Look for yourself, buy Jupiter
The Mysterious Toynbee Tiles
Written by Alan Bellows on June 12th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
From DamnInteresting.com
This is a classic Damn Interesting article which originally appeared on 25 September 2005. We apologize for the re-run.
In 1992, a chap in Philadelphia by the name of Bill O'Neill starting noticing strange tiles randomly embedded in local roads. They were generally about the size of a license plate, and each had some variation of the same strange message:
"TOYNBEE IDEA IN KUbricK's 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPiTER."
They varied a bit in color and arrangement, but they were all made of an unidentifiable hard substance, and many had footnotes as strange as the message itself, such as "Murder every journalist, I beg you," and "Submit. Obey." Some were accompanied by lengthy, paranoid diatribes about the newsmedia, jews, and the mafia.
So Bill started asking around about these tiles, but nobody knew anything about their origin or meaning. So, he created a website devoted to the mysterious tiles, and in doing so learned that it is not just a local phenomenon. Similar tiles have appeared in many US cities, including Washington DC, Pittsburgh, New York City, Baltimore, Boston, and many more. Some have even shown up in South America; in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. To date, about 130 tiles have been discovered. Somehow, someone is managing to embed these tiles into public roads– some of which are busy 24/7– without being spotted.
The tiles all mention "Toynbee," most likely Arnold J. Toynbee, a religious historian born in England in 1889. Some of the tiles mention Kubrick, the filmmaker responsible for A Space Odyssey, which was a movie that made implications that a man was reborn on a mission to Jupiter, not exactly resurrected. There is only one known intersection between the works of Toynbee and Kubrick, and it's pretty circumstantial: Toynbee's writings spoke of a man named Zoroaster who conceived the idea of monotheism, and this name also occurs in the title of the famous A Space Odyssey theme song; it's entitled "Thus Spoke Zoroaster."
Due to strong similarity in craftsmanship and writing style, these tiles are most likely the work of a single individual (in the interest of conserving slashes and pronouns, we'll assume this individual is a male). Either this man is disturbed, or he has a bizarre sense of humor. He is certainly creative, as the messages' delivery system indicates, and he must be a patient and methodical man to have invested the time in making these 130 or so tiles by hand. And given the diverse locales where the tiles can be found, he has the means and money to travel. Some people also suppose that he is European, given that Kubrick and Toynbee are both English, and because one of the paranoid-ranting plaques indicates that he is/was hiding in Dover, England.
One Toynbee Tile enthusiast has claimed that a freshly laid tile was once found and examined:
The highlight of my search for answers to this mystery occurred one Sunday night of this previous winter. I had gone to my local convenience store for a snack around 4:00 A.M., noticing nothing unusual. On my way home I noticed something unusual in the street. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it to be a "Toynbee Idea" tile - freshly placed and only minutes old. Of course I was beside myself with excitement and I could now see exactly how, and of what materials these tiles are made. (This tile, by the way, is located on 13th. & Arch St. in Philadelphia.) The tiles are just that - tiles….although not the standard vinyl floor tile, as I had suspected. The letters are cut out of a material with, I assume, a higher rubber content than a standard floor tile. The inlay letters seemed to made from a less maleable substance, and in this case were red and yellow. The tile is secured to the street by intricately folded and layered tar paper, glued together. A layer of raw tar seemed to lie beneath the whole tile, anchoring it. The weight of cars, as they run over the tile, forces the layers of tar paper to impregnate the spaces in the cracks of the letters.
The most tantalizing clue as to the source of these tiles was a 1983 newspaper interview with a social worker from Philadelphia, a man named James Morasco, who claimed that Jupiter could be colonized by bringing Earth's dead people there to have them resurrected. When writing an article on the tiles in 2001, one reporter stumbled upon the original 1983 article, found the link intriguing, and tried to call the only James Morasco listed in Philly. A woman who answered said Mr. Morasco couldn't come to the phone because a mysterious ailment had required that he have his voicebox removed. Another reporter writing another story in 2003 tried to call the same man, only to be told that he had died the previous March at age 88, but that he had known nothing about the tiles:
"My husband doesn't know anything about that," she said. "Besides he died in March. But he didn't know anything about it."
