Description
Vagabonds, Tramps, and Hobos offers a comprehensive examination of the literature and culture surrounding U.S. transient populations during the pivotal period of 1890 to 1940. Author Owen Clayton investigates how writers, journalists, and cultural commentators portrayed mobile, working-class individuals and what these representations reveal about American society, industrial development, and social anxieties.
Drawing on literary texts, historical documents, and cultural artifacts, this study traces the evolution of vagrant figures in American imagination. The book analyzes how transient populations served as subjects of fascination, fear, and social commentary, reflecting broader concerns about labor, immigration, modernity, and national identity. Clayton demonstrates how the literature of transience offers valuable insights into class dynamics, economic change, and cultural values during America’s industrial transformation.
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