false 59651 1565846567 9781565846562 428 62 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170533393m/59651.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59651.Hard_Times_An_Oral_History_of_the_Great_Depression 33716 Studs Terkel 2952 428 5 0 false Sat Jun 20 10:05:37 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 10:30:26 -0700 2009
The legend is, and I think it's recounted in Terkel's book somewhere, that the girls, who had to leave home and hit the rails (or roads), were protected from abuse by the men in the encampments, as a code of honor. Mess with a girl "hobo", you were persona non grata in the camps. (and in the boxcars, doubtless. Everybody knew everybody, one would assume, by reputation if not in person.)

What are left of these girls are now, let's see, in their 90's, or older. There were about a quarter million or more, who couldn't be supported at home, so, hit the rails....]]>