Tattoos… Everyone has a different reaction to that word. It always caught my attention. I think the first thing I saw in a living person were my cousins. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. He had a funny cartoon devil on his arm with “born to raise hell” written on it. I was in awe of it and although it wasn’t until my mid 20’s that I baptized my skin, I wanted one as soon as I saw that little devil.
Today, the tattoo is much more accepted in society than in the 60s, still; some people frown at the idea of marking their body with ink… forever. Whether it’s for a religious issue or their own personal preference, they can’t deny that tattooing 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, located in Italy. Carbon dating showed that he had lived about 5,300 years ago. Fifty-eight tattoos were noted on his body! Archaeologists believe that he was an important figure in his society. The tattoos were charcoal and water based.
Ancient cultures used tattoos to ward off sickness or bad luck. The Egyptians were the first to use needles to tattoo the body. Archaeologists exhuming graves have even found dolls of children decorated with tattoos. The tattoo spread through Greece and Arabia, and in the year 2000 a. C., the tattoo had reached Asia.
The Japanese first used tattoos to identify criminals. It later became an art form, producing some of the most beautiful tattoos in the world. The Yakuza (Japanese mafia) uses their tattoos to intimidate their rivals. The Japanese style of tattooing has influenced hundreds of artists today.
Polynesians have also contributed greatly to art. Their instruments consist of sharp pieces of bone or ivory, attached to a stick. They “chisel” the ink into the skin by hitting the top of the instrument with a mallet-like object. The tool can consist of one sharp object or a whole row of objects, similar to 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 facial tattoo consisted of lines drawn on the face that would tell the life story of that person.
Centuries ago in Europe, it was common to have family crests 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 became a sensation.
In the 1700s, on one of his many voyages to the South Pacific, Captain Cook met Oami, a heavily tattooed man, whom he also brought back to England. The English were amazed and tattoos soon became a fashion among the upper class. Even so, it would be another 100 years before tattoos had an influence in the United States.
The first electric tattoo machine was invented by Samuel O’Rielly in 1891. It evolved from an electric pen that Thomas Edison had invented a few years earlier. This machine is very similar to the one used today. With this invention, it was very easy to get a tattoo, so the upper class gradually turned its back on the art, and by the 1900s, the glamor of getting tattooed had lost its appeal. Tattoo artists found themselves working in the seedy areas of neighborhoods, and tattooing went underground. Only by word of mouth could someone find a tattoo artist, or even see tattoo art. The tattoo has become 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 tattooing. There he puts Charlie Wagner.
O’Rielly taught Wagner the art of tattooing until Sam’s death in 1908. Charlie then met Lew Alberts, a wallpaper designer. Alberts incorporated his designs into tattoo art and began making flash designs. Tattooing flourished in Chatham Square for almost 20 years, until the depression hit. Tattoo Soul then moved to Coney Island. Stores opened where military bases appeared to be. Most sailors got tattoos, and each tattoo brought a different story from a different place.
After World War II, tattoos were less popular. His association with bikers and prisoners had a major impact on the decline of tattooing in American culture. An outbreak of hepatitis in the 1960s brought tattoos to their knees. The needles were not being sterilized, and reports of blood poisoning flooded the newspapers. New York banned tattoos and closed its stores in Coney Island. The tattoo moved to New Jersey, Philadelphia and even San Francisco.
Today, tattooing is legal again in New York, and it recently became legal in Massachusetts. Artists hold international conventions, where they show their work, perform their work, and give tattoo seminars. Many have an art degree. Cleanliness is an unwritten rule in the 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 the person who wears it. Whether it is a tribute to a lover, a child, mom or dad, a simple line or a detailed outfit, tattoos have left their mark on the history of the world.
r scott