New collection: wall posters

Some collectors amass interesting collections of stamps or antiques, this is the beginning of the collection of something different: wall posters from the Williamsburg streets. The signs that are taped to walls and street lamps are usually in Yiddish and Hebrew, and address a wide range of issues relevant to the community. Often the messages in them are demands for increased stringency on specific trends. While for the most part, the walls are the medium for the more extremist Hasidim to express their agendas, the posters can be gathered to put together a part of the Hasidic story. Together they reflect not only some of the issues the community is dealing with at the time each poster is up but also one side of the internal tension through which the community norms are established.

I plan to document each poster in a separate post and categorize them by date, and include an English translation to relevant texts. I will not add any additional commentary to the posts. Please read responsibly and remember that this is only a part of a larger picture.

As always, I love to get leads from readers. If you see an interesting poster, please take a picture and ship it over to me at mail@friedavizel.com. I will be ever so grateful.

Thank you and a great thank you to the good people who send me information, corrections, pictures, and oral history.