From time to time I'll submit an article to the National Post and my editor RR and it just wont' fit for any number of reasons.
A)The piece sucks.
B)Not enough Toronto-centric content.
C)Both A+B
D)A lot of A
Anyway I wrote this rambling thing about the mysterious world of Postering in Toronto and it's not going to run so I'm going to post it here in two parts.
This is Part One.
Paper On Poles.
Like a lot of people I go through life blissfully unaware of how most things work.
Construction cranes, ticket scanning machines, spicy tuna rolls, GPS systems, how to make a Woman happy, what is Paula Abdul really saying and why is Aerosmith still so popular?
I drive through the city streets and see posters or flyers on a hydro pole and never really know much about them.
How did they get there?
Who does the work?
How much does it cost?
I thought the answers would be simple. They’re not. The whole Toronto Postering World is rife with characters and committees and tight-lipped competitors who throw up bits of paper to promote various and sundry acts and events.
I’m not sure if you were aware of this but postering is quite a contentious issue; has been for some time.
I just wanted to find out how they get put up and by whom but I found out a lot more.
Costs range from 150 bucks for a thousand letter sized to three grand for an 18x24. That’s pretty big. Those are the ones you see on the side of construction walls.
I called a bunch of companies with names like Da Fabulous Poster Babe, Grass Roots and City Postering. Not so much with the calling back. Though City Postering did respond they said they couldn’t comment. Seriously? How mysterious can this business be?
Apparently, there’s a lot more to all of this than just a bunch of paper on poles. Actually that would be a great name for a postering company.
Thanks for calling “Paper on Poles.”
Yes I’d like to do that please.
I spoke with one very colorful dude named Reg Hartt, a postering legend who’s been using the street to promote events for 40 years. He did nothing but talk. He called postering “cut throat”, “decadent”, a “lifeline to the city,”! I thought it was just a bunch of folks running around the city with some posters and a staple gun.
He then talked about how culture isn’t something imported but rather culture rises up from the bowels. Yes our city has bowels. He said the real culture is the garage bands, the underground movement and the kids that put up posters to promote them. He’s a cool guy and as I hung up he was talking about the bowels of Berlin or something but I had to move on.
Category: Articles
