

This site describes 'Toynbee tiles,' sidewalk or street tiles placed by parties unknown and bearing bizarre inscriptions apparently having to do with the historian Arnold Toynbee or the film '2001.' The majority are in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and New York, but the site lists three in Detroit. Toynbee Tiles - Google My Maps I originally made this map to help myself find tiles to photograph while on road trips, but I'm expanding it to include most reported tiles. There is a wonderful interactive map of all the so-far-discovered pieces (link here), which I used to catalog those in New York City. Heres a good piece of weirdness for the weekend. It is now accepted that whoever placed the tiles thinks we can colonize the planet Jupiter with the souls of all human life that have died so far. Toynbee Tiles - Google My Maps I originally made this map to help myself find tiles to photograph while on road trips, but Im expanding it to include most reported tiles. Nevertheless, the information contained in the tiles has been known to change from time to time, and some even include stories of secret government attacks on the "artist".
Toynbee tiles map movie#
Toynbee, and mixed with some sci-fi from the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. The messages, though brief, are thought to originally stem from the book, Experiences, by British philosopher Arnold J. Staring in Philadelphia in the early 1980s, and spreading throughout the Northeast in the 90s (as far south as Washington D.C., and as north as Boston, MA), a few have also been spotted in the Midwest (such as Missouri), and even one in South America - with New York having the largest collection outside of Pennsylvania. By placing the tiles onto the street to be constantly run over, the tiles would be pushed into the road to create an almost permanent display of his ideas. Their bizarre message should remain preserved, if not on the streets themselves, then at least in a museum display for public viewing. Theyve been around since the 1980s, and people generally accept finding authentic new Toynbee tiles through 2007 or so. The story goes that, for over 30 years, one Philadelphia man has used linoleum tiles, and an asphalt compound, to spread his near-schizophrenic message of life-after-death, through a hole in the floor of his car. The Toynbee tiles, while undoubtedly cryptic and a little creepy, are part of Philadelphia’s urban lore and history. Though no one really knows who created, or exactly why this strange form of street art exists, many believe the mystery has been solved by Justin Duerr, and his amazing documentary Ressurect Dead. Here's a guide to finding Toynbee tiles across a few major American cities, in case you want to investigate the utterly strange mystery for yourself.First some history for those not familiar with what a Toynbee Tile is. They've been around since the 1980s, and people generally accept finding authentic new Toynbee tiles through 2007 or so.

Speculation holds that the tiler drops a tar-covered package containing the tiled message through a hole in a car floorboard and drives off, allowing the tires of other cars to push the tile into the pavement and wear off some of the tar. Several authentic ones also appear in South America. Boston is the city furthest east with authentic Toynbee tiles, and Kansas City is the furthest west, although copycats can be found across the West Coast.

Most of the tiles appear in the Philadelphia area and in surrounding cities. No one is totally sure who is doing it, or if it's one person, or how they're doing it all without ever being seen. The Toynbee tiles are a mystery which various people have attempted to solve since the 1980s. The content of the message isn't the only mystery to be solved, either. The Toynbee tiles (also called Toynbee plaques) are messages of mysterious origin found embedded in asphalt in.
although it seems like the person behind the tiles literally wants to bring the dead back to life on the planet Jupiter. Toynbee-tile enthusiasts believe that a native Philadelphian created the Toynbee tiles because of the large number that appear in the city, their apparent age, the variety of carving styles, the presence of the \'tile creator's screed\', and the Philadelphia address on the Santiago tile.