Toynbee tiles
Toynbee tiles are epoxy-based tiles found embedded in asphalt in several major cities in the United States with at least two known examples in South America as well. The tiles, about the size of a license plate, contain some variation on the following inscription:
TOyNBEE IDEAS
IN KUbricK's 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPiTER.
Interpretation
People and things referenced
The "toynbee" referred to in the text is almost certainly Arnold J. Toynbee, a famous historian. "Kubrick" certainly refers to filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, co-writer and director of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The majority contain text similar to that above, although a second set is often found nearby alluding to a mass conspiracy between the press (including newspaper magnate John Knight of Knight-Ridder), the US government, the USSR (even in tiles seemingly made years after the Soviet Union's dissolution), and Jews. In addition the writing is of a similar style and poor quality.
A tile located in South America references a street address in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current occupants of this address know nothing about the tiles and are annoyed by people who ask. Due to the frequency with which tiles appear in Philadelphia, the apparent age of many tiles, the variety of carying styles, and the presence of the "tile creator's manifesto" (see below), the Toynbee tiles are believed by those who have looked into the phenomenon to be a native Philadelphian.
Interpretations
The text as a whole does not appear to reference any particular idea, the concept of raising the dead is not a part of any of Toynbee's writings nor Kubrick's (although it could be weakly argued it did in the sequel to 2001, 2010: Odyssey Two, although that was not written nor directed by Kubrick). In fact any connection between either of the Toynbees and Kubrick is difficult to find.
A possible interpretation is that the Toynbee reference comes from the science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's short story "The Toynbee Convector", which alludes to Toynbee's idea that in order to survive, humankind must always rush to meet the future, i.e. believe in a better world, and must always aim far beyond what is practically possible, in order to reach something barely within reach. Thus the message might be that humanity ought to strive to colonize Jupiter -- as in Kubrick's work -- or something greater, to survive.
A complex of four tiles was once located at 9th & Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. Consisting of four panels of barely-legible italic printing, this work can be interpreted as being lengthy complaint about real or (most likely) imagined enemies. A possible transliteration of its message reads:
John Knight Ridder is the Philadelphia thug (?) hellion Jew who'd 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 XXXXXXXXXX journalists XX then gloated to my face about death and Knight Ridder great power to destroy. In fact John Knight went into hellion since of joy over Knight-Ridder as great power to destroy.
I secured house with blast doors and fled the country in June 1991.
NBC attorneys journalists and security officials at Rockefeller Center fraudulently under the "Freedom of Information Act" all XXX orders NBC executives got the U.S. federal district attorney's office who got FBI to get Interpol to establish task force that located me in Dover England.
Which back home Inquirer got union goons from their own employees union to XXX down a "sports journalist." Who with ease bashed in lights and windows of neighborhood car- as well as men outside my house. They are stationed there still waiting for me.
NBC CBS group "W" Westinghouse, Time, Time Warner, Fox, Universal all of the "Cult of the Hellion" each one were Much worse than Knight-Ridder ever was mostly hellion Jews.
When K.Y.W. and NBC executives told John Knight the whole town gloated in joyous fits on how their Soviet pals found a way to turn it into a...
The creator
The tiles, of which about 130 are known, appear to be the work of a single person. The best theory to date on the tile's creator is that they are the work of James Morasco, a Philadelphia social worker, who was trying to interest the Philadelphia area newspapers on an idea similar to what is found on the tiles in the early 1980s. It should be noted that Mr Morasco would have been in his 70s when most of the tiles were laid.
Mr Morasco died in 2003. New tiles have been seen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since Mr Morasco, the presumed creator passed, adding to the mystery. It is possible that Mr Morasco was never the Toynbee Tile perpetrator, or that he was and someone has continued to make tiles.
Another possibility is that "new" tiles may simply be tiles that were laid years ago but have never been brought to the attention of enthusiasts before.
Deployment
Theoretically, the method of laying such a tile is simple. It has been claimed by a prominent Toynbee Tile enthusiast that a freshly-layed tile was once found and examined. This new tile was wrapped in tar paper and placed on a busy street during the wee hours of the morning (perhaps only a few minutes before its discovery). The pressure exerted by automobiles driving over the tile for weeks on end pushes it into the road surface. (It can be speculated that the tile make may have laid his tiles during warm weather.) Eventually the tar paper wears away, exposing the message carried upon the tile.
Destruction and Conservation
Since the messages on most of the Toynbee Tiles cannot be construed to be offensive, no municipality is known to have deliberately destroyed tiles. They have been destroyed during the course of regular road maintainence. The largest tile complex known, the tile maker's paranoid rant against his imagined enemies, was destroyed when Chestnut Street in Philadelphia was being repaved.
At the present time, there is no public or private agency dedicated to conserving Toynbee Tiles. Many tiles now exist only as photographs taken before their destruction.
Tiles that are located in the middle of busy streets and highway on- and offramps tend to wear away quickly and also can become victims of resurfacing; smaller tiles and those located close to pedestrian crosswalks tend to be in better condition.