HITCHHIKING HISTORY
My way or the highway
DEFINITION
vð Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing or
hitching) is a means of transportation that is
gained by asking people, usually strangers, for
a ride in their automobile or other road
vehicle
Hitchhiking near Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1936,
photograph by Walker Evans
HISTORY
vðHistory doesn't record the exact beginning
of that term s meaning, but it was probably
during the training of young American men
during World War I.
SOLDIERS VACATION
vðMore and more cars were replacing other means of travel.
Soldiers would take advantage of a brief furlough to go home.
They'd start hiking down a roadway then put up a thumb when
they saw a car coming "to hitch a ride."
vðHitchhiking became an accepted mode of travel for those
not fortunate enough to own an automobile.
YOUNG HITCHHIKERS
vðThe decade following the war, we could saw young
people in search of adventure and a chance to meet new
people. They were similar to other travelers except they
had little money and sometimes little direction.
1920 S
vðBy the end of the 1920s there were 26 million
cars on Americans roads. College students hitched
rides. Kids in small towns hitched rides. The thumb
in the air became an accepted gesture and was
honored by many drivers. Girls began hitchhiking.
1934 DEPRESSION
vðDuring the Depression many people hit the roads because they had no place
to stay and no money to spend. Young boys hitched to the cities looking for
work. Dispossessed farmers headed west. Female hitchhikers from young girls to
grandmothers and all ages in between haunted the highways.
vðHollywood captured the image when in the 1934 movie "It Happened One
Night," driver after driver passed up Clark Gable (they were probably all men)
until Claudette Colbert bared her leg -- the next driver "stopped on a dime."
1950 S HIGHWAY
vð The interstate highway projects appeared in the mid-
1950s and hitchhiking was prohibited on the roads
themselves so the number of hitchers declined. This
coincided with more crimes against the hitchhikers
themselves and made the practice dangerous once again.
TODAY?
vð Today's economic conditions have again
contributed to the volume of people wanting
to try their luck somewhere else.
SAFETY!
vðTwo studies on the topic include a 1974 California Highway Patrol study and a
1989 German federal police study. The California study found that hitchhikers
were not disproportionately likely to be victims of crime. The German study
concluded that the actual risk is much lower than the publicly perceived
risk, and the authors did not advise against hitch-hiking in general. They found
that in some cases there were verbal disputes and inappropriate comments, but
physical attacks were very rare
POLAND!
vðHitchhiking was legalised and formalised in Poland in 1957.
Hitchhikers could buy booklets including coupons from travel
agencies. These coupons were given to drivers who took hitchhikers.
By the end of each season drivers who collected the highest number
of coupons could exchange them for prizes and others took part in a
lottery. This so-called "Akcja Autostop" was popular till the end of
the 1970s, but the sale of the booklet was discontinued in 1995.
A typical hitchhiker's gesture
SOURCE
vð http://www.reporterherald.com/ci_22749250/through-history-
hitchhiking-has-gott
vð http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiking
vð http://stillisstillmoving.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/hitchhiking.jpg
vð http://cdn.all-that-is-interesting.com/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/hitchhiking-to-los-angeles-1937.jpg
vð http://st.gdefon.com/wallpapers_original/wallpapers/478798_gruzovik_soldat
_avtostop_doroga_1680x1050_(www.GdeFon.ru).jpg en-thumbs-up-and
SOURCE
vðhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Clark_G
able_and_Claudette_Colbert_in_It_Happened_One_Night_film_trail
er.jpg
vðhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Hitchhi
ker%27s_gesture.jpg
THANK YOU!
Jð Piotr Barcik