T-Bone Slim

Matti Valentinpoika Huhta (1880–1942), better known by his pen name T-Bone Slim, was a humorist, poet, songwriter, hobo, and labor activist, who played a prominent role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

Little Red Songbook 1932

Huhta was born in Ashtabula, Ohio to Matti and Johanna Huhta, Finnish immigrants from Ilmajoki, Finland. As a young man he married Rosa Kotila of Ashtabula, with whom he had four children. The marriage ended when the children were young, and he left Ohio, having no further contact with Rosa or the children.

He worked briefly as a reporter for the daily News-Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota but resigned after an editor "misquoted him and balled up his article" about an IWW mass meeting. According to one account, this was when he joined the Industrial Workers of the World or "Wobblies", as they are sometimes called. Over a period of twenty years Huhta contributed numerous articles and songs to IWW publications and was widely regarded as one of the union's finest writers. He was a regular columnist for Industrial Solidarity and later wrote for the Industrial Worker and Industrialisti.

In addition to his writing, he supported himself in various ways. His experience working on docks and barges around the country had by the mid-1930s garnered him a position as barge captain in New York City. On May 15, 1942 Huhta's body was found floating in the Hudson River, where it appeared to have been for several days. The death was ruled an accidental drowning although the exact circumstances were unclear. There was no funeral, and in the end Huhta was buried in a potter's field on Hart Island.

Following his death, T-Bone Slim became a source of inspiration for the emerging American surrealist movement, and during the 1960s there was renewed interest in his songs when they were sung by Civil Rights activists. In an interview the noted linguist Noam Chomsky cited T-Bone Slim as one of his favorite Wobbly singers.

A number of T-Bone Slim's songs can be found in the Little Red Songbook. Among the best known are The Popular Wobbly, Mysteries Of A Hobo's Life and The Lumberjack's Prayer. First published by the IWW in 1909, the songbook has never gone out of print. The Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company brought out the 38th edition in 2010and has other works by T-Bone Slim in its catalog. There are no known photographs of T-Bone Slim, but the cartoon sketch at the head of his column was said to have been a good likeness.

The first Finnish translation of T-Bone Slim's writings was published in 2013.

• IWW Songbook 1920
• Power of These Two Hands 1922
• Starving Amidst Too Much 1923

• "Wherever you find injustice, the proper form of politeness is attack."
• "Always keep yourself fit to serve mankind. Watch yourself, do not watch the boss. Never exhaust yourself — there is nothing more disgusting than a man staggering home from work 'dog-tired', helplessly falling into a chair to have his child remove his shoes; then grabbing a hasty feverish supper; saying good-night to his family and rolling into bed half-washed, to repeat the same thing three hundred and twelve times per year, or until sickness puts a stop to his mad career."
• "Tear Gas: the most effective agent used by employers to persuade their employees that the interests of capital and labor are identical."

• Dancin' In The Streets by Franklin Rosemont and Charles Radcliffe, (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr, 2005.)