Thou dost protest too much? Given the strong ties and strange circumstances, some believe that Mr. Morasco was the responsible party… but there are some problems with the Morasco theory: A) He would have been in his 70s when most of the tiles were placed, and B) some new ones have been installed since his death in 2003.
Another ambiguous Toynbee-2001 link appears in a 1985 play by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright David Mamet. In his "Goldberg Street" collection, he wrote an exchange between a radio talk show host and a caller obsessing over Arnold Toynbee, the movie 2001 and dead people. This play was written seven years before the first Toynbee tile was discovered, but two years after the Morasco article.
Despite finding a few links and some background information, the purpose and message of these tiles remains inexplicable. Did 70-year-old James Morasco install the tiles, then pass the legacy on to another to continue after his death? Was it some disturbed individual who latched onto the theory described in the 1983[ article, and acted on his/her own? Or could it be someone who made the bizarre Kubrick-Toynbee link independently? Particularly fitting is the last line of the original 1983 article on James Morasco:
"You may be hearing more from Morasco. And then again, you may not."
LIST OF SIGHTINGS
ARTISTIC STYLE CODE:
A: Old style, license-plate size, single color.
B: Old style, mosaic, multi-color.
C: Old style, experimental or unique.
D: New style, index-card size, single to tri-colored.
E: New style, very large, often four-panel, single color, used on highways.
F: New style, thin strips, single-lined or multi-lined.
G: New style, larger, left-oriented, multi-color.
H: Copycat tile, misc style.
I: New style, post-index-card style, index card font but larger and multi-colored.
CURRENTLY EXISTING (as of summer 2006)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OLD STYLE
5th and Walnut Streets (A - fragment)
4th and South Streets (B)
11th and Walnut Streets (A)
Broad and Market Streets (A - fragment)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NEW STYLE
7th and Shunk Streets (E)
11th and Chestnut Streets (D fragment)
12th and Locust Streets (E - unique design, upside down, in middle of road)
13th and Chestnut Streets (G)
South and Reese Streets (D)
4th and South Streets (F)
Broad and Oregon Streets (D)
Broad Street and Moyamensing Avenue (D)
Broad Street and Ritner Street (D)
Broad Street and Wolf Street (two, D/D fragment)
Broad Street and Snyder Street (four, D/D/D fragment/D fragment)
Broad Street exit off I-95 (G)
8th and Oregon Streets (D)
Walnut and Juniper Streets (D)
13th and Chestnut Streets (D)
44th and Walnut Streets (H - Justin's copycat tile, fragment)
Frankford Avenue & Bridge Street (D)
Frankford Avenue & Granite Street (D)
Frankford Avenue & Pratt Street (D)
Cottman and Torresdale Avenues (G)
676 E, between exits 2 & 1 (E)
Market Street and Schuylkill Avenue (I)
31st and Market Streets (I)
19th and Chestnut Streets (I)
Broad and Vine Streets (I)
38th and Walnut Streets (I)
THERE ARE MANY TYPE D TILES IN PHILADELPHIA. MORE LISTINGS OF THESE ARE COMING SOON. PLEASE CONTACT US AND REMIND US WHAT WE'VE FORGOTTEN.
PITTSBURGH, PA
Smithfield Street and 6th Avenue (B)
Smithfield Street and Oliver Avenue (two tiles - B/B)
Smithfield Street and Forbes Avenue (B)
Forbes Avenue and Grant Ave (B)
SAINT LOUIS, MO
8th and Market Streets (B)
7th and Market Streets (two - B/B)
6th and Olive Streets (B)
CLEVELAND, OH
W. 3rd and Prospect Avenues (B)
E. 12th Street and Eulcid Avenue (B - partially covered)
WASHINGTON, DC
15th and F NW Streets (A)
7th Street and Indiana Avenue (B)
CHICAGO, IL
S. Michigan Street and E. Jackson Avenue (B - half repaved)
N. Michigan Street and E. Chestnut Street (B - a fragment remains)
NEW YORK CITY
36th Street and Park Avenue (B)
Midtown - address unknown (B - fragment)
CINCINNATI, OH
E. 6th and Market Streets (B)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Maryland and Meridian Street (B)
BOSTON, MA
Temple and Tremont (A with red border)
MARYLAND
Chesapeake House off I-95 (two tiles - B/B fragment)
PENNSYLVANIA
Rest stop off I-76 (B - extremely small fragment)
NEW JERSEY
Molly Pitcher service area rest stop off I-95 N, btwn. exits 8 and 8A (B - half of tile remains)
BRISTOL, PA - NEW STYLE
I-95 S, between 413 and Street Road exits (E, E, E, three seperate tiles reading "Toynbee Idea," "Movie 2001," "Resurrect Dead")
BRANSON, CONNECTICUT - NEW STYLE
Exit 55 on I-95 (G)
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
Avenida de Mayo, Rivadavia, and Parana Streets (A)
CURRENT STATUS UNKNOWN
BALTIMORE, MD
Calvert Street and Lombard Street
South Street and Lombard Street
Light Street and E. Baltimore Street (four tiles)
South Street and E. Baltimore Street
Redwood Street and S. Calvert Street (two tiles - B/?)
