December 24, 2009

English sewer grates excite police action at the mere thought that they might actually be photographed. What is it about these orifices that excite such fear and awe? Canadian examples are so beautiful that some have been enshrined in a museum. Japanese manhole covers are graced with colorful reliefs and traditional motifs.

In New Jersey cute fish and water symbols exhort people to not dump into these, the portals to our streams, which got me started on this thread, although I couldn't find a link to these particular ones... The practice goes back to ancient times. Even here on MoFi, as some other links can be found at Mr. Knickerbocker's earlier thread, although his main FPP doesn't work anymore, nor does monkeyhumper's after him :( Part of the explanation may turn on the sheer scope of the underlying problem...

posted by Dan Folkus 15 years ago
  • Newsflash! Man arrested for breathing deeply--Terrorist action suspected. The Japanese covers are wonderful!
  • Suspect's only statement: "this is grate as any fule kno"
  • I have quite a few pics of Japanese ones myself.... oiso manhole cover
  • That's amazing, gomi. How do they keep them from getting ripped off? It would be hard not to have one "accidentally" end up in my garden.
  • Well they are pretty heavy I guess. Also it doesn't really occur to anyone to take one.
  • In Philly they are stolen not for art's sake, but for scrap metal.