Moniker (graffiti)

Monikers, also known as streaks, tags, or hobo art, are a special kind of graffiti made on the sides of freight cars on freight trains. They started in the late 1800s and are usually made with a solid paint stick, industrial crayon, or lumber crayon. These drawings help artists share stories or capture a moment in time with others.

Most monikers are simple line drawings that often include a name and date. Many artists have their own unique design, sometimes adding where they are from or the date they made the moniker. Sometimes, a short phrase is added too, a tradition started by BuZ blurr, who is famous for his Colossus of Roads moniker.

At first, most moniker artists were hoboes and railroad workers. But since modern graffiti began in the 1960s, railroad fans and graffiti writers have also started using monikers to show their art.

History

Monikers, also called tags, go back to the late 1800s. Back then, traveling workers called hoboes used them to share messages. They would write a name, a date, and the direction they were heading on places like water tanks so others could see.

Even today, people still use monikers, often to mark train cars. Some writers have marked many cars—one person known as Bozo Texino said he marked over 30,000 cars in just one year! Not all of these writers were travelers; some even worked for the railroad.