Toynbee Tiles

I have no idea if these are real Toynbee tiles or if they are fan art. According to wikipedia they have been seen in about two dozen cities. Its amazing to think one guy could have traveled around unknown and placed these, but its not outside the bounds of reason. At first I thought they might be fan art because they seemed to lack the anger of the original tile I had seen at 7th and Walnut. That tile disappeared when the streetcar tracks came through. but then i read that normally an elaborate tile will be found with simpler secondary tiles nearby. This would be consistent with what I've seen in downtown Cincinnati. These are all within a block of Fountain Square. There could be a couple more out there, they are usually placed about 5-6" outside a crosswalk where a car would sit during a red light. I've discovered these three on early Sunday mornings. Along with the tile outside of Ruby's Steakhouse that disappeared, there was another one on Walnut outside of the CAC that was simply worn away years ago.
Whoever the person is they have an ax to grind with print media and if you want to go down a rabbit hole of insanity watch Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles. Who ever it was that said there is a fine line between genius and insanity hit the nail on the head with this artist whoever he is.




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