“I’m a Jewish Toy” – and a question

Just left of center in the above photograph (taken on 29 August 2010), crudely drawn in outline, is a dreidel,, a small four-sided top associated with Hanukkah. Notice the Star of David painted on it and the Hebrew lettering, about which more later. To the right of the dreidel, just below center, there is an inscription, “I’m a Jewish Toy.” It’s signed “KH1.” You can see this more clearly in the next image, which is an enlargement of that inscription:

I first became aware of KH1 about two years ago, when I took this photo (22 August 2008):

That tag is still there, along with the Hebrew lettering to its left. That wall is quite close to the wall bearing the dreidel, it may in fact be a different surface on the same structure, though I think not. I believe it’s on a nearby structure. But just exactly where it is, that’s not terribly important.

What is important is that about two years ago KH1 tags began appearing in that particular area, which is in Jersey City, NJ, about a half mile from the Holland Tunnel exit in the Hamilton Park area. There’s a lot of graffiti in that area, which is readily accessible to New York City.

What’s interesting about KH1 (aka Kosher Howie) is that he’s the only graffiti writer in that area who proclaims an ethnic identity. And graffiti is all about identity. But that identity is personal. One writes one’s name, not the name on your birth certificate, but the name you assume as a graffiti writer. Ceaze, Werds, Dart, Sol, Kemos, Cram, Rime, Taboo, Zar, Joe, Sonet, and others, all get up in that particular area. None of them proclaim their ethnic identity.

But KH1 does. In fact, that pretty much seems to be the point his writing, to establish an unmistakable Jewish presence on those walls. Just in case you don’t recognize the Hebrew in his letters, he tells you straight-up that he’s Jewish. I took this photo on 30 August 2008, two years before the dreidel flick, with its “Jewish toy” inscription:

So who is this Jewish writer, this Kosher Howie, and why’s Jewishness his reason for writing? He’s now got a Flickr site, so you can look through his photos, some of which are quite interesting. This one, for example, is a close-up of a bug walking on some graffiti. Someone who takes that kind of picture has a very particular sensibility. He’s not taking pictures casually. He’s documenting something.

Here’s a set entitled “Jewish Themed Art Canvases.” Lots of dreidels, some Menorahs, panels from boxes of matzo ball mix, a “Kosher Hotdog” inscription on one, two inscribed “light me up” (a Menorah, a bomb? and a spliff?) and other things. None of this is finely crafted. It’s all very crude. And strong. KH1 has something on his mind.

But let’s go back to where we started, with “I’m a Jewish toy.” That’s a play on words. On the one hand, the dreidel is a Jewish toy. And, by thus inscribing the wall next to the image of the dreidel, KH1 is, in effect, personifying that dreidel. It’s telling you, it’s telling the world, that it’s a Jewish toy. The dreidel’s talking. That’s what graffiti is about, conversations on walls.

But “toy” is also a term of art in the graffiti world. It means a relatively inexperienced writer with minimal skills. That certainly seems to be the case with KH1. His work is crude. Beyond that “toy” tends to connote a writer who gets up improperly, who paints over better work. From what I’ve seen, KH1 does not do that. He either tags up on blank space or he goes over areas that are already junked up with miscellaneous graffiti. He follows the code.

And he’s being ironic. Obviously.

And then there’s those Hebrew letters. Here we see them writ large, above some very nice work by Dceve and Sonet though some toy’s gone over the Sonet (look in the eyeball immediately below “KH”):

I’m told that the Hebrew transliterates as lishtot, the infinitive form of “to drink.” Why does KH1 identify with that verb? Here’s a YouTube video from 2008 that may hold a clue.

Here’s another video, which I found on I'm a Jewish Toy לשתות's Flickr page. You'll see a KH1 tag show up in the middle (at 1:27), above a Banksy.

Shalom.

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ADDENDUM: Here's my oldest photograph of the wall you see in the third photo above. I took this photo on 28 October 2006. You can see that it had already been worked over quite a bit.

24 September 2007: