The History of Graffiti

Graffiti goes a long way back, further than most people would think. You could even class cave drawings from ancient Greek times and the Roman times as being graffiti. Although the term mainly derived in the united stated. Where gangs used it as a way of marking their territory. Around 1966-71 political activists used it to make statements. Beginning in Philadelphia with two people known as Cornbread and Cool Earl who wrote their names all over the city gaining attention from the community and local press.

Often these people chose a 'nickname' to tag, one well known writer (what the artist were commonly known as) from around 1971, was Taki183. Who's name actually was Demetrius, and his house number was 183, and he often tagged on the subway. Other early writers were Julio204, Frank207 and Joe136. Towards 1974 ... the art form moved on to the streets, not just the subway. Where it began to get very competitive, and they'd compete to have the most tags.

Due to the high competition in 'tagging' artists began to develop more original ways of writing their names. Adding different script and calligraphic styles along with symbols such as stars. In accomplishing this, they began to try and get bigger. When they began to use outlines, with colour in the middle from spray cans with aerosol lids on to create a wider line.

During 1982-1985, graffiti became scarce. Due to many factors such as the crack cocaine epidemic, where firearms were readily available and streets became very tense. Laws were also inforced to restrict the sale of paint to minors, and spray cans being locked in cages making them more difficult to shoplift. Largely painted areas became watched, and more sophisticated fences were erected. It was also being removed much quicker, which frustrated a lot of the artists.

Between 1985-1989, artists began to burn their names into subway cars with marker pens that soaked through the paint so that it was not easily removed. Although the artistic view became poor, and it was more about just getting their name out there to mark their territory again.


Information from http://www.daveyd.com/historyofgraf.html and http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/01253/history.html