spies),

Voltairine de Cleyre Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866 – June 20, 1912) was an American anarchist known for being a prolific writer and speaker who opposed capitalism, marriage and the state as well as the domination of religion over sexuality and women's li ...

, and

Eugene Debs Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

. Future comic book legend John Buscema contributed some artwork. It was mostly read by the hobos themselves but sometimes sold to the public as a way for the homeless to make money without begging, much like a modern street paper. ''Hobo News'' went by several names over the years. It was founded in 1913 as ''Hoboes Jungle Scout'' then adopted the name ''Hobo News'' from 1915 to at least 1929. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the U.S. government attacks on the radical

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

many IWW supporters (

Wobblies The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

) joined the IBWA, and ''Hobo News'' became more radical and socialist. This caused trouble with the government, and the paper lost its second-class mailing privileges. There was an internal rift, and eventually ''Hobo World'' was started as a radical competitor. Accounts of the relations between the two vary, describing ''Hobo World'' as either a "competitor" to ''Hobo News'', a different name for the same paper, or a replacement for it. Much of ''Hobo News'' was never archived. The New York Public Library has 19 issues ending in 1923. The St. Louis Public Library has 63 issues, starting with volume I, number I (April 1915). It is unclear what became of the newspaper after How died in 1930.

Second newspaper: ''The Hobo News''

A second paper named ''Hobo News'' was published from 1936 to 1948 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

; The paper was brought back into existence through financing arranged by Garry A. Stolzberg, a banker with the Modern Industrial Bank in New York City. Its highest circulation was 50,000, and it was published by Ben "Coast Kid" (Hobo) Benson and under the direction of Pat "The Roaming Dreamer" Mulkern. It contained advice for hobos, opinion pieces, cartoons, etc., and was sold for ten cents on street corners. When it went under in 1948 it was replaced by ''Bowery News'' (named after the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. ...

area in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

), but that paper was short-lived.

References

External links

*
"Hobo" News Digital Collection
a
St. Louis Public Library
{{Authority control Defunct newspapers published in Missouri Defunct newspapers published in Ohio Hoboes Publications established in 1913 Street newspapers 1913 establishments in Missouri

Original newspaper

Second newspaper: ''The Hobo News''

See also

References

External links