E Lombard Street and Light Street
Charles Street and Chase Street
Charles Street and E. Madison Street
Charles Street and Monument Street
Charles Street and E. Mt. Vernon Place
North Charles Street and Fayette Street
St. Paul Street and Centre Street
St. Paul Street and Lexington Street (two - A/A)
Liberty Street and Lexington Street
Lombard Street and Hopkins Street
Lombard Street and Market Place
ABERDEEN, MD
Route 22 and Beards Hill
EDGEWOOD, MD
Route 40 and Route 24
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, South America
Av. Presidente Vargas and Av. Uruguaiana Santiago (A)
SANTIAGO, CHILE, South America
Agustinas and Estado
PAVED OVER
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OLD STYLE
4th Street and Sansom Street
5th Street and Chestnut Street (C - "Scattered" lettering style.)
4th Street and Chestnut Street (C - "Scattered" lettering style.)
6th & 7th and Shunk (C Early experiments in tiling - no text.)
7th Street and Chestnut Street
8th Street and Shunk (C Many experimental tiles)
9th Street and Chestnut Street
9th Street and Shunk Street (A - broken Spanish)
11th Street and Oregon Avenue
12th Street and Berks Mall
12th Street and Chestnut Street (B)
12th Street and Race Street
13th Street and Chestnut Street
Broad Street and Oxford Street
Broad Street and Oregon Avenue
Broad Street and Sansom Street
15th Street and Arch Street
15th Street and Chestnut Street (two - B/B)
15th Street and Walnut Street
16th Street and Chestnut Street (two - B/C - The "Manifesto tile")
16th Street and Market Street
16th Street and Sansom Street
17th Street and Walnut Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NEW STYLE
34th Street and Market Street (D)
52nd Street and Chestnut Street (D)
56th Street and Market Street (D)
Rt. 1 and Southampton Blvd (G)
16th and Locust Streets (D)
South Street East (D - at least 7 quickly destroyed)
MANY MORE LISTINGS COMING SOON
NEW YORK CITY, NY
33rd Street and Broadway (B)
W. 34th Street 5th Avenue (B)
E. 36th Street and Madison Avenue
36th Street and 5th Avenue (B)
E. 39th Street and 5th Avenue
W. 39th Street and 6th Avenue (B)
40th Street and 5th Avenue (two - B/B)
41st Street and 5th Avenue
42nd Street and 7th Avenue
44th Street and Broadway
44th Street and 5th Avenue
44th Street and 6th Avenue (B)
45th Street and Broadway (two - B/B)
45th Street and 3rd Avenue (A)
45th Street and 5th Avenue
E. 47th Street and 5th Avenue
E. 48th Street and 1st Avenue
48th Street and Broadway
E. 49th Street and 5th Avenue (three) W. 51st Street and 7th Avenue
51st Street and 6th Avenue (B)
52nd Street and Broadway (three)
52nd Street and 8th Avenue
53rd Street and Broadway
53rd Street and Lexington Avenue
E. 53rd Street and 5th Avenue
W. 53rd Street and 7th Avenue
54th Street and 5th Avenue
55th Street and Broadway
E. 55th Street and 5th Avenue
W. 55th Street and 7th Avenue (B)
W. 57th Street and Broadway (two)
West Broadway and 6th Avenue
Broadway Avenue and Park Place Avenue
Broadway Avenue and Barclay Avenue
Broome Street and Varick Street (A)
E Street and 12th Avenue
F Street and 12th Avenue
F Street and 15th Avenue
New York Avenue and 15th Avenue (two)
PITTSBURGH, PA
Penn Avenue (across from the Hilton) (A)
Smithfield & 7th Ave (B)
WASHINGTON, DC
NW New Hampshire Avenue and DuPont Circle
6th Street NW and Massachusetts Avenue
NW 6th Street NW and D Street SW
7th Street NW and K Street
12th Street NW and I Street NW
13th Street NW and E Street NW
13th Street NW and G Street NW
13th Street NW and K Street NW (A)
14th Street NW and F Street NW
14th Street NW and K Street NW (B)
14th Street NW and L Street NW
