Hitchhiking ‘Died’ because of Jeopardy

Aside from the economic catastrophe that struck America in the 1930s and provided "lunatics" with a space to conduct crimes, the same issues reemerged in the 1940s following World War II. (Morton 306). Misiroglu (38) claims that as a result, traveling declined over the ensuing ten years. Americans were extremely terrified following hitchhikers' horrific experience in the past. It's essential to note, however, that media outlets played a significant role in instilling fear in people. Misiroglu (41) acknowledges that the practice was risky, but not to the extent that some media outlets have claimed. Because of such reports, security agencies like the FBI began investigative the notion of hitchhiking. As a result, by 1970s, 23 states in America had enacted laws that condemned hitchhiking thereby causing the final demise of this monumental practice (Misoroglu 43).

The major objective of the research is to determine the impact of insecurity in the existence of hitchhiking. Some of pertinent issues that this research will look into include: the sources of insecurity in hitchhiking; secondly is how often the hitchhikers experienced danger and thirdly, the government’s reaction on the reports of insecurity by hitchhikers.

The History of Hitchhiking

According to Mahood (653), hitchhiking achieved its prevalence between 1910 and 1929. This was a period shortly before and after WWI. Occasionally during the war soldiers would hitchhike after getting their furlough. As a result, the idea gained positive perception with the soldiers being considered its pioneers. Mahood (659) contends that in 1917, as the WWI neared its end, soldiers began returning home. Therefore most of the drivers felt it was their duty to transport these hitchhikers home. By early 1920s, a simple gesture which decades later would be misunderstood an intentional solicitation of vehicle rides had immensely amassed popularity. Initially, in accordance to Krakauer (44), the concept of waving a finger was majorly used by folks escaping from inhumane working conditions and pathetic family situations. Just as stated by Krakauer (47), hitchhiking favors encompassed brief jaunts around town or short distance ride into countryside where it could be hard catching a cab. Besides the ordinary symbolic meaning of the gesture, the idea was used as a source of humor and adventure. According to Morton (312), it is for this reason that in 1921, the New York Times announced the induction of J.K. Christianson in the Chicago Adventurers Club after accumulating 3,023 hitchhikes in a period of 27days. The idea to commemorate hitchhiking as a form of sports and entertainment made a perfect capture of fun adventure in early ethos activities.

Misiroglu (42) affirms that the face of hitchhiking significantly changed in the 1930s due to the Great Depression experienced by Americans. Hitchhiking provided approximately 12 million unemployed mints with free transportation. Those who were lucky enough to own cars took it upon themselves to provide the job seeking hitchhikers with free transport. As stated by Mahood (661) the increase in the long distance job searchers was because of the newly constructed good roads. On the other hand, the intense economic degeneration led to the diversification of the hitchhikers. They ranged from young boys, field workers, teachers and entire family members. In other words, folks desperate for jobs entirely depended on hitchhiking to ease their relocation to other areas where they could possibly grab themselves jobs. With all these happening, Mahood (662) notes that hitchhiking became so popular that according to estimations, at least one man out of ten had a hitchhiking experience.

Morton (300) points out that as the Great Depression swerved towards the end, a new crop of hitchhikers emerged. Morton (302) further states that the gallant job searchers were replaced with men who had been shortlisted to fight in the WWII. Giving ride to men who were stranded on their way to war became everyone’s duty during this time. Considering the importance of the WWII to many countries and the symbol majorly used by soldiers, thumbing retained its reputation from the era of economic depression. Later on after the war, Compagni (48) appends that many countries focused on reconstruction, quite a number investing heavily in education. It is during this time that another lot which depended virtually on hitchhiking arose. It was the College Freshman. These group of people was characterized with draped university scarf accompanied with a trunk. The reconstruction period foregrounded the college students making them the center of hitchhiking. However, Krakauer (53) points out that as time passed the reputation of hitchhiking was defamed by delinquents who began turning hitchhiking into a route for dishonesty. In 1938, Forum published an article on the rise of hitchhiking related criminal acts.

According to Misiroglu (38), hitchhiking had been a good idea until the social deviance which entangled the idea led to its death. By the end of 1946, more than 20states had passed laws which prohibited hitchhiking. Around the same time, an article was published on Time Magazine about many un-arrested hitchhikers in the New Jersey roads. Despite the disheartening accounts, the popularity of hitchhiking never diminished. Mahood (661) states that he practice purportedly ‘died’ for two decades, nonetheless, its populous nature remained as it would be later realized in the 1970s. According to Mahood (661) the world had healed from the injurious WWII, a period when danger was imminent. The period between 1965 and 1975 marked the revival of hitchhiking. Most of the facets of the time were representations of the societal norm aberrations. Therefore there was need to disregard the fear that hitchhiking had been accorded in the 1950s and the only way was by evading the fear mongers.

