Whilst Watching An Episode Of,

Ade in Britain,

Ade took us to London, to Bow where it is said you are a cockney if you were born in the sound of Bow bells, during the program there were several conversations about cockney rhyming slang, how the terms were used and that no one understood them if they were not a cockney, 


in the USA a similar culture grew up in the early to mid 1900s, where hobos as they were known would go looking for work, just as an side there is a world of difference between hobos, tramps and bums, hobos are itinerant workers, tramps only work when they are forced to, and bums who do not work at all, note to all, never ever call a hobo a bum, back to the slang used by hobos, here are a few,


California blankets, newspapers intended to be used for bedding on a park bench,
Glad Rags, one's best clothes,
Gay Cat, a) a tenderfoot hobo b) someone employed as a scout by criminal tramps,
Sky Pilot,  highbrow preacher, not one of the mission kind,


there were also many signs that hobos used to convey messages to each other, 


a cross signifies 'angel food', that is, food served to the hobos after a sermon,
a circle with two parallel arrows means get out fast, as hobos are not welcome in the area,
a cross with a smiley face in one of the corners means the doctor at this office will treat hobos free of charge,
now I wonder if the last one was the precursor to today's computer smileys we all use so often?