I’m trying to find the lyrics of this song which my father used to sing when I was a child in the 1950s. I think it’s a version by Boyd Carpenter recorded in 1932. The lyrics I can recall are copied below. Have looked at convention songs in the Hobos Hornbook texts but though similar aren’t the right ones.
“Back in 1900 as everybody knows Utah and Wyoming were overswamped with hoboes
They came from the north south east and west and every state you could mention And the reason that they came was the hoboes convention
I caught a train that very night a fast freight from Chicago The brakeman came and threw me off at a town call Wells Fargo
And as I sat upon a bank a watchman whose name was Dan He said climb up that water tank and sign your monogram
As i climbed up that water tank the tank was all in chalk with the name of every hobo from frisco to new york
Missing line And if i still remember them I'll tell them them all to you
There was (here’s where I’ve forgotten most)
Jake the Indian Arrow One eyed joe from Idaho and the Philidephia Sparrow
I've travelled round this world a bit and roamed from coast to coast and eaten everything from beans to scalloped whales on toast.
Missing line Anywhere I hang my hat is home sweet home to me.”