Box Car Crusties

Submitted by LisaG on Sat, 10/01/2011 - 16:16
Similarities between today's NY nomads and the transients of the 30s

Both Woody Guthrie and “Box Car Bertha” while traveling throughout the United States found beauty and distorted consistency in their nomadic lifestyles. The transient lifestyle, although partially driven by the need for work and economic stability is also motivated by a desire to see and feel what life is like elsewhere. Both authors make note of this sentiment.

Although Box Car Bertha was a fictional character who noted that some “Sisters of the Road” are “seized” with this “wanderlust”, her creator, Ben Reitman, is also noted for seeing the beauty of drifters. In the afterword of Sister of the Road, it is noted that Reitman himself was a hobo at various times of his life. “He saw the people he lived and traveled with as simply people, no worse, no better than anyone else. He was a man who was acutely aware of his own weaknesses, but he showed no desire to mimic the “respectable” society that disdained the people among whom he chose to live his life” (201). This feeling of wanderlust and a need for a stronger connection with other travelers is also what seems to have driven the author and photographer pairs of last week’s focus (along with their monetary compensation, of course). Guthrie similarly says that he’d “been pretty proud about bumming” (201).

Leading a nomadic lifestyle hasn’t completely diminished from American life. New York and other cities today have their own version of the 30s transients. Here we call them “crusties” and they’re usually found downtown at Washington Square or Tompkins Square parks. They too are typically a younger crowd who has been seized with the wanderlust that Box Car Bertha speaks of. A village local, Steven Hirsch, started a blog interviewing these travelers and although they don’t seem to be on any sort of job hunt (many are quoted on saying they have no desire to fully integrate back into society) they do show a desire to experience a happy, natural life. Kayla, one of the women interviewed by Hirsch says,"I gave it a shot. I did what everyone told me would make me happy. Got an apartment. Got a job. I wasn't happy, so I started traveling. I haven't stopped since... I've tried to settle down. Can't do it. I'd just rather sleep under the stars."

Also, check out this NYT article on the New York nomads.

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The Road as an Inspiration

Submitted by KenK on Mon, 10/03/2011 - 22:08.
It is interesting that you bring up this point of seeing the beauty in nomadic traveling.  Though not for everyone, and though the migrant worker traveling caused by the depression was indeed tragic in that it uprooted families and forced millions of people into a state of chaos, traveling has been viewed as somewhat of an escape for some people.  A great example of this was Jack Kerouac, who wrote several books (most notably On the Road) based extensively around his travels across America and Mexico.  When reading his work, one cannot help but be inspired by the escape being on the road offers and how it allows the traveler to stop worrying about meaningless things such as being on time.  More importantly the road offers a traveler the potential of anything being possible.