Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) pertaining to the trade union Industrial Workers of the World.

1923		N. Anderson Hobo 191: ‘Wobbly’ papers are extensively used as lesson sheets.
1930		G. Milburn ‘The Popular Wobbly’ in Hobo’s Hornbook 112: When he saw my wobbly card – / He went wild, simply wild, over me.
1931		‘Memories’ in Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 252: Just remember when next at the wealthy, / Some wobbly wop starts to rave, / That although you’re a ’bo you’re a free one, / While a rich bird like me is a slave.
1965		H.S. Thompson letter 10 June in Proud Highway (1997) 524: Boomers, Drifters, and Hard Travelers. They are wandering echoes of the Wobbly era.
1968		A. Buzo Norm and Ahmed (1973) 20: Wobbly bastards!
1991		(con. 1920s) O.D. Brooks Legs 47: A former wobbly organizer experienced in handling drunken hecklers at sidewalk meetings.
1994		J. Wambaugh Finnegan’s Week 96: Then dumping became a misdemeanor, and sometimes a ‘wobbler’ felony that could be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.