Tattoos … Everyone has a different reaction to that word. It always caught my attention. I think the first one I saw in a live person were my cousins. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. He had a funny cartoon of a devil on his arm with “born to raise hell” written above it. I was amazed and although it wasn’t until my mid-20s that I baptized my skin, I wanted one the moment I saw that imp.
Today, the tattoo is much more accepted in society than in the 60’s, still; there are people who disapprove of the idea of marking your body with ink … forever. Whether it is because of a religious problem or because of their own personal preferences, they cannot deny that the tattoo is almost as old as civilization itself.
The word tattoo is derived from the Tahitian word “tatu”, which means to mark or touch something. The first known tattooed person is the infamous “Iceman” found in 1991, in the Otzal Alps, in Italy. Carbon dating showed that it had lived about 5,300 years ago. Fifty-eight tattoos were noticed on his body !! Archaeologists believe that he was an important figure in their society. The tattoos were based on charcoal and water.
Ancient cultures used tattoos to protect themselves from illness or bad luck. The Egyptians were the first to use needles to tattoo the body. Archaeologists who exhume tombs have even found children’s dolls decorated with tattoos. The tattoo spread throughout Greece and Arabia, and in 2000 BC. C., the tattoo had reached Asia.
The Japanese first used tattoos to identify criminals. It was later transformed into an art form, producing some of the most beautiful tattoos in the world. The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) use their tattoos to intimidate their rivals. The Japanese style of tattoos has influenced hundreds of artists today.
Polynesians have also contributed greatly to art. His instruments consist of sharp pieces of bone or ivory, tied to a pole. They “chisel” the ink into the skin by hitting the top of the instrument with a mallet-like object. The tool can consist of a pointed object or a complete row of objects, resembling a rake.
Members of certain tribes spent grueling hours tattooing their bodies as a right of way. Those tools are still used today, for those same rituals, but it is a dying art form, performed only by those who preserve their culture. They also developed a facial tattoo called “Moko”. This face tattoo consisted of lines drawn around the face that would tell the life story of that person.
Centuries ago, in Europe, it was common to get family shields tattooed on the body, but when the Normans invaded in 1066, the tattoos disappeared. 600 years later, a sailor named William Dempher met Prince Giolo, known as the Painted Prince. They brought it from Polynesia to London, put it on display and it became a sensation.
In the 1700s, on one of his many trips to the South Pacific, Captain Cook encountered Oami, a heavily tattooed man, whom he also brought back to England. The English were astonished and soon tattoos became a fad among the upper class. Still, it would be another 100 years before tattoos took hold in America.
The first electric tattoo machine was invented by Samuel O’Rielly in 1891. It developed from an electric pen that Thomas Edison had invented a few years earlier. This machine is very similar to the one in use today. With this invention, it was very easy to get a tattoo, so the upper class gradually turned their backs on art, and by the 1900s the glamor of tattooing had lost its appeal. Tattoo artists found themselves working in the seedy areas of neighborhoods and the tattoo went underground. Only by word of mouth could someone find a tattoo artist, or even see tattoo art. The tattoo became a secret society.
Once again, Samuel O’Rielly to the rescue. He moved from Boston to New York City and opened a tattoo shop in the very popular Chatham Square, the Times Square of his day and the birthplace of American-style tattoos. There he puts Charlie Wagner.
O’Rielly taught Wagner the art of tattooing until Sam’s death in 1908. Later, Charlie met Lew Alberts, a wallpaper designer. Alberts incorporated his designs into tattoo art and began making flash designs. The tattoo flourished in Chatham Square for almost 20 years, until the depression hit. The soul of the tattoo later moved to Coney Island. Stores were opened wherever military bases appeared to be. Most sailors got tattoos, and each tattoo carried a different story from a different place.
After WWII, tattoos were less popular. His association with cyclists and inmates had a major impact on the decline of tattooing in American culture. An outbreak of hepatitis in the 1960s led to tattoos on the knees. The needles were not being sterilized and reports of blood poisoning flooded the newspapers. New York banned tattoos and closed its stores on Coney Island. The tattoos carried over to New Jersey, Philadelphia and even San Francisco.
Today, tattoos are legal again in New York, and were recently legalized in Massachusetts. Artists hold international conventions, where they exhibit work, perform work, and give seminars on tattoos. Many have a bachelor’s degree in art. Cleanliness is an unwritten rule in business these days. Stores would not survive if the owners did not maintain a clean place of business. The tattoo has once again reached the highest echelon of society. Movie stars, rock stars, and corporate executives now adorn their bodies with tattoos. Each tattoo has a special meaning for its wearer. Whether it is a tribute to a lover, or a child, mom or dad, a simple line or a detailed body suit, tattoos have left their mark on the history of the world.
R. Scott