The first anthology of its kind, On the Fly! brings forth the lost voices of Hobohemia. Dozens of stories, poems, songs, stories, and articles produced by hoboes are brought together to create an insider history of the subculture’s rise and fall. Adrenaline-charged tales of train hopping, scams, and political agitation are combined with humorous and satirical songs, razor sharp reportage and unique insights into the lives of the women and men who crisscrossed America in search of survival and adventure. From iconic figures such as labor martyr Joe Hill and socialist novelist Jack London through to pioneering blues and country musicians, and little-known correspondents for the likes of the Hobo News , the authors and songwriters contained in On the Fly! run the full gamut of Hobohemia’s wide cultural and geographical embrace. With little of the original memoirs, literature, and verse remaining in print, this collection, aided by a glossary of hobo vernacular and numerous illustrations and photos, provides a comprehensive and entertaining guide to the life and times of a uniquely American icon. Read on to enter a world where hoboes, tramps, radicals, and bums gather in jungles, flop houses, and boxcars; where gandy dancers, bindlestiffs, and timber beasts roam the rails once more. “This book is a tantalizing boxcar ride back through the history of the hobo, all told from the hobo’s point of view. What more could anyone ask?” —Paul Garon, coeditor of What’s the Use of Walking If There’s a Freight Train Going Your Way? Black Hoboes & Their Songs and author of Blues and the Poetic Spirit “ On the Fly! gathers and reassembles forgotten fragments of a lost counterculture that was once so vast it practically defined the working-class experience in the United States. Its call was so alluring to young men of all classes that the hobo became the most commonly depicted character in American popular culture between 1900 and 1920. This collection represents the view from within, the stories and perspectives of those who lived the life of The Road, carrying its burdens and glorying in its freedoms. On the Fly! is indispensable for understanding not only the hobo life but also the on-the-ground history of our urban industrial order.” —Todd DePastino, author of Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America “A wonderful and definitive collection of hobo prose, poetry, and song. Iain McIntyre has painstakingly collected a rich array of hobo writing that together speaks to the rich and varied lives these itinerant travellers inhabited along the iron highway.” —John Lennon, author of Boxcar Politics: The Hobo in U.S. Culture and Literature, 1869–1956 “ On the Fly! is a brilliant introduction to the subject, and more than that, a moving tribute to the creativity of men and women at the margins of society.” —Paul Buhle, coeditor of Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World “ On the Fly! is a wide-ranging, fascinating collection of primary sources about homelessness from the era that defined the rise and, in the 1930s, the crisis of industrial society in the U.S. Well-known writers like Jack London, Jim Tully, and Tom Kromer are represented, but what sets this volume apart from many studies is its emphasis on first-person views of the experiences of the homeless themselves. This is social history at its best.” —Kenneth L. Kusmer, professor of history at Temple University, author of Down and Out, on the Road: The Homeless in American History Iain McIntyre is a Melbourne-based author, musician, and community radio broadcaster who has written a variety of books on activism, history, and music. Previous publications include Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture from the 1950 to 1980 (PM Press, 2017), How to Make Trouble and Influence People: Pranks, Protest, Graffiti and Political Mischief-Making from Across Australia (PM Press, 2013), Wild About You: The Sixties Beat Explosion in Australia and New Zealand (Verse Chorus Press, 2010), and Tomorrow Is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic Era, 1966–70 (Wakefield Press, 2006). On the Fly! Hobo Literature and Songs, 1879–1941 By Iain McIntyre PM Press Copyright © 2018 PM Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62963-518-7 CHAPTER 1 A Tight Squeeze William Staats Although hobo life and lore were to change greatly over the next fifty or sixty years, one thing remained central: the excitement, hardship, and danger involved in hopping a train. By May 1869, the First Intercontinental Railway, linking the San Francisco Bay to the Missouri River, was completed and within four decades an extensive network, including 1,312 separate railroads, would allow travelers, paying or otherwise, to easily cross the country. Over time technological standardization, the increasing length of trains, and the large number of former railway workers forced out of work encouraged and facilitated