The HoBo

Anon

The HoBo,1970’s

Woven cigarette packaging

Massachusetts Correctional Institution/Cedar Junction, Walpole, Massachusetts

The Hobo is a grand shoulder bag. Created almost exclusively from Camel wrappers, it is elegantly proportioned, but even more elegantly rendered with ivory diamonds showing repeated variations of the hind quarter of the famous desert camel. In careful passages, these diamonds are counter-balanced by plain ones in the same warm, beige tones. Extending the same scheme throughout the shoulder strap, the overall impression of the bag is one of quiet repose and balance.

Widely known as “Walpole,” the Massachusetts Correctional Institution/Cedar Junction is a maximum security prison built to replace the ancient Charlestown State Prison in l955. It quickly earned a reputation as a violent, racist institution with frequent fights between black and white inmates, some resulting in deaths. It sank to its worst under the vicious warden Raymond Parelle who imposed extreme privations, even torture, on black and white prisoners. In 1973, inmates revolted and went on strike refusing to perform any of their duties until Warden Parelle was removed. They prevailed, offering a lesson in united actions.