THE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF TATTOOS

AND TATTOOING

By

Jasmine Johnson & Meredith Frazier

TAT TOOS: WHY DO PEOPLE GET THEM?

Self Expression- used to express a unique personality

Sentimental Value- used for permanent memorabilia

Trendy- just because everyone else is doing it

Group Identification- used to show membership of a family,

organization, tribe, etc.

Symbolism for Beliefs- used to represent any kind of

personal beliefs

ANCIENT TATTOOS

History of the first tattoo is almost impossible to trace

Tattoos have a vast history across the globe dating back

over 12,000 years

Oldest evidence of a tattoo culture discovered by French

excavators Saint-Just & Marthe Péquart (early 1940s)• Dates back to around 10,000 B.C.• Grooved needles made from bones• “ochre”- colored iron oxide deposits, clay & water

ANCIENT EGYPTYAN TAT TOO CULTURE

Thriving tattoo culture as early as 4,000 B.C.• Female figurines and tomb depictions

Bronze tattooing tools dating back to 1,450 B.C.

found in Gurob (Northern Egypt) by archeologist

W.M.F. Petrie

Seemingly a practice strictly for females • Female mummies from around 2,000 B.C.

TAT TOOED WOMEN IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Multiple female mummies with permanent skin markings found in

Akhmim

Believed to have been “dancing girls” or “concubines”• High priestess Amunet buried at Deir el-Bahari (Luxor)

Anatomical distribution of markings suggests therapeutic use of tattoos• Upper and inner thighs • Abdomen

Also believed to be used for protection during pregnancy and childbirth • Depictions of household deity Bes • Net like abdominal pattern

This is an ancient Egyptian figurine depicting the patterns of permanent markings on females around 2,000 B.C.

(“Ancient Egyptian Figurine”, Decamps)

ÖTZI THE ICEMAN

Discovered by passing tourists in 1991 near the

Italian-Austrian border

Named after the Ötztal region where he was found

Frozen since around 3,100 B.C. (about 5,200 years

old)

57 carbon tattoos of mostly lines, dots and crosses• Odd placement (lower spine, knees and ankle joints)• Believed to have been therapeutic

(“Ötzi the Iceman: Up close and personal”, Staschitz & Samadelli)

GIOLO THE TATTOOED SLAVE

Brought back to London from the Philippines by pirate and

explorer William Dampier in 1691 with promises of fame

and riches

A.K.A. the Painted Prince or Prince Jeoly

Toured around at English carnivals as the first known

exhibition of a human being for entertainment purposes

Died of smallpox within three months of his arrival in

England

THE “NOBLE SAVAGE”

Polynesian man named Omai from the island of Huaheine (near

Tahiti)

Brought back by Captain James Cook & toured by his colleague

Taught to assimilate into high English society• Wore robes that showed only his hands and arms• Was presented to King George III and Queen Charlotte• Attended the theatre and exclusive high class events as a novelty

Triggered a brief craze for tattoos among the elite

Returned home in 1776 with lots of money and expensive gifts

Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds being prepared for public display(The Tribune)

A P IVOTAL POINT IN TAT TOO HISTORY

Voyages of Captain Cook became directed at

observing in detail the body art of exotic lands and

the tools used to create it

Deckhands brought back vivid accounts of tattoos

which sparked huge interest among Europeans,

especially English sailors

Constant interaction between sailors and circus

folk in Europe and America formed the beginnings of

the artistic tattoo culture of today

“COME ONE, COME ALL!”

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, London 1772• Side shows and “freak shows” perfect vessel for tattoo culture

John Rutherford• World’s first “homegrown” tattooed man• Made his debut in Bristol, England in 1827

James F. O’Connell • First tattooed man exhibited in the U.S. in 1841• CLAIMED to have been captured and tattooed by natives of Pohnpei

Bert Grimm• Famous artist from St. Louis • Told stories of tattooing Bonnie & Clyde & other famous outlaws in the

1930s

Top: (Pednaud)

Left & Bottom: (Corbett)

TATTOOED LADIES

Mainly for soldiers, sailors and tattooed men in

side shows until…

Nora Hildebrandt! • Daughter of German tattoo artist Martin

Hildebrandt (NYC)• Different tattoo every day of the year • Made her debut at Bunnell’s Museum in NYC in

1882• Went on the road with Barnum and Bailey’s

Traveling Circus in the early 1890s• Usually wore a corset top with matching bloomers,

pearls and a flirty feather hat (arguably the first pin-up girl)

Meredith in a past life…

(“Tattooed Ladies” The Art of Pain )

(Machado)

Painting of Annie and Frank Howard, the world’s first tattooed couple who made their debut with Barnum and Bailey’s Circusin 1885. Both were tattooedby Sam O’Reilly.(“The Tattooed Couple”, Kelley)

O’REILLY’S GUN

New York tattoo artist Samuel O’Reilly patented the first

tattoo gun in 1891• Immigrated from Ireland around 1875• Operated a couple “shoebox” shops in NYC (Broadway &

The Bowery in lower Manhattan)

Charles Wagner • O’Reilly’s apprentice• Improved on O’Reilly’s design and patented a newer

version in 1904• Took over O’Reilly’s shop in The Bowery after his death in

1908 and continued to work there until his death in 1953

(“O’Reilly” Tattoo Archive)

