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Spray paint
Edward Seymour invents spray paint -
The start
The first form of graffiti in New York was known as tagging. In the late 1960s, boys like Taki 183 started writing their names in the subway, on doors, and other public places. Soon their names could be found all over the city. In 1971, Taki 183 even made the New York Times and became the first famous graffiti writer in the city. -
Throw ups
From 1971 to 1974, writers started using spray cans and making throw ups. Throw ups are quickly done bubble letters or very simple pieces using only two colors. The next thing was called scale. Writers began to write their tags in larger scale. Writers also began to compete on skill, and many new styles were born. -
New York Times
In 1971, Taki 183 even made the New York Times and became the first famous graffiti writer in the city -
War on grafitti
In 1972, the mayor of New York City declared war on graffiti. The New York authorities started what is known as "the buff" – a major effort to clean the city of graffiti. -
Murals and competition
In the late 70s, murals began to appear around the city. Writers organized in crews, and by the summer of 1980, competition between crews had reached fever pitch. You had to be down with printing a whole subway car or married couples in order to become king. -
Banksy
The famous grafitti writer Banksy startede making his first art pieces In the 1980's -
Period: to
Toys
The years 1980 to 1985 stand out as a particularly tough time for writers. The buff had made it harder to find a location to write and the laws against graffiti became tougher. On top of that, new writers – toys – started destroying other writers' work to make room for their own writing. Crews got tighter and tougher trying to protect their work.