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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Carving Chips.....
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FUN2008 Auction Catalog is Underway
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Don Farnsworth is now sending me pages for the FUN2008 auction catalog.
You can start checking the online version here!
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Carving Chips.....
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flickr: 700 Hoboes
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flickr: 700 Hoboes
Illustrations of the 700 Hoboes listed in John Hodgman's book entitled The Areas of My Expertise.
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#352: Stupefying P, the Riddle-Maker
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#670: Flaky Mike Psoriasis
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#451: Somersaulting Mike Spitz
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The 700 Hoboes Project ~ e-hobo.com
This site is inspired by the writings of author John Hodgman and his book The Areas of My Expertise. It is meant as an homage to the wandering men and women who chose to ride the rails during and before “The Great Depression” and not the contemporary urban (or rural) poor.
The 700 Hoboes Project ~ THE GALLERY ~ The Master List
800 of 700 hoboes illustrated... 1698 total illustrations.
The Master List is useful as an index if you already know what you are looking for... otherwise use the “flickr” thumbnail pages for browsing.
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About Adam “Ape Lad” Koford
I am a cartoonist and I like to draw pictures of things including, but not limited to, hoboes.
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Adam “Ape Lad” has 788 illustrations posted and those shown here are just a sampling of his “profile hobo” series.
I was particularly enamored with those he created using an actual sky photograph as a backdrop... fantastic! ~ V-Dubya
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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“Why can't you make a film about weaving?”
Dude, Where's My Train?
−by Mike “the Trainiac” Connor for Metro Santa Cruz, Mar.26-Apr.2, 2003
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De Zwerver Dossier #6
[ stukken en brokken ]
−by V-Dubya
4 November 2007
“Antiques and Collectables Galleria” offerings
1913-D ~ 1914-P ~ 1915-D ~ 1923-S “Big Nose”
   
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“Shirley Temple”
−by Amy Armstrong
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(¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸
Tampered with Nickel $2
¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯)
(¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸
Redrawn Buffalo Nickle $5
¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯)
(¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸
Unique Hand Carved Coin Art Buffalo Nickle $20
¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯)
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It is interesting to note the change in attitude reflected by what this carved nickel was called over the generations. ~ V-Dubya
From the collection of
Art “Cinco de Arturo” DelFavero, RM552
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Two recent carvings by Artist and Friend Steve Cox.
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“For Dave” −by Marcus Hunt
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Cinco is in search of a third example by this classic carver.
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(¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸ (¯`'•.¸
Sad Times Nickels
¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯) ¸.•'´¯)
From the collection of Art “Cinco de Arturo” DelFavero, RM552
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A gentleman by the name of Charlie Sarkiss contacted OHNS via our website with the goal of learning about these three carved nickels that had been stored in a safe with a large collection of other coins for the past 38 years. Eventually Cinco purchased the pieces from Charlie and has learned several interesting facts thus far.
Charlie's Dad purchased these for $1 each in the late 1950's to early 1960's and was hoping to sell them for the prices you see on the coin flip inserts shown above on the right.
Charlie's Mom remembers these being called “Sad Times Nickels” which is a reference to the “Great Depression” of the 1930's.
We hope to learn more about carved nickels prior to the publishing of Del Romines' book. If you have any references or recollections for our research please give us a shout! delfaveros@twmi.rr.com ~ V-Dubya
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Translation... “The Hobo File #6 [ bits and pieces ]”
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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1 November 2007
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Trick-or-treating in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
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A quick trip down on October 31st and a dash home on November 1st yielded me a sack full of goodies... you just have to know which doors to knock on! My loot included an Octopus carved in Colorado Pink Alabaster by Sonny Carpenter (12" wide by 8.5" high ~ considerably more massive than a gallon milk jug) and six Ron Landis carvings, the five nickels you see here below and a wonderful “Doe Brothers” silver round.
The Landis nickel carvings are described briefly here:
1) Ron's very first skull before he had a model to work from so this one was totally from his imagination.
2) Ron's horse and castle is a tongue-in-cheek take off on the G.W. “Bo” Hughes Donkey and Cabin classic carved nickel.
3) Ron's rampant dragon is the precursor for his rampant eagle design which he used in the creation of his small U.S. dollar reverse design submittal which was a design finalist. Since I collected all of Ron's “Concept Dollar” patterns I was excited to have the opportunity to acquire this specific carved nickel.
4) Ron showed his customary creativity when he sprinkled the field above his great elephant sculpture with the night sky. A really nice touch to a great carving!
5) Ron's hatchling dragon only partially out of his shell is my all time favorite dragon carving hands down! All of these carvings were done in 1994... thirteen years ago.
