4.9 KB · ⇊ 4 parts · ⤓ Micron 4.9 KB · ⤓ HTML 34.5 KB

top

A bindle is the bag, sack, or carrying device stereotypically used by the American sub-culture of hobos.cite-ref-1[1] The bindle is colloquially known as the blanket stick, particularly within the Northeastern hobo community. They are also heavily associated with the Great Depression.

A hobo who carried a bindle was known as a bindlestiff. According to James Blish in his novel A Life for the Stars, a bindlestiff was specifically a hobo who had stolen another hobo's bindle, from the colloquialism stiff, as in steal.

In modern popular culture the bindle is portrayed as a stick with cloth or a blanket tied around one end for carrying items, with the entire array being carried over the shoulder. This transferred force to the shoulder, which allowed a longer-lasting and comfortable grip, especially with larger heavier loads. Particularly in cartoons, the bindles' sacks usually have a polka-dot or bandanna design. However, in actual use the bindle can take many forms.

One example of the stick-type bindle can be seen in the illustration entitled The Runaway created by Norman Rockwell for the cover of the September 20, 1958, edition of The Saturday Evening Post.cite-ref-2[2]

Though bindles are virtually gone, they are still widely seen in popular culture as a prevalent anachronism.

The term bindle may be an alteration of the term "bundle" or similarly descend from the German word Bündel, meaning something wrapped up in a blanket and bound by cord for carrying (cf. originally Middle Dutch bundel), or have arisen as a portmanteau of bind and spindle.cite-ref-3[3] It may also be from the Scottish dialectal bindle "cord or rope to bind things".cite-ref-4[4]

Bindle is also a term used in forensics. It is the name for a piece of paper folded into an envelope or packet to hold trace evidence: hairs, fibers or powders.cite-ref-5[5] Similarly, bindle is sometimes used to describe a small package of powdered drugs.

• See also

• References

• External links

• Carrying pole

• Sarcina

cite-note-11. ↑ "bindle". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 28 June 2024.

cite-note-22. ↑ "The Runaway (1958) by Norman Rockwell". Artchive. Retrieved May 30, 2023.

cite-note-33. ↑ "Bindle Definition & Meaning". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved May 30, 2023.

cite-note-44. ↑ "Bindle Etymology". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved July 21, 2023.

cite-note-55. ↑ Evidence Packaging: A How-To Guide (PDF), California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services, p. 32, retrieved May 30, 2023

Look up

bindle

in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• "Folding a Paper Bindle", 2017, National Forensic Technology Training Center.

• "Paper Evidence Fold", 2014, VDFS, Virginia.