Hobohemia
Hobohemia is a low rent district in a city where artistic bohemians and the down-and-outs or hobos mix. In Chicago from the turn of the century to circa 1940s this was Tower Town and the area often known as "The West Madison Stem"[1] (Madison Street west of downtown) which was known as "skid road" and home to thousands of transient men and women, and Ben Reitman's Hobo College.[2] In New York City it was the neighbourhood of the Bowery, and Greenwich Village.[3] It was the title of a short story by Sinclair Lewis originally published in The Saturday Evening Post, which Lewis subsequently reworked into a three act comedy which was first performed at the Greenwich Village Theatre in 1919.[4]
In reference to hobohemia culture, the distinction was made "A hobo works and wanders, a tramp dreams and wanders, and a bum drinks and doesn't wander."[5] This was often credited to Dr. Ben Reitman but the original author of the quote is controversial and usually accredited to "unknown" or anonymous.
A reference appears in the Rodgers and Hart song The Lady is a Tramp: "My Hobohemia is the place to be."[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Hobohemia West Madison Street". University of Illinois Chicago.
- ^ Gershon, Livia (May 16, 2019). "The Hobo College of Hobohemia". JSTOR Daily.
- ^ a b Irving Lewis Allen (1995-02-23). The City in Slang. ISBN 9780195357769.
- ^ John Corbin (1919). "Drama". New York Times.
- ^ "Hobo, Tramp or Bum?". Randy & Joyce Meyer.
Further reading
- Beck, Frank O. (1956). Hobohemia. Richard R. Smith.