View Hobo Graffiti History Images. They included coded symbols that were supposedly drawn on fence posts and houses to convey simple messages to tramps. Daniel therefore submerges himself into hobo subculture, riding the rails with a variety of hoboes in the hope of uncovering the man behind the symbol.
The symbols were chalked or carved into conspicuous places along railroad tracks and indicated good routes, work and food prospects and dangers ahead.
The symbols were chalked or carved into conspicuous places along railroad tracks and indicated good routes, work and food prospects and dangers ahead. The graffiti here was preserved after the los angeles river was lowered. Today, the word hobo is often used interchangeably with bum or drifter, but hobos were a very specific type of homeless traveler. What we know about hobo graffiti comes from hobos — a group that took pride in embellishing stories.