(“Wagner’s Gun” McGrath & Caissie)

WAR ON THE NAKED LADY

In 1909 the U.S. government

proclaimed that young men could not

enlist in the Navy if they had a naked

lady tattoo which were extremely

popular

This edict was reinstated for WWII,

which led to the rise of the vintage pin-

up girl tattoo

Also led to the idea of tattoo cover-ups (Michalak)

“SAILOR JERRY” THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins• Born on the west coast (A.KA. the best coast) in 1911• Father nicknamed him “Jerry” after the family mule • Traveled around the country hopping freight trains &

doing hand-poking tattoos in his teens • Arrived in Chicago at age 19 & apprenticed with artist

Gib “Tatts” Thomas• Enlisted in The Great Lakes Naval Academy & traveled

the globe on schooner ships • Developed an obsession with Asian art and culture

during his travels to the far east

(“The Man” William Grant & Sons)

Settled in Honolulu in the 1920s and tattooed at his small shop on

Hotel St. in Chinatown for the next 40 years• Extremely popular among sailors stationed at Pearl Harbor

Often referred to as the “father” of old-school tattooing

His unique style of tattooing with a perfect mix of Asian and American

influences led him to become the first American to infiltrate the highly

secretive world of the Japanese tattoo masters called “Horis”

Died in Honolulu in 1973

Sailor Jerry company formed by fans

(“Sailor Jerry Business Card” NY Tattoo School)

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

By the 1950s the

government (A.KA. “the

man”) was cracking down

on rules and regulations in

tattoo shops• Sanitation, “obscene”

tattooing, etc.• Led to many shop

closings & artist retirements (Delacou

rt)

THE TAT TOO GOES “MAINSTREAM”

1960s brought about the hippie culture• Younger generation• Young women began redefining what

was/wasn’t socially acceptable

Janis Joplin• Rock n’ Roll singer from Texas (Big

Brother and the Holding Company)• Racy personality & wasn’t afraid to show

it• Florentine bracelet (left wrist), small

heart design (left breast) & small flower (right ankle) all done by Lyle Tuttle in San Francisco, CA

(Suer)

TATTOOS TODAY

Extremely safe/ sanitary if done by a professional

Still a somewhat controversial subject• Tattoos in the workplace• Generation gap

Successful artists in the world of business • Kat Von D (LA Ink, Miami Ink, High Voltage Tattoo, makeup line)• Ed Hardy (Christian Audigier, Hardy Marks Publishing Company)• Dirk Vermin (Bad Ink)

Tattoos in the media• Widely acceptable • TV shows, magazines, etc. • Celebrities and public figures with tattoos

WHO HAS TATTOOS?

Poll by Harris Interactive• 2,016 adults surveyed online from January 16-23

2012• 1 in 5 U.S. adults have at least one tattoo (21% of

U.S. population)

Also, of those surveyed…• 86% do not regret• 30% sexier• 25% rebellious • 21% more attractive/strong

WORKS CITED

Adams, Mark. "History of Tattooing." History of Tattooing. Tribaland, n.d. Web.

15 Apr. 2014.

Corbett, Cailee. Circus side show. Digital image. OTIS Learning Portfolio.

Diglication, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Corbett, Cailee. Painted banner advertising tattoo artist Stoney St. Clair. Digital

image. OTIS Learning Portfolio. Diglication, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Decamps, Christian. Ancient Egyptian Figurine. Digital image. History and

Civilization. History and Civilization, Dec. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Delacourt, Susan. 1950's Angry Politician. Digital image. National Post Full

Comment Susan

WORKS CITED CONT..

Harris Interactive, comp. "Table 1 WHO HAS TATTOOS?"

Harris Interactive. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.

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Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of

History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers.

New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2005. 2-3. Print.

Kelley, Pat. The Tattooed Couple. Digital image. Sideshow

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WORKS CITED CONT..

Lineberry, Cate. "Tattoos." Smithsonian. Smithsonian, 1

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The Man | Sailor Jerry. Digital image. Sailor Jerry. William

Grant& Sons, 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

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About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

WORKS CITED CONT..

Pednaud, J. T. Depictions of four tattooed men. Digital image. The Human

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PORTLAND'S INKED CITIZENS. Digital image. More Intelligent Life.

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Sailor Jerry Business Card. Digital image. Sailor Jerry | Body and Soul

Tattoos | Blog | Jersey City. The Academy of Responsible Tattooing- NY

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WORKS CITED CONT..

Samuel O'Reilly. Digital image. Samuel O'Reilly. Tattoo Archive, 2011. Web. 15

Apr. 2014.

Staschitz, Gregor, and Marco Samadelli. "Ötzi the Iceman: Up Close and

Personal.” NewScientist. NewScientist, 13 May 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Suer, Kinsley. Janis Joplin. Digital image. PCS Blog. Portland Center Stage, 9 June

2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

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History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian. Smithsonian, Oct.

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WORKS CITED CONT..

Nieratko, Chris. "Kat Von D." Inked Magazine. N.p.,

18 Jan. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. "Biography."

Biography - Hardy Marks Publications and Don Ed

Hardy Archive. Hardy Marks Publications, n.d. Web.

11 Mar. 2014.

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school Skin Art. New York, NY: Universe, 2009. Print.