After the Civil War, many headed west in search of work, carrying a hoe with them. “Hoe boys” became “hobos.” Hobos were not bums or tramps; they were men seeking work wherever they could find it. They lived out of doors in camps known as jungles.
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Most modern hobos, however, trace their lineage to the building of the railroads and the end of the Civil War. Many Civil War veterans couldn't, or didn't want to, return home and took jobs with the expanding railroads.
The term emerged in the American West around 1890, though its origins are hazy. Some say it was an abbreviation of “homeward bound” or “homeless boy”; author Bill Bryson wrote in his 1998 book “Made in America” that it may have come from “Ho, beau!”, a railroad greeting.
According to the code, a drawing of a cat indicated that a kind woman lived in the hours, while a cross mean that hobos could expect to receive food at the end of a sermon and shovels revealed that work was available. Meanwhile, circles and arrows would indicate directions hobos were better off traveling in.