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Hotel de Gink was a series of self-service hotels created by and for homeless men. Jeff Davis conceived the idea and founded the first Hotel de Gink in Seattle in 1913. [1] The concept quickly spread across the country.
Although the organization used the name "hotel" and was even a member of the International Hotel Alliance, in practice it was more like a homeless shelter. [2] Hotels De Gink were self-supporting, as residents contributed whatever money they could to support hotel operations. [3] The Hotels provided a range of services, including food, barbering, tailoring, and primitive medical care. [3] All services were provided by residents, who were expected to volunteer at the Hotel for at least two days per week in exchange for lodging. [4] The facilities were self-governing, with a group of residents deciding which applicants to admit. [5]
Residents slept on the floor on donated blankets. Local restaurants donated kitchen supplies and other businesses provided other large pieces of equipment necessary for daily operations. Upkeep and maintenance were provided by residents. [5]
The United States experienced a recession starting in 1913. [6] Productions and real income declined during this period and were not offset until the start of World War I increased demand. [7] During this time, there were high periods of unemployment and homelessness. [8] The Hotel de Gink existed to provide relief in these circumstances. [9]
Jeff Davis was a man from Cincinnati [10] called "the king of the hobos" and manager of the hotel. He believed in fostering self-sufficiency among the homeless. [11] He founded a "hobo cabaret" of homeless people with musical talent. [12]
Davis spread the model to other cities. [13] Davis opened branches in Tacoma, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Late in 1914, he approached the New York City government with an offer to open a new facility to accommodate the city's growing homeless population.
The New York City Hotel opened with an over-the-top gala on January 21, 1915. Davis, dubbed "King Jeff" for the night, was seated in a throne adorned with cabbage, carrot, onion and potato, an homage to mulligan stew. [14] The facility was only open during the winter. The New York branch closed shortly before America's entrance into the First World War. [15]
The Buffalo, NY location was opened in 1925 by then Mayor Frank X. Schwab. It closed in 1929 at the end of his term.
Although none of the Hotels is still in operation, the legacy survives. The term "Hotel de Gink" became slang for a short term less-than-desirable housing situation [16] and the United States armed forces informally adopted the name Hotel De Gink for transient officer housing. [17] [18] Hotel de Gink was also featured in popular culture. [19] In a larger sense, the Hotels proved the concept of self-service homeless services operated and maintained by residents. [1]
The Hotel Chelsea is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Chelsea.
A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round.
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works.
A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people "on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or forgotten by society. A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by impoverished individuals and also people who are addicted to drugs. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens, as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, the phrase may indicate the state of a poor person's life.
A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. The term was coined by Charles Michelson. There were hundreds of Hoovervilles across the country during the 1930s.
In the United States, the number of homeless people varies from different federal government accounts. In 2014, approximately 1.5 million sheltered homeless people were counted. In 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated roughly 553,000 homeless people in the United States on a given night, or 0.17 percent of the population. Approximately 65 percent of people were sheltered in provided housing while 35 percent were unsheltered. Annual federal HUD reports contradict private state and local reports where homelessness is shown to have increased each year since 2014 across several major American cities, with 40 percent increases noted in 2017 and in 2019.
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.
A flophouse or dosshouse is a place that offers very low-cost lodging, providing space to sleep and minimal amenities.
A gutter punk is a homeless or transient individual who displays a variety of specific lifestyle traits and characteristics that often, but not always, are associated with the punk subculture. Attributes may include unkempt dreadlocks, nose rings, Mohawk hairstyles, and tattooed faces. Gutter punks are sometimes referred to as "crusties", "crusty punks", "crust punks", or “crusty kids”; "traveling" or "traveler kids"; "traveling" or "traveler punks", or simply "travelers"; and "punk hobos" or "hobo-punks", among other terms. Some self-identified gutter punks may distinguish themselves from "crusties" or "crust punks" and "travellers", and vice versa; however, there is considerable overlap between the groups, and the terms are often used interchangeably.
Single room occupancy is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are rented out as permanent residence and/or primary residence to individuals, within a multi-tenant building where tenants share a kitchen, toilets or bathrooms. SRO units range from 7 to 13 square metres. In some instances, contemporary units may have a small refrigerator, microwave, or sink.
Skid Row is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. The area is officially known as Central City East.
Seattle is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2022 population of 749,256 it is the most populous city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The Seattle metropolitan area's population is 4.02 million, making it the 15th-largest in the United States. Its growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of country's fastest-growing large cities.
Nels Anderson was an early American sociologist who studied hobos, urban culture, and work culture.
Hobo News, alternately "Hobo" News, was an early 20th-century newspaper for homeless migrant workers (hobos). It was published in St. Louis, Missouri, and Cincinnati by the International Brotherhood Welfare Association (IBWA) and its founder James Eads How. Hobo News was important for legitimatizing the hobo identity and has been credited as a predecessor to the modern street newspaper movement.
The International Brotherhood Welfare Association (IBWA) was a mutual aid society for hobos founded in 1905–1906. It was the second largest after the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It was started by James Eads How who had inherited a fortune but chose to live a hobo life. IBWA was less radical than the IWW, focusing on education and cooperation rather than direct political action. It published the Hobo News, distributed through street sellers. The IBWA was centered in the midwest and had locals in about twenty cities including Baltimore, Buffalo, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The centers, called "Hobo Colleges," offered lodging, hot meals and education. They also became important meeting places for migrant workers during the winter months.
James Eads How was an American organizer of the hobo community in the early 20th century. He was heir of a wealthy St. Louis family but chose to live as a hobo and to help the homeless migrant workers. The newspapers often referred to him as the "Millionaire Hobo".
Historically, squatting occurred in the United States during the California Gold Rush and when colonial European settlers established land rights. There was squatting during the Great Depression in Hoovervilles and also during World War II. Shanty towns returned to the US after the Great Recession (2007–2009) and in the 2010s, there were increasing numbers of people occupying foreclosed homes using fraudulent documents. In some cases, a squatter may be able to obtain ownership of property through adverse possession.
Hobo Gadget Band is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton The short was released on June 17, 1939. The voices in this cartoon were provided by Mel Blanc, Pinto Colvig and the Paul Taylor group.
Gink may refer to:
Housing is a vital economic sector in the United States, contributing to 15% of the GDP. Owner-occupancy is commonplace; the majority own their home. For regional details, see also housing in the United States by state.
