Done and Been: Steel Rail Chronicles of American Hobos

By Gypsy Moon, Gypsy, Gyspy Moon

Book Overview

Hobos are part of the history of railroading in America. Committed to the work ethic, but also restless and eager for adventure, these knights of the iron rails developed a lifestyle and a community based on their search for work and their love of adventure. Jacqueline Schmidt, who was later elected a Queen of the Hobos, has collected their stories in this fascinating volume. She has also teamed up with modern-day hobos to ride the rails in search of adventure and self-knowledge. Her book gives us a history of hobos, a collection of fascinating stories, an account of what it is like for a middle-class woman to take to the dangerous pastime of hoboing, and a delicious collection of hobo recipes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253210356
• ISBN13: 9780253210357
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Just in time.

This author, who was twice elected "Queen of the Hoboes", captured pieces of this unique American phenomenon just before it faded into history. I had the good fortune to meet her in the mountains of Mexico, where she traveled with my group for a few days. Afterward, she wrote a wonderful summary of our trip, which I hope she publishes someday. I lost touch with her as she continued her odyssey through life. The last I heard she was building a hospital in remote Belize. It is an entertaining read by an intriguing author. I wish I could find more of her writing.

A great piece of work by a great lady

I'm proud to call Gypsy Moon my friend, and the book she has written should be read by anyone who has always wondered what it was like to be a hobo. She knows first hand. The recipes in the book are just the way the hobos cook them. A great read. Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour

THIS STORY TELLING LADY IS A TRAMP<p>

"If you ever see a shooting star cross the path of the moon, it becomes a gypsy moon. Every time you see it after that, you want to wander." Those words, spoken to Jacqueline K.Schmidt by an old-time hobo, help to explain why Schmidt, a former executive director of the Indiana Transportation Museum, became a tramp known among her fellow hoboes as "Gyspy Moon." That's a good enough explanation for me. I know what wanderlust feels like. There are thousands of people like me for whom freight hopping is a classic American adventure. When Schmidt was a child, her father used to tuck her in with bedtime songs and stories from his own rail wanderings so it's not surprising that she became one of us. It's rare to encounter a female who hops freights. It's even more unusual to find a grown woman doing it for adventure. But what's most remarkable about Gypsy Moon is her prowess as a tramp storyteller. She reveals glimpses of that prowess early in the book as she describes her first ride, but most of this interesting volume is devoted to straightforward interviews in which veteran 'bos like "Cardboard," "Steamtrain Maury," and "Fry Pan Jack," relate their own rail riding adventures, dating back to the great depression or earlier. In this section, Schmidt gets out of the way and lets her subjects do the talking. The result is a valuable piece of American history -- a glimpse into a way of life that's "done and been." But it's only toward the end of the book, when Gyspy begins sharing her own adventures and misadventures, that her prose takes off like a fast rattler through the American grain. Her soaring spirit and wry humor carry the reader down the main line, as she and the Collinwood Kid dodge bulls, get sidetracked, and interact with other travelers. Gypsy Moon, whose fellow knights of the road elected her a National Queen of the Hobos in 1990, has earned a place in my bookshelf next to my other favorite road authors -- William Least Heat Moon and the two Jacks (London and Kerouac). Keep those eyes on the stars, Gypsy. -- Reviewed by Robert F. Baldwin