Britt, Iowa

National Hobo Convention

Hobo Logo

The Britt hobo logo was first used in the 1900 convention announcements and advertising. The figure used in the ad has been changed very little over the years and is now found around town on school letterheads, the city's watertower, on the highway welcome sign, as well as on restaurant menus.

The "Britt hobo" is thought to be Tourist Union 63 President Onion Cotton. Onion Cotton is the hobo who agreed to bring the convention to Britt in 1900.

A heavy coat was home for this 1900 hobo and the only way to keep under garments clean.

A bindle stick and personalized head gear are appropriate for the logo hobo and are typical of the 1990 hobos. Hobos over the years have been known on sight by their hats and walking sticks.

Tied to the bindle stick is a grub box and a tomato can. The hobo carries a tube in his other hand, most likely this is a rolled up convention announcement. Some reproductions over the years have turned the tube into a beer can, but it is unlikely that the 1900 hobo carried a beer, as beer in cans weren't yet manufactured.

The symbols under the Britt Hobo are a draw pin and a link coupler, the fixtures used to hook early railroad cars together. They are symbolic of the Tourist Union and of the Britt conventions - a linking up, forming a union, a coming together.

Hobos had their own symbol code to communicate with one another. The symbols were used to point out good camp sites, good water sources, a kind person, travel directions or the authorities.

Hobo Symbols

Britt's Mulligan Stew

Twenty stew pots are used. They hold a total of:

450 lbs. beef
900 lbs. potatoes
250 lbs. carrots
35 lbs. green-red peppers
300 lbs. cabbage
100 lbs. turnips
10 lbs. parsnips
150 lbs. tomatoes
20 lbs. chili pepper
25 lbs. rice
60 lbs. celery
1 lb. bay leaves
24 gal. mixed vegetables
10 lb. kitchen bouquet flavoring
About 400 loaves of bread are served. The finished stew fills about 5,000 8-oz cups.

Mulligan of Happiness
Take a large bowl, fill it with sunshine. Add a bit of patience, faith and kindness. Sift a cup of romance with a teaspoon of sympathy, a teaspoon of forgiveness, moisten with a teardrop, adding tolerance, friendship along with ambition. Mix well with stardust, fold in imagination, place in a heavenly blue pan, bake well with the light of God's candle. Serve every day and it will bring you a mulligan of Happiness.

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