15th Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
15th Street NW and E Street NW
15th Street NW and I Street NW (A)
M Street NW and Thomas Circle NW (A)
COLUMBUS, OH
3rd Street and Broad Street
TOLEDO, OH
Huron Street and Jefferson Avenue
Summit Street and Jefferson Avenue
Superior Street and Jefferson Avenue
CINCINNATI, OH
4th Street and Main Street
5th Street and Walnut Avenue
CLEVELAND, OH
Tower City Center on Public Square
BELLMAWR, NJ
Blackhorse Pike at the NJ Turnpike Off-Ramp
CHICAGO, IL
Jackson Street and Wells
Delaware Place and Michigan Avenue
Baltimore Avenue and Michigan Avenue Near 900
North Michigan Avenue Near 400
North Michigan Avenue and Congress Street
Michigan Avenue and Madison Street
Michigan Avenue and Pearson Street
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Georgia Street and Meridian Street (B)
ST. LOUIS, MO
Washington Street and 6th Avenue
MOTTVILLE, MI
US 12 near Mann Road
BOSTON, MA
Berkeley Street and St. James Avenue
Charles Street
Kingston Street and Essex Street
Commonwealth Avenue and Arlington Street
Temple Avenue and Tremont Avenue
Dartmouth Avenue near the Back Bay T Station
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
North Carolina Avenue and Pacific Avenue
DETROIT, MI
Bates Street and Cadillac Square (B)
Randolf Street and Congress Street (B)
Woodward Avenue across from City-County Building
Woodward Avenue and Larned Street
KANSAS CITY, MO
13th Street and Grand Ave (B)
BALAD, IRAQ
Location unknown (H - copycat, about.)
PROVIDENCE, RI
Many have claimed to have seen Providence tiles. No specific intersections are known. They are reportedly all gone.
PHOTO GALLERY
Here are three galleries compiled by Jon Foy in 2005. We'll soon revamp these galleries and update them with new findings and corrections. Until then, enjoy the old ones.
Philadelphia
New York City
Other cities
COMPLETE TEXTS
Main message:
TOYNBEE IDEA
IN MOVIE '2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER
Variations:
-Line two: "in Kubrick's '2001" (only on older old style tiles); omit "in."
-Line three: "Raise Dead" (only on new style tiles.)
-On rare occasions, reverse lines three and four. Also on rare occasions, shuffle wording to fit different lines.
-"Spanish" version - "Toynbee Idea in Cine 2001 Resucitar Morto sul planet Jupiter."
Most common addition:
YOU MUST MAKE AND GLUE TILES! YOU!! AS MEDIA USSR.
Variations:
-Add "and its thousands of fronts are destroying it."
-Add "As media and its thousands of fronts are against it," or same omitting "its thousands of."
-Replace "USSR" with "SOV."
-Omit "As media USSR," "YOU!!," "You must…," etc.
-Add "As hellions and feds infilitrate and harvest you to prison." (New style tiles only, referencing old style text.)
-"…If you do tile" (from Chicago tile, half repaved, which conceals what one should do if one does tile.)
-"…tile or this sur…" (a warning from a Cleveland tile that was never fully revealed.)
-"Please make and glue tiles as the American media is working with the Soviet Union and its thousands of fronts in USA to tu…" (from NYC & Philly tiles.)
Unique and less common texts:
"Every concept of past 500 years dont exist in Christian heaven they only exist in Christian hell. Now the 'Cult of the Hellion' is searching for more than one hell (ideologies) to get more reward." (on tiles in Pittsburgh and NYC. Also repeated on new style tiles.)
"I am only one man and when I caught a fatal disease they gloated over its death. That's when I begged them not to destroy it. Thank you and goodbye." (on several tiles, including Cleveland and NYC.)
