Popular Wobbly

T-Bone Slim (1882–1942), born Matti Valentinpoika Huhta, was a Finnish American humorist, columnist, poet, musician, hobo, and labor activist who was a prominent writer for the Industrial Workers of the World.   Owen Clayton is senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Lincoln in England and author of Vagabonds, Tramps, and Hobos: The Literature and Culture of U.S. Transiency, 1890–1940 and Literature and Photography in Transition, 1850–1915.   Iain McIntyre is honorary fellow with the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne; researcher at the Commons Social Change Library; and author of Environmental Blockades: Obstructive Direct Action and the History of the Environmental Movement.   David R. Roediger is Foundation Professor of American Studies at the University of Kansas and author of The Sinking Middle Class: A Political History of Debt, Misery, and the Drift to the Right and The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class.

• ContentsForeword, David R. RoedigerIntroduction: Mysteries of a Hobo’s Life, Owen Clayton and Iain McIntyreEditors’ Note Selected Writings of T-Bone Slim 1919–1921Only a Mouse in JailThe Popular WobblyAn EarfullJust before the Panic, Mother!Twenty YearsMy Respects-ApologySoup LinesMysteries of a Hobo’s LifeHalf-and-HalfHeadin’ InHeadin’ In 1922The Lumberjack’s PrayerLots of Sympathy but No HelpAn ExperienceSulphur and MolassesOverallsThe Stuff Heroes Are Made OfNormalcy Has ArrivedDas KapitalThe Power of These Two HandsConsistently SpeakingNosebags 1923Best PeopleT-Bone Slim DiscussesBetween These TwoUnfinished BusinessSpeed of the TongueWarT-Bone Slim Discusses: The Off-SetGolfT-Bone Slim Extends Himself to Discuss EducationT-Bone Slim Discusses: Sample CampsOff ColorsOdds and EndsAll I KnowThe Whole Hog: Of Emotions Raised by CharityPrepare for the WorstMust or Not-to-Must, or Freaks of NatureSweet CharityWalking with the DeadStand without HitchingAn Eighty Year BoyEarly HistoryStarving amidst Too Much 1924Mr. Hammond DeggsT-Bone Slim Discusses a Peace PlanSome Star! (The Solidarity of Desperation)I See, Says IRights vs. PlightsMostly SongIndiana MoonDon’t ThreatenRock of AgesT-Bone Slim Discusses: Safety FirstT-Bone Slim DiscussesBugs and FordsTrue to FormT-Bone Slim Discusses: DiscriminationInterlockingAn Earfull 1925OrangesTo My FriendThe Passing ShowCross Word PuzzleIndustrial UnionismThe United AffrontFrom Murder to Re-ActionBeseech and CollectT-Bone Slim Says: Figures LieT-Bone Slim Discusses: Chop SueyT-Bone Slim DiscussesT-Bone Slim Discusses: WarShortcuts 1926Hall of FameT-Bone Slim Discusses: Wry-Bread-Go or MeltT-Bone Slim Discusses the Laughing DogInformationT-Bone Slim Discusses: How Do They Do ItReporting the ReportsTaxing Our SpiritThe TrendA Restaurant Is No Stronger Than Its Weakest CoffeeNow-a-DaysBoneyard 1927BoneyardConcessionaires?“Origin of Fatal Explosion Baffles All Investigation”BoneyardRough Logic: Seeing’s BelievingRazzpectability!UntitledUntitled 1928–1929BoneyardThat “Triple Threat”Passing the PlateUntitledJunk, or Close Quarters“Yes”-MenHow Poems Are MadeWork versus Ultra VioletPsycholeragising Wealth-and TimeThe Power of TearsLong Island SoundThe Taste That TellsPut a Head on It 1930Where Lies Safety?The Dizzy RaceA Ghost StoryLooking Things Over“Sundownitis”It Do Seem So-A Peach of a StoryT-Bone Slim Takes to the Air, or Saved in the Nick of TimeElastic TransportationA SurveyMeasured TreadA Touching StoryOn Popular Sanitation 1931–1932Three BottlesSay It with FlowersSlim Is Dissatisfied with His LooksSlim Gets NervousA Mosquito’s Lunch“Will There Be Another War?”Roosevelt Was RightRaising a FamilyWhat Was in the Wrapper?The HybridThumbs DownUntitledRace HatredThat’s That!Side Door Pullman Philosopher 1933–1936T-Bone EconomicsUntitled ArticleUntitled Manuscript NotesResurrectionUntitled Manuscript NotesChinese WisecracksExtemporaneous BathExtra! T. B. Slim’s Golden Discovery Cures Everything!Untitled Manuscript NotesIt Should Be Labor Day 1937–1939T-Bone Slim Takes a Look at the ShowWhy Ask the Boss for RecognitionSit-Down Strikes Too Good to StopThe Movie Stars-and a Picket LineCharity Covers a Multitude of Transgressions!Put the Boss in Overalls, Says T-Bone SlimThe Purest Ray SereneT-Bone Slim Calls for a HousecleaningThe Best of a Bad Bargain Is Plenty ToughSupplying Arms and a Matter of Business EthicsStreet BeggarsPrivate LetterWhen Privates Fight War by TelephoneOne Man Show Would Please Our ParasitesWe Don’t Want Dictatorship of Any Color 1940–1942Nobody Is Shooting at the RulersShould Indians Have Registered the Foreigners?How Slim Brought Peace to FrazeeMasters Start War but Won’t Stay to FightDon’t Stop to Rest on Dead CenterPoliticians Will Squirm after the WarWarning of Cannon Fodder Shortage for War of 1960Produce for Use and Peace Will Come at LastI Didn’t Know It Was LoadedYes, Labor Is Partly to BlameResponses to T-Bone SlimTo T-Bone SlimGeorge BakerT-Bone Slim Ill“Editor Worker”Why No News from Our “T-Bone Slim”?Sam MurrayA Reader Appreciates Our T-Bone SlimInterviewing T-Bone SlimCovamiFoes Recognize Power of Our Inimitable Columnist, T-Bone SlimHobo PoetAnonymousWork People’s College Youngsters Study and FrolicO.K.L.A Torch for T-Bone SlimFloyd Hoke-MillerYours for the IWW“Old Nick”Slim’s ObituaryHomage to T-Bone SlimFranklin RosemontA Man Called AmericaVille-Juhani SutinenThemes in the Writing of T-Bone SlimAcknowledgmentsFurther ReadingIndex

"With switchblade wit, the great IWW provocateur T-Bone Slim skewered injustice and uplifted the working class." - Tom Morello "T-Bone Slim was a really impressive person who should be much better known. This anthology shows that his words and ideas are still relevant today." - Noam Chomsky "This is lost wisdom." - Billy Bragg "[These writings have] the force of Hemingway plus the sting of Swift." - Lee Taylor "It remains impossible to reproduce T-Bone Slim’s matchless wordplay and invention of language. . . . We believe his madcap humor and sober truths because his brilliance hews so closely to our everyday experiences." - David Roediger "T-Bone Slim wrote the way an arsonist sets fires." - Franklin Rosemont "T-Bone Slim lived his life in North America, but he created a world of his own. This world was rooted in the harsh realities of migrant workers’ lives, but at the same time it was a world of fantasy, black humor, and language play, free from time and place. This world is just as alive and recognizable today as it was in his time." - Kirsti Salmi-Niklander "[T-Bone Slim] was the laureate of the logging camps." - Harvey O’Connor