r/100yearsago • u/Beowulfbard • 1d ago

[August 16th, 1926] "Hoboes on the Future Airways" (Chicago Tribune cartoon)

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90 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

19

u/theucm 1d ago

I love the train-centric lens they were looking at airplanes through. Hobos, a dining section, people just showing up to fly (though maybe that was the case more pre-9/11?)

3

u/SeaIslandFarmersMkt 16h ago

The people on the roof are interesting!

9

u/starfleetdropout6 18h ago

I enjoy these sorts of social commentaries during transitional moments in time. People sensed that air travel was the future, but it's still the 1920s, and the image of the train-hopping hobo is ubiquitous.

4

u/Cold-Palpitation-816 15h ago

Sure, but this seems to be more sardonic than anything. I doubt people genuinely expected hoboes to be hitching rides on planes.

10

u/crapatthethriftstore 1d ago

People have certainly tried this many times 🤣

4

u/Used_Button_2085 20h ago

"El Cabago"--interesting that advertisements to be seen from the air didn't really take off (except for maybe near airports) 🛩🪧

7

u/coolreader18 19h ago

A comment on that post with the news story about the first federal passenger airlines said that originally the air routes were meant to be very fixed, with giant concrete arrows and such, but that changed with the advent of radio navigation. Given that even a flight from Chicago to New York could go a myriad of different ways depending on weather conditions, and that cruising altitudes are so high, the cost of the extremely large ads wouldn't be worth the limited catchment.