"(Un)der F.O.I.A {"Freedom of Information Act" -ed.}, NBC journa(li)sts funneled information on me to Sov…KGB… on 5 bureau .. ious on me .. ordinate .. in attempt .. on me.." (A difficult-to-read, unique rant from a cracked St. Louis tile.)
"Escriva: Toynbee A, 2624 S 7th St, Phila PA 19148-4610 USA" (from Brazilian tile. Reported to have been in English on an undocumented Pittsburgh tile.)
"Only by destruction of media can this movement survive." (appears several times, including Philly, NYC tile and new style tiles.)
"And if this idea survives after all, make those hellions pay for what they've done, I beg you. Thank you and goodbye." (from Chicago tile, repeated on new style tiles.)
"Murder every journalist, I beg you." (Reported as being written on an NYC tile that was paved over in the late '90s. No known photos exist.)
"I (use?) asphault crack filler … as summer sun melts … tar paper to keep it from … car tires from messing it up … youre alone hellions … harvest you to prison." (from Pittsburgh tile. Toledo, OH also reportedly had a tile with instructions.)
The singular "Manifesto tile," aka the "Ten Commandments" tile:
JOHN KNIGHT, OWNER OF "THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER" - HELLION JEW - WHOSE HATED THIS MOVEMENTS GUTS - FOR YEARS - TAKES MONEY FROM THE MAFIA TO MAKE THE MAFIA LOOK GOOD IN HIS NEWSPAPERS SO HE HAS THE MAFIA IN HIS BACK POCKET. JOHN KNIGHT SENT THE MAFIA TO MURDER ME IN MAY 1991. (unreadable…..) JOURNALIST ALL OF THEM GLOATED TO MY FACE ABOUT MY DEATH AND KNIGHT-RIDDERS GREAT POWER TO DESTROY. IN FACT JOHN KNIGHT WENT INTO HELLION BINGE OF JOY OVER KNIGHT-RIDDERS GREAT POWER TO DESTROY. I SECURED HOUSE WITH BLAST DOORS AND FLED THE COUNTRY IN JUNE 1991. N.B.C. ATTORNEYS, JOURNALISTS AND SECURITY OFFICIALS AT ROCKERFELLER CENTER FRADULAENTLY …..(unreadable)….. UNDER THE "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT" ALL…. ORDERS OF N.B.C. EXECUTIVES GOT THE U.S. FEDERAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE AND GOT THE F.B.I. TO GET INTERPOL TO ESTABLISH TASK FORCE THAT LOCATED ME IN DOVER ENGLAND. WHEN BACK HOME INQUIRER GOT UNION GOONS FROM THEIR OWN EMPLOYEES UNION TO SEND DOWN A "SPORTS JOURNALIST" -WHO - WITH BASEBALL BAT BASHED IN LIGHTS AND WINDOWS OF NEIGHBORHOOD CARS - AS WELL AS MEN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE. THEY ARE STATIONED THERE STILL. WAITING FOR ME. N.B.C., C.B.S., GROUP "W" WESTINGHOUSE. TIME. TIME-WARNER. FOX. UNIVERSAL - ALL OF THE "CULT OF THE HELLION" EACH WERE MUCH WORSE THAN KNIGHT RIDDER EVER WAS. (MOSTLY HELLION JEWS). WHEN K.Y.W. AND N.B.C. EXECUTIVES TOLD JOHN KNIGHT THE WHOLE COVEN GLOATED ON HOW THEIR SOVIET PALS HAD FOUND A WAY TO TURN IT INTO A….."
New style tiles' additional texts:
"LAY TILE ALONE - FEDS"
"You must lay tile as hellion fronts and media are against it."
"I'm only one man and when I got a fatal disease they gloated in joy over its death."
"Lay tile alone as hellions join up en masse and give you beatings."
"I'm only one man. When I got a fatal disease, all communists, fags, and media - all hellions - had piss orgies of joy over its death."
"Just as religions write scriptures to send men to heaven, Galileo invented journalism to write scriptures to send men to hell. As long as one paragraph of journalism ever written in past 500 years continues to exist, humanity is doomed to be destroyed a second time."
"Work for holocaust of media. Don't let them get away with what they've done."
"Don't let them get away with what they've done. Make them pay for what they've done."
