By TIM KELLY
Long before Martin Z. Mollusk, there was Hobo.
Decades prior to Martin, Ocean City’s official hermit crab mascot who is, with all due respect, a person in a costume, there was a living, breathing four-legged ambassador named Hobo.
A stray pooch of mixed breeding found in a snowdrift in 1920, Hobo would become one of the best known and best loved inhabitants of Ocean City for the next 16 years.
“He was a part of the scenery,” Ocean City historian Fred Miller said. “People loved him. He really became the unofficial mascot for the whole town.”
In the days before strict enforcement of dog licensing and leash laws, Hobo walked about downtown Ocean City and the Boardwalk with a certain swagger, making friends everywhere he went.
Locals took care of Hobo. Seasonal visitors sought him out like a box of salt water taffy.
According to legend, a couple noticed a whimpering brown and white dog in the snow beneath the Boardwalk and brought him back to their house.
Though the adopted family provided a home base when needed, Hobo was mostly on his own, making regular stops along the beach and Boardwalk, schoolyards during recess or just about any other place in town he cared to visit.
His last visit most nights was Shriver’s candies, where he was given a good-sized dish of ice cream. He was also said to receive meals from local shops and restaurants and plenty of treats from Boardwalk merchants and people out for a walk.
“He had friends all over the place,” Miller said. “He was out on the beach quite a bit and was popular with the lifeguards. John B. Kelly Sr., the father of Grace Kelly, the future princess of Monaco, was a big supporter, as was Grace Kelly herself.”
“In Ocean City you could never go wrong if you were close with Grace Kelly,” Miller added with a laugh.
Hobo was also known to rest on the Boardwalk, sunning himself next to the benches or accepting belly rubs from friends old and new.
During his lifetime, Hobo’s legend grew, as did he. With all the treats and meals being given out, the dog gained weight and his walk “became a waddle,” according to a published report.
The big appetite and generosity of his human buddies did not affect Hobo’s longevity. His life spanned all of the Roaring Twenties and most of the Great Depression.
As the town evolved from a sleepy beach community into a major tourism mecca, Hobo’s presence was a constant.
In Miller’s book “Ocean City: America’s Greatest Family Resort,” Hobo’s personality is described as being infectious to all, but particularly to children.
When the dog died on Dec. 8, 1936, children were said to have been the main contributors to a collection taken up for a monument. The $125 needed for a stone marker with Hobo’s likeness chiseled on the side was soon raised.
A local mortician donated a small casket and Hobo was laid to rest on the grounds of the original Ocean City High School.
The monument, a combination bird bath and dog drinking station, was installed at the graveside, where it stood for 29 years. Its inscription reads “In memory of ‘Hobo’ Ocean City’s Beloved Mascot. Died December 8, 1936, Aged 18 to 19 years.”
A construction project necessitated removal of the monument in 1965, where it was “lost” in a forgotten storage area until 1976. When re-discovered, the marker was installed at the former site of the Ocean City Historical Museum on Wesley Avenue.
The monument was moved once more to its present location in front of the Ocean City Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave. when the Historical Museum moved there.
“Hobo made an impact on the community and he is fondly remembered,” Miller said. “Not many dogs achieve that kind of popularity.”
