they think it's all over- it is now! massive shout out to all the visitors at @printedmatterinc #LAABF #secretsignals is now sold out! u.s. pre-orders will ship today. and a huge thank you to @officialteenangel big things for 2016!

holding fort at the #LAABF photo by @christopheboutinparis nice to meet you all and see you next year if not before

thanks to all that came to say hi at the #LAABF it was a smash! see you next year and thanks to @outsidespace for the snap and the help

stand p10- #fiorucci #secretsignals and other delights- at the #laabf till 6!

the goodstuff. at the #laabf @printedmatterinc

today is the day! drop by @printedmatterinc #laabf and say hi

and the bangy book - new yorker street boys - here in l.a. - dm for info

borthwick xerox set- all 4 books-one signed. dm for info

hour and a half to go! still have some of the goodstuff- particularly if you like sex and/or clothes, good looking people, punk etc etc

plus #secretsignals and 'nuff #fiorucci stop by if you're in town

#lindsayanderson ephemera at #laartbookfair

in business at the #laartbookfair come and say hullo! #lawrenceweiner #buzzcocks #neworder #keithharing

launching at the la art book fair feb. 11th. 'secret signals' printed in an edition of 300 copies.

launching at the la art book fair feb. 11th. 'secret signals' printed in an edition of 300 copies.

launching at the la art book fair feb. 11th. 'secret signals' printed in an edition of 300 copies

Teen Angel - Secret Signals - 1981

In 1981 David Holland (aka Teen Angel), former staffer at 'Lowrider' launched Teen Angels magazine. It was an instant hit, serving up prison arte, fashion, dedications, lowriders, pachuco styles, obituaries and user submitted photographs ('las homegirls' and 'los homies'). Teen Angels was aimed at and dedicated to the youth of the varrios, primarily in East LA, but the magazine was widely read in many cities and states.

The magazine ran for over 200 issues over 30 years, and was known as 'the voice of the varrio', letting young chicanos and chicanas know what was going on, who was who, and what the latest styles were. Teen Angels also represented the street- in all it's forms- and rather sensationally The LA Times reported in 1992 that the police used Teen Angels magazine as a training guide to learn gangs fashion trends and graffiti tags, though the magazine, and most readers were anti drugs and violence.

Secret Signals was printed in 1981 and sold from the back of Teen Angels as a guide to the hand signs used by young chicanos to spell out the initials of their neighborhood. Hand signs were used to let others know where you were from, where you represented or who you rolled with- whether you were in school, at a dance or cruising the boulevard.

This is a facsimile of Teen Angel’s 1981 original, and is printed in an edition of 300 copies.