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Ron Landis Carvings
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First Skull “Mind's Eye”
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Horse and Castle
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Con$ept Dragon
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Nighttime Stroll
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Hatchling Dragon
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Seven early nickel carvings; one each by Sam Alfano, Steve Adams, Joe Paonessa, and William Massey plus three nickels carved by Sonny Carpenter (including his very first carved nickel... serial number 1) were added to my sack. To cap it all off were six classic nickel carvings which included a Peanut Ear and a G.W. “Bo” Hughes 1931-S specimen. ~ V-Dubya
Recent Carvings
~ Circa the latter 1990's
Steve Adams
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Sam Alfano
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Joe Paonessa
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William Massey
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Sonny Carpenter {1}
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Sonny Carpenter {8}
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Sonny Carpenter {29}
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Classic Carvings
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Undated Type2
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Undated Type2
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1913 Type2
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1913 Type1
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1927 “Peanut Ear”
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1931-S G.W. “Bo” Hughes
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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30 October 2007
Baseball at the Corner 1896-1999
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Baseball began in Detroit around 1896 at the corners of Michigan and Trumbull. This area was, and still is, called “Corktown” because of all the Irish living in the neighborhood. In 1999 the team left Tiger Stadium to play ball in a new stadium called “Comerica Park.”
The Detroit Free Press ran a cartoon of a devastated fan, hugging the streetpost and crying. In the picture you could see the old brick street and trolley tracks pushing up through the worn street tar. I sent this picture to Steve Cox to engrave on a silver round, which he did. When I showed the coin at the Northwest Detroit Coin Club meeting, it raised quite a few eyebrows.
Well, I talked to Steve and decided that it would make more sense to engrave it on a 1896 silver dollar, which he did and it complimented the cartoon entitled “Baseball at the Corner 1896-1999” very well. The club president bought the silver round off me which helped me pay for the other coin.
With the closing of Tiger Stadium, it leaves only two original stadiums I believe, Chicago Cubs Field and Boston's Fenway Park -- Home of the 2007 World Series Champs. ~ Joe Goode, RM991
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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### Mama Jo's Tracks ###
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“Gas Can Paddy”
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### Mama Jo's Tracks ###
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“Hit the road Jack!”
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A hobo uses a moniker instead of his or her real name. The moniker is a road name or you might consider it a nickname. Every since the “Knights of the Road,” known as hobos, have existed they have used monikers. A well known hobo during the Great Depression years is “Gas Can Paddy” who is now 90 years old and living in Illinois.
Gas Can Paddy had gotten caught riding the rails and was told by a railroad bull basically to “Hit the road Jack!” or go to jail. He decided to hitch-hike to another town to catch the rails. He had spent a few days walking and trying to hitch-hike with no luck.
He saw a guy with a gas can catch a ride immediately. This inspired him. He bought a gas can and he too caught a ride. The guy after driving for a period of time stated; “Guy, where is your car?” He replied I am a hobo trying to get as far as I can near a town with a railroad to catch out again. He explained he tried hitch-hiking with no luck but saw a man catch a ride who was carring a gas can. The guy laughed and took him eighty-five miles to a town and wished him luck.
He used a gas can for his bindle (usually a neckerchief tied to a hoe with various items, such as socks, stored in it) to carry his personal belongings. A hobo suitcase you might say. The hobos, seeing him carry a gas can, gave him the moniker of Gas Can Paddy. The modern day hobo uses a duffle bag or a back pack for a “bindle.” ~ Hoboically, Mama Jo ~ Hobo Queen 2003/2004 { Carpet bags were commonly used for bindles in the late 19th Century. ~ V-Dubya }
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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20 October 2007
Bob Shamey's “Western Collection” Silver Bracelets
I have carved sixteen nickels in what I call my “Western Collection” and I have made faithful molds of each using the lost wax process to duplicate exact reproductions of these carvings in solid sterling silver.
Then I sculpted a link/framework to hold each coin and using six of the sixteen designs available assembled solid silver bracelets. It is interesting to note that the reverse side of each coin is visible through the open back of each link.
The client has the choice of any six of the sixteen carved coins to create the bracelet of their own personal design.
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There is a wonderful likeness of the “Duke”, a Mountain Man, a Buffalo, a Sacred Indian Buffalo Scull and twelve different Indian Chiefs, as depicted above, to choose from.
This will make a spectacular addition to any serious Western Jewelry Collection. ~ Bob Shamey
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Carving Chips.....
