Britt shows its hobo heritage for RAGBRAI riders
- 25 July, 2017
- Kelly McGowan
BRITT, Ia. — Leanne Castillo is the honorary queen of the hobos.
The 84-year-old oil portrait artist has been painting each year’s hobo king and queen in her town, the “hobo capitol of the world,” during the annual Britt Hobo Days for about 30 years.
Riders on the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa got a look at the town’s hobo heritage as they passed through Tuesday during their ride from Algona to Clear Lake.
Walking into the Hobo Art Gallery on Main Avenue, they saw a depiction of Charles Noe, king of the first National Hobo Convention in 1900 in Britt. Based on a small old photograph, he is painted standing in front of a railroad wearing a jacket, sweater, hat and tie.
Paintings of hobo royalty Scoopshovel Scotty, Box Car Myrtle, Hairbreadth Harry, Cannonball Eddie and Bo Grump are among the 68 that line the walls — some wearing crowns made of coffee cans.
“She fell in love with the hobos and wanted to paint every one,” Castillo’s daughter Peggy Schellenberg of Algona said. “She just loves the hobos and they love her.”
Castillo has befriended hobos and looks forward to seeing them at each year’s festival. The unique character of each one got Castillo’s attention, Schellenberg said, and inspired her to paint them.
“The life they live shows in their faces,” Castillo said.
IMAGES FROM THE HOBO ART GALLERY IN BRITT:
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The folk art has been shown in London and at shows in the U.S. After years of being stored under a table in her home and only being taken out for events, Castillo decided to start a nonprofit to preserve and display the body of work. The gallery building was purchased in 2016.
It is an effort to preserve the history and heritage of Britt, Castillo’s daughter Sharon Stromer of Britt said. The festival draws people from across the country and world, and a recent hobo king was from the Czech Republic.
Down the street from the gallery is the National Hobo Museum. The 2002 hobo king, a retired truck driver who goes by the name Redbird Express, sat there sharing stories and signing autographs for RAGBRAI riders.
The 2002 Britt Hobo Days king, who goes by the name Redbird Express, signed autographs outside of the National Hobo Museum on Tuesday, July 25, 2017, as RAGBRAI passed through Britt. Kelly McGowan/The Register
The 76-year-old now lives in Quakertown, Pa., and drove to Britt — he said it’s like a second home — for RAGBRAI and Hobo Days.
He jumped his first train in 1955 when he was 15, he said, but stopped soon after.
“When I got a car I forgot about riding trains for a while,” he said. “I could pick up girls, smoke cigarettes and do all those things you do when you’re 16.”
But seven years after a 1990 trip to Hobo Days, he jumped on a train in Cheyenne, Wyo., and rode it to Ogden, Utah. He has done other rides since and said the life is dangerous, dirty and illegal, but “you see places out there you don’t see on the highway.”
RAGBRAI was a chance to share that with thousands of cyclists, like Greg Hoch of Spokane, Wash., who said he would not have otherwise known about the hobo heritage in Iowa.
“We are trying to keep a vanishing slice of American history alive,” Redbird said. “If we don’t do that, 20 years down the road, people won’t know what a hobo is.”
IMAGES FROM TUESDAY’S RIDE:
Working in the museum Tuesday, Linda Hughes of Britt said hobos “built America” by riding trains to jobs constructing courthouses, railroads, hospitals and highways.
“They were a worker,” she said. “They just had a wanderlust in their heart and had to travel.”
The hobo king and queen are chosen each year by who gets the loudest applause during a gathering at the festival.
There are qualifications. Winners must have been rail riders and had to have attended Hobo Days at least three times, Redbird said. He said they must be “clean and straight,” meaning they can’t use drugs, “but you can have a beer every now and then.”
Candidates are tested on their knowledge of railroad routes, rules and crew change points.
Redbird said he was honored to have Castillo paint his portrait after winning the title.
“Once a king, always a king,” he said.
Hobo Days runs Aug. 10-13 in Britt. A 69th painting will be unveiled Aug. 11 at the gallery.
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