Rachel and I spent a whirlwind 24 hours at the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa, this last weekend. While the aroma of hundreds of gallons of mulligan stew (delicious) wafted through Britt, the week-long festival came to a head on Saturday with the coronation of this year’s Hobo King and Queen, Uncle Freddy and Minneapolis Jewel. Throughout it all, we met some of the most well-known hobos of the past few decades and learned quite a bit about this often maligned and misunderstood people and culture. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Iowa
10 Things I Learned at the National Hobo Convention
Filed under art, Boards, Crib Notes, Cribbage, Cribbage 'Round the World, Interviews
Fishbones Stevens & The National Hobo Convention

Beneath the emblem of the Hobo Convention are symbols for a draw pin and link coupler, fixtures that tied early railcars together.
Sometimes a hobo writes a verse
Oft’ times he makes it rhyme,
In boxcar jargon poetry
He spends his precious time.
–Hobo Bill
This weekend, I’ll be traveling south to the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa. I won’t be ridin’ the “high iron” of the trans-American railways as the storied hobos of the past were accustomed to, but I hope to learn about life on the road nonetheless.
Filed under Boards, Cribbage, Cribbage 'Round the World, Interviews





