Tattoos: Taboo to En Vogue
- liviamichaelart
- 46 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Hey, y'all! I'm Livia Michael and I am a self-proclaimed history nerd. Here at Speakeasy Tattoo in Los Angeles, I've been delving into the rich history of tattoo. In the current day and age, tattooing has mostly broken into the mainstream in Western culture. Though some remain prejudiced to the practice for an array of reasons, tattooing in its many forms is here to stay. From the late nineteenth century until the middle-to-late twentieth century, tattooing in the Western world had mostly been associated with those serving in the military or those who had been incarcerated. However, public perception began to gradually shift in the mid-1800s, when the British Royal Family were documented as having been tattooed during their travels to Israel and Japan. In particular, a drawing of King George V receiving a tattoo made the news during the time of his wedding. This occurrence is believed to have had a huge effect on the fashionability of tattoos in first class society, with many affluent British people wanting to adopt the same trends as the Royal Family. This therefore led to the increased validity of tattooing as an art form, and escalated the demand for high quality tattoo work.
With tattoos gaining interest among people in high society, innovations were needed to help meet this growing demand from those who were willing to pay a pretty penny for a tattoo. Samuel O’Reilly, a tattooist in the late nineteenth century, is credited with the patent for the first tattoo machine, which he based on an engraving pen that was invented by Thomas Edison. He received this patent in 1891, and the world of tattooing was forever changed. This rotary engine device allowed for tattoo artists to create their work faster, and with more precision.
During World Wars I and II, there was a tattoo boom. With the immense number of men serving in the military, tattooing became more widespread than it had been prior to these world-changing events. Regardless of social class, tattoos increasingly became a way for people to pay homage to their traumas, experiences, and loved-ones and process the collective trauma that the spoils of war had inflicted upon the world. In addition, shifting political perspectives, helmed by the women's suffrage and flapper movements of the 1920s, allowed for a surge in tattooing for women. Though tattoos were trending and gaining popularity in society, the practice remained taboo and was not widely accepted, as most people that had tattoos hid them under clothing. One could liken this to the Prohibition of alcohol in the United States. Though it was illegal to purchase and manufacture alcohol in the early twentieth century, under the guise of morality, this only heightened the public demand for it and boosted the alcohol industry. During this period there was an onslaught of secret bars and clubs, called speakeasies. Just because someone doesn't talk about something publicly, doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it.
In the wake of World War I and World War II, the American Traditional tattoo style really began to take shape, with common themes of names of family and lovers over hearts, swallows, militaristic and patriotic imagery. One of the most influential tattooists attributed to this style was Norman Collins, also known as ‘Sailor Jerry.’ Sailor Jerry was heavily influenced by South Asian and Polynesian tattooing practices while he was abroad during his time in the United States Navy, and blended those aesthetics with his own naval and American motifs, creating an unmistakable style that remains influential to this day in modern tattooing. However, it was not simply Sailor Jerry’s talent and style that helped to propel the industry forward, it was his dedication to the betterment of the industry as a whole. Sailor Jerry was devoted to making more hygienic practices commonplace in professional tattoo settings and conducting research with different tattoo inks and pigments, in order to extend the longevity of a tattoo. In other words, Sailor Jerry conducted his business in a more safe, clean, and professional manner than other tattooists, which contributed to the destigmatization of the art form.
The integrity, cleanliness standards, and aesthetic sensibilities of Sailor Jerry were passed down to his mentees. One such mentee would go on to become the influential tattooist, Ed Hardy. Hardy came