A hobo quilt is a bed spread designed and made out of signs established in the '30s for hobo's to converse with one another. Many times when designing and building quilts, the left over fabrics are placed into a pile or bin and stored for future use.
These conglomerations of unused patterns or material is then gone through and various prints are gathered and a symbol is added to form what is know as a Hobo Sign.
These patterns are then placed in such a way as to form a quilt. These quilts are known as Hobo Quilts.
| 1. Main Street good for begging. | 16. Cranky Woman or bad Dog. |
| 2. Rock Pile in connection with Jail. | 17. People do not give. |
| 3. Saloons in Town. | 18. Bad Man lives here. |
| 4. Prohibition Town. | 19. Negro section good for Hoboes. |
| 5. Police are Hostile. Look out. | 20. Cooties in Jail. |
| 6. Police not Hostile to Tramps. | 21. Good clean Jail. |
| 7. Police Hostile to Tramps. | 22. Jail good but prisoners starve. |
| 8. Leaving Railroad for Highway or across country. | 23. Jail filthy. |
| 9. Railroad Police not Hostile. | 24. City Police are in Plain Clothes. |
| 10. Railroad Police Hostile. | 25. Workhouse in connection with Jail. |
| 11. Used in connection with any other sign means next turn. | 26. Waiting in Town for Person Named, |
| 12. Church or Religious People. | 27. Circle Town. |
| 13. Town is Hostile. Get out Quick, | 28. Jail good for night's Lodging, |
| 14. Main Street N. G. | 29. Moniker (Name) and direction of travel. |
| 15. Good People Live Here | 30. New York Maggie |
New York Maggie put together a pretty good set of symbols used by hobo's and now these symbols can be used to form your own hobo quilt.
You can find out more about these signs at Hobo Signs.
A request for a Hobo Quilt can be obtained through Lady Zoe's email or visit the site for more information on quilt patterns, sizes and options.