Morton (312) acknowledges that because of the rebellion against paranoids, the popularity of hitchhiking developed massively. In the advocators’ campaign for the idea, they argued that hitchhiking was nothing foreign but a continuation of narratives that were abandoned in the 1950s. However, these efforts were only fruitful up to its soon but final demise in the mid-1970s. On the other hand, Compagni (58) notes that in the 1950s, the film industry was saturated with movies which associated hitchhiking with immoderate danger. This built a negative attitude in people towards hitchhiking since most of the movies displayed the practice as potentially lethal. As a result, security agencies like the FBI staged crack downs on hitchhikers because the practice was perceived as a haven for criminal gangs. Since America’s economy had evolved tremendously, most Americans made replacements of outstretched thumbs with cars. Because of the isolation and disconnectedness, hitchhiking lost its enticement amongst Americans leading to the dwindling number of hitchhikers. Towards the late 1970s, the practice had completely died.

Jeopardy as a Reason for the Demise of Hitchhiking

Krakauer (57) states that the thought that hitchhiking had been a safe practice until recently is an illusion. Before affirming such a preposterous statement, it is important to note that from the very beginning, hitchhiking incorporated quite a number of dangerous elements. You can imagine driving a car or riding a motor cycle but on your way, bump into groups of people walking along the roadways! The uniqueness of hitchhiking and of course the reason it was perceived as a nuanced form of danger was because it involved strangers in isolation and in a confinement together. Krakauer (57) assert that many a time, the journey was uneventful because of the law abiding nature of the riders however, occasionally, the worst happened. Therefore, people could not assume the non-existence of lunatics whose main agenda would have been to cause harm to those around them. What dismayed most was how the ill doers could slip in from the ordinary hitchhikers thus hurting either the drivers or riders.

According to Mahood (652), there had been some kind boom and bust merry go round kind of operation by the security authorities in trying to unearth criminal offences in hitchhiking.According to Paul DiMaggio, a hitchhiking historian, an intertwined relationship existed between the police (government) and the press. For instance, whenever the media discovered an issue on hitchhiking, they were often mistaken to think that they made an exploration. As the news trended, the public was made aware of the crime. As soon as the criminals got wind of the police search, their thumbs were kept down hence subsiding in criminal acts. Eventually, the media houses got tired of running the same stories about hitchhiking related crimes and the phenomenon subsequently disappeared.

Morton (299) indicates that the period between 1920s and 1960s painted both good and bad pictures of hitchhiking. There were instances in which hitchhikers were attacked by riders and vice versa. Actually, in the 1920s, the practice had recorded its first conception into criminality. Various media houses published articles on hitchhiking related crimes; pundits warning the public against the practice. As a result 19 local governments enacted hitchhiking laws in a bid to ban the practice entirely by the end of 1920s. Morton (304) adds that the Great Depression of the 1930s was accompanied by a wave of criminals purporting to be hitchhikers. During this time, Americans were greatly affected by the hard economic times. As a result, most of the hitchhikers in America deviated from their adventure to engage in criminal activities in order to earn a living. 1950s also painted hitchhikers as criminals, in fact most of the magazines were littered by gruesome information about the deviant practices in hitchhiking. As a result, security agencies like the FBI stared piling legal offences against hitchhikers.

As Misiroglu (43) states, it is clear that the practice of hitchhiking entailed jeopardy particularly in the periods when the American government was faced with crisis. The forms of danger which entangled the practice emanated from two opposite poles. Whenever hitchhikers were found on the wrong side of the law, the media channels would hyperbolize such events. Subsequently, the attention of the security authorities would be erupted thus breaking the hitchhiking wave. Consequently, danger as a major variable caused the decline of hitchhiking and the eventual demise of the practice in the 1970s.

Works Cited

Compagni Portis, Julian Anthony. “Thumbs Down: America and the Decline of Hitchhiking.” (2015). pp. 45-58.

Krakauer, Jon. “Into the Wild. 1996” (2007). pp. 43-64.

Mahood, Linda. “Thumb Wars: Hitchhiking, Canadian Youth Rituals and Risk in the Twentieth Century.” Journal of Social History 49.3 (2015): pp.647-664.

Misiroglu, Gina. American countercultures: an encyclopedia of nonconformists, alternative lifestyles, and radical ideas in US history. Routledge, 2015. pp 37-43.

Morton, Katherine. “Hitchhiking and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Billboard on the Highway of Tears.” Canadian Journal of Sociology (Online) 41.3 (2016):pp. 299-313.