Hobo ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
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H
obo is a sans-serif typeface. It
Hobo, originally called Adface, was finally
is unusual in having virtually no
patented in 1915 along with Light Hobo.
straight lines and no descenders.
The prevailing bow-legged shape of the
It was created by Morris Fuller Benton and
letterforms inspired another long-held
issued by American Type Founders in 1910.
theory that it was so named because they
A light version, Light Hobo, was released in
resembled those of a bow-legged hobo.
1915. Matrices were offered for mechanical
The most complete and most plausible
composition by Intertype. The lower case
theory demonstrates how Benton, who
letters provided the basis for Robert
lived and worked near a large Russian
Wiebking’s Advertisers Gothic of 1917.
community, must have seen a particular
There are several theories regarding
cigar poster spelling what appears to read
the font’s name, and in fact it is widely
like “HOBO!” (Russian for “New!”).
recognized as one of the more interesting
The poster’s hand-lettering of the word
mysteries in typographic history. One
bears striking and unique resemblances
theory states that its name came from
to the font; the shape of the O at the
a story stating that it was sketched in
extreme right of the poster was probably
the early 1900s, sent to the foundry
traced by Benton to match his own
nameless, and progressed so little for so
Capital O precisely, and those shapes
long, that it was called “that old hobo.”
helped define the design of the font.
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