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The Art of Whittling ~ Woodworking Classics Revisited (Paperback)
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The Art of Whittling
−by Walter L. Faurot
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One of the earliest guides to traditional whittling, this reprint of a 1930s classic preserves all of the original projects and text and adds updated drawings for the contemporary whittler. This manual is still sought after by whittlers because it explains how to carve many items popular in American tramp art and more complicated items that are not included in most whittling books, such as continuous wooden chairs, hand tools, puzzles, balls inside spirals, swivels, entwined hearts, and buildings inside bottles. The line art has been redrawn, color added, and additional art included, making this unique book valuable to a new generation of whittlers.
Mr. Faurot was the author of the first edition of this book, one of the earliest books on traditional whittling, published in the 1930s. Available from Independent Publishers Group for $9.95.
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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De Zwerver Dossier #5
[ stukken en brokken ]
−by V-Dubya
7 October 2007
Steve
Ellsworth
Strikes
Again!
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As you can tell from these COOL pictures it has been a very interesting week on eBay.
   
   
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Another discriminating numismatist becomes a Bill Jameson enthusiast with just cause... check out his recent Billzach carved nickel acquisitions.
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Translation... “The Hobo File #5 [ bits and pieces ]”
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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1 October 2007
OHNS Membership Medal Order Status
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From: lee@athena.csdco.com
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 08:03:45
Subject: Re: { www.hobonickels.org query }
Sorry, I have no silver medals or plans to strike any.
Copper medals are $20 unengraved.
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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We have just added a new “core” webpage to the OHNS website to provide members with a mechanism to help them on their quests
to find items of special interest. It might be a publication or a token to fill a hole in your collection like Ralph and Jeff are searching for.
Or it might be that third example of a Classic Carving, so you can nickname a classic carver, that I know Art is hoping to find.
OK Art... it is time to hear from you now! Here is a link to the actual webpage...
OHNS Member ONLY Quests
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Tell us if you are successful in your quest so we can post your results here.
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30 Sept 2007 ~ Jeffrey Daniher, LM145 ~ I missed the 2006 OHNS token set.
Does anyone have an extra set that I can purchase or trade for?
jdaniher@zoomtown.com
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30 Sept 2007 ~ Ralph Winter, LM37 ~ I'm looking for an original copy of the Spring 1998 “BoTales”, Vol.7-No.1.
Does anyone have an extra copy that I can purchase or trade for?
hobobazoo@comcast.net
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1 Nov 2007 ~ Ralph Winter, LM37 ~
CeeBo supplied me with my missing copy! Thanks CarolLee!
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• Items Wanted and Trade Offers are encouraged... but Sales Offers won't be posted!
• Single digital photos are helpful.
• Your full name and OHNS membership number will be shown... no aliases or nefarious identifications will be tolerated!
• Contact information will be limited to your EMail address and/or telephone number... mailing addresses won't be posted.
• This is NOT a forum for debating political or social issues relating to nickel carving.
• This is a work in progress... we will learn as we go here.
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Carving Chips.....
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Cooter and the Hant: Cooter's Halloween Adventure
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This is a double sided carving by Billzach. The subject is “Cooter's Halloween Adventure.” This is the way Cooter tells the story... but before we start you'll notice Cooter's jaw sticking out. Well, Cooter has to have a big wad of chewing tobacco before he can talk right. So here is where Cooter begins his story... Cooter is on his way home on Halloween night and as he gets about half way home, low and behold out jumps a Hant [spook]. (Also haunt, ha'nt or haint. Chiefly Southern U.S. A ghost or other supernatural being. -vrw) Cooter said it looked something like an old witch, but it had a derby hat on.
If you looked close... its ear was really a snake and its tail was dangling a lantern with a head of an old man in it. The old man's face in the lantern had a hat, ears, nose, beard, and etcetera. The “hant” had a horn on his nose, a wart below his nose and he was moving on wheels. Look close and you'll see the original head of the buffalo and other parts as I used them to blend in the carving. As for the obverse side it's detailed out with Cooter chewing his tobacco and needing a shave. Lots of detail and a good story to go with it. ~ Bill Jameson
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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De Zwerver Dossier #4
[ stukken en brokken ]
−by V-Dubya
27 September 2007
The idea for this carving came to me from the scene in the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” when the “Soggy Bottom Boys”
were singing on the stage, had the long beards and were tipping their hat to the crowd. ~ Bill Jameson
Take note that “Soggy Bottom Pete's” nose points directly to the “Y” of “LIBERTY”... considerably higher than the normal carved nickel. -vrw
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”... Homer's epic poem “The Odyssey”, set in the deep south during the 1930's.