"Now Galileo's 'Cult Of the Hellion' is searching for 'more than one hell' (ideologies) to get 'more reward.'"
THE ARTISTIC HISTORY OF THE TILES
It is important to note upfront that we have received a slew of contradictory and/or implausible reports of tile sightings. Claims have been made that tiles were spotted back in the early 1970s and in Tokyo, Russia, Western Europe and the Western US. The information below is culled from what we believe to be the most trustworthy sources: reports in print and individual accounts numerous and similar enough to be assumed to be truth. It would also be unfair to omit the fact that, over the course of making our documentary, we've come into new evidence that we are mostly withholding from this and other pages on our website until the movie is finished. Thus, this reflects mostly our knowledge entering the filmmaking realm, sans some of our erroneous assumptions at the time.
In the early 1980s, the Toynbee Idea tiles first began to appear in the city of Philadelphia. Clark DeLeon, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and author of the famous "Theories: Wanna Run That One By Me Again?" column, claims to remember tiles from around 1982 and to have written about them in a column around that time and prior to "Theories…" In our searches we have been unable to find that piece. While we're not positive exactly when the tiles began to appear, they were popping up in full force around 1987, as numerous reports confirm.
The original tiles were of the "license plate" style, very simple monochromatic pieces with no additional messages beyond the famous four lines that practically all tiles tout, with minimal deviation - "TOYNBEE IDEA IN KUBRICK'S 2001 RESURRECT DEAD ON PLANET JUPITER." (Slowly "KUBRICK'S" was phased out for "MOVIE.") Here are a few examples of the original style of tile - unknown location in Philadelphia, Baltimore, W. Lexington St. The South American tiles were interesting variations of the license plate style, appearing in broken Spanish and, in at least one case, with a mailing address for the 'movement.'
As the decade wore on, colors were slowly integrated and the "mosaic" style started to develop. Here are some examples of early mosaic tiles, crossovers from the "license plate" style - unknown location in Boston, New York City, W. 40th St & 5th Ave. The former is merely a license plate tile with a color border, the latter has introduced colors into the lettering. The next addition to the tiles is the famous peripheral instruction that, "You must make and glue tiles! You!! As media, USSR…" This extra message's appearance coincided with the artistic evolutionary leap of the tiles; each tile was becoming a work of art in and of itself! Here are some examples: Philadelphia, 4th & South Sts, New York City, W. 44th St & 6th Ave.
By 1994, both mosaic and license plate tiles were appearing alongside of each other. This year is notable for several reasons - first, it's the first tile press we know of outside of Philadelphia, being a blurb in the Baltimore Sun. The Toynbee Idea movement had officially made it out of Philadelphia. Also, 1994 was the first tile sighting in our camp, by Justin Duerr.
For practically the next decade, the Toynbee Idea movement spread west to Kansas City, south to Washington, DC, and northeast to Boston, and also to South America. Typically, a town would receive a small handful of license plate tiles and a few glorious mosaics. The mosaics were getting larger and more artistic, including detailed borders and lettering, pictures of coffee cups, and, of course, those unmissable sexy lady legs (perhaps the tiler was hoping to sell his movement to the masses with some very mild sexuality.) Here are examples of the newer, more ornate mosaics - New York City, 36th St & Park Ave, Cleveland, West 3rd Ave & Prospect St. The other notable addition to the tiles were extended extra messages, about the Soviet Union, the media, etc. All of these advancements began in the mid-late '90s. At some point on earlier end of that time frame, the famous Philadelphia, 16th & Chestnut Sts, "manifesto tile," aka the "Ten Commandments" tile, popped up with the deepest glimpse into the tiler's philosophy the public was ever granted in tile form. The second largest glimpse we get is the frustratingly un-readable St. Louis tile, 7th & Market. Two other in-depth rants appeared in Pittsburgh - 7th & Smithfield and Forbes Ave. Sadly, of the great "rant" tiles, only the latter Pittsburgh tile has survived into 2006.
Sometime around 1998, the tiler bestowed the great city of New York (and, to a lesser extent, Chicago,) with a slew of some of the largest and most colorful mosaic tiles ever made and glued. License plate tiles had been phased out. However, after these sightings, few new ones were found outside of Philadelphia and new tiles abruptly ceased appearing around 2002 or 2003.
Strangely enough, in this same timeframe, several wholly new styles of tile began popping up, strictly in the city of Philadelphia. These four distinct new styles bore resemblance to each other, but had practically nothing in common with the old style of tiles beyond their message. First off, they were in a different font and crafted from a different artistic sensibility. Secondly, they were made of a different mix of glue and linoleum; they were notably more brittle. Generally they were placed in a different spot than the old style tiles - closer to the sidewalk and further off the ground under a larger mound of tar. Most tile aficionados and casual observers who took the time to think about it were in agreement - clearly a copycat was at work.
These four new styles were intriguing in their own right. Unfortunately, the most common and enduring style was also the most boring. These are the "index card" tiles, which tend to spring up en masse in a strip of Philadelphia. Here are some examples - 16th & Locust, S. Broad St. Areas that were bombarded with numerous index card tiles include Locust Street in Center City, South Street, and South Broad Street between the 2000-3000 blocks. Many of these tiles contain extra messages that stick very close to the original tiles' extra messages ("I am only one man…", "Murder every journalist…", "Every concept of last 500 years…".) There are some new slants to the new text, however; the most common message is a variation of, "'Lay tiles alone' - Feds." A tile on 16th and Locust contained a xenophobic slur - "fags," unprecedented among the old style tiles, although the old style tiles flirted with anti-semitism. Another new bend of tile rant included referencing Galileo, which was also new to the tile world. Tile fans noted that the rants seemed more fabricated than the old ones, sounding more like an attempt to "sound crazy," rather than the words of a sincerely crazy person. In the main message, many new tiles omitted "ON" (before "PLANET JUPITER",) "IN" (before "MOVIE 2001") and replaced "RESURRECT" with "RAISE."
The second style of new tiles are the largest tiles ever to appear. These are four panels of the same size laid directly next to each other to form the famous phrase. Here are examples - Packer Ave exit, 7th & Shunk. These tiles were laid almost exclusively on or directly off of highways, although there is a strange aberration in deep South Philadelphia - an early experimental version of this style of tile on 7th and Shunk, one block away from the address listed on the South American tile.
The third new style of tile are the easiest in tile history to miss, and thus intriguing. They are "strip" tiles, with each line from the four-line message seperated into its own thin tile, about a quarter of an inch thick. They will fall haphazardly around each other, and sometimes certain lines won't survive and the message will be incomplete. Here are two examples - 4th & South strip, 2nd & Chestnut.
The fourth new style of tiles is arguably the most artistic, certainly the most colorful. They are large, multi-colored tiles with the main message aligned to the left (known to us as "left-oriented" tiles) that generally fall in the crosswalk, instead of next to the curb, in the tradition of the old style tiles. Here is an example - 13th & Chestnut Sts.
In 2006, while filming our movie, we discovered an example of this fourth style of new tiles that forced us to rethink many of our theories of the history of tiles. This discovery came in deep northeastern Philadelphia, a part of town that had never been tiled before. In the intersection of Cottman and Torresdale Avenues was a freshly-laid tile in the fourth new style, undeniably. However, to the right of the "Toynbee Idea…" message was old style rants written in a handwriting/font disturbingly close to the old style of tiles. It's not exact, but its closeness is unparalleled in the new style of tiles.
Several more left-oriented tiles were sighted, including several off highways. The biggest discovery was a tile in Connecticut, off of highway I-95, in mid 2006. Finally, new style Toynbee tiles outside of Philadelphia! The movement was once again alive and gaining strength.
A few months down the road, a new take on the index-card tiles began appearing. These "post-index-card" tiles were significantly larger than the index-cards, although clearly in the same handwriting, with extra text about being harvested to prison consistantly appearing in a smaller box at the bottom of the tile. These tiles were also notable in that they were placed deeper into the crosswalk than index cards, thus were laid deeper into the concrete thanks to more exposure to car tires. Four of these were spotted in Philadelphia in the late summer of 2006.
The twenty-five year history of the tiles has seen much artistic evolution and de-evolution. Though they are not appearing nearly as rapidly as they were ten years ago, tiles still show up and they are still changing. There's nothing quite as exciting as finding a brand new tile and seeing what new direction they're heading in. Our latest discoveries leave us very curious as to what will happen next in the world of the Toynbee Idea and its singular form of advancing itself.