In it, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them. ~ The Internet Movie Database
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“The Evolution of Pig” −by Amy Armstrong
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Recent creations from the bench of engraver Stephen Cox... the Byrd Knife sold on eBay... the carved nickels are headed for OHNS's FUN2008 Auction.
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Hobo Nickel Carver Joe Paonessa Creations
Türkçe Hali Satici
Klima Kranos Polemistis
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Lee Griffiths carvings ready for display at GRS Masters Weekend in Emporia, Kansas in mid-October.
Løsarbejder Filosof
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Gylden Hvalros-Skæg
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Auction Houses normally take superb photographs which we all benefit from since they document many classic carvings.
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Translation... “The Hobo File #4 [ bits and pieces ]”
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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The audience squats on milk crates
or just mills around in the parking lot
behind the Corner's Plan 9
Rail culture: the language of freight-hoppers
−by James D. Graham for issue #0224 of the Charlottesville (VA) Hook, June 19, 2003
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13 September 2007
Memorable quotes from “Wild Boys of the Road” (1933)
Set in the Depression, this film portrays hard times as it follows the lives of three teenagers who ride the rails looking for work.
Edward 'Eddie' Smith (Frankie Darro 1917-1976)... [to judge] I knew all that stuff about you helping us was baloney. I'll tell you why we can't go home -- because our folks are poor. They can't get jobs and there isn't enough to eat. What good will it do you to send us home to starve? You say you've got to send us to jail to keep us off the streets. Well, that's a lie. You're sending us to jail because you don't want to see us. You want to forget us. But you can't do it because I'm not the only one. There's thousands just like me, and there's more hitting the road every day.
Tommy Gordon (Edwin Phillips 1911-1981)... You read in the papers about giving people help. The banks get it. The soldiers get it. The breweries get it. And they're always yelling about giving it to the farmers. What about us? We're kids!
Edward 'Eddie' Smith (Frankie Darro 1917-1976)... Go ahead! Put me in a cell. Lock me up! I'm sick of being hungry and cold. Sick of freight trains. Jail can't be any worse than the street. So give it to me!
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Carving Chips.....
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By the mid-1880s, the center of whaling activity had shifted from New Bedford to San Francisco
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Nils “Shanghai” Nilson
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Sam “Páiste” Francisco
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When Bill Jameson sent me scans of his most recent carved Jefferson nickels I wandered off on my usual quest to give them interesting names.
The fine Irish fellow here on the right clearly favors Art DelFavero's recently nicknamed “Sam Francisco” subjects and the gentleman in knit cap and sweater here on the left brought to mind a seaman... perhaps on a whaling bark, brig or schooner out of San Francisco in the 19th century.
I immediately fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland! The resources and libraries out there covering that subject are astounding. Here is the key that unlocked that portal for me... San Francisco Shanghaiers : 1886-1890 .
I hope you are as overcome with a sense of wonder as I was. ~ V-Dubya
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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De Zwerver Dossier #3
[ stukken en brokken ]
−by V-Dubya
11 September 2007
It is amazing how much a carving can change in the last few hours in the hands of a superior engraver like James Olivencia!
Super Sized Photo
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An intriguing cross-section of items gleaned from various nooks and crannies during this trip through hyperspace.
    
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The classic carving on the left was found in 1979 by a clerk in a five and dime change drawer in the state of New York!
   
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Recently Quiescence Carvers... Sam Alfano, Ray Castro, and Cliff Kraft ...Display Their Elephantine Engraving Talents
    
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Translation... “The Hobo File #3 [ bits and pieces ]”
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Vagabonds who hopped the wrong train,
ending up in Marshfield rather than Minneapolis
Tramps found riding the rails
−by Jonathan Gneiser for the Marshfield News-Herald, Aug 20, 2003
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7 September 2007
A Passionate Collector
−by Michael W. Michelsen, Jr.
Collector: Verne Walrafen Passion: Hobo Nickels
“Antiques” gave the hobby a full two page spread... Thanks Mike!!!
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5 September 2007
James Earle Fraser's Model for the Buffalo Nickel
1913 Armory Show
First International Exhibition of Modern Art In America
69th Infantry Regiment Armory, New York City
February 15th to March 15th 1913
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Most photographs can be left-clicked on to view an enlargement.
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Carving Chips.....
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Air-Tite Capsule Measurements Table Available
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When I needed some Air-Tite capsules for a few carved coins other than my regular carved nickels it took me a lot of thrashing to figure out precisely which capsules would work. The results of that extensive research effort is the table you find posted here...
Air-Tite Capsule Measurements ~ V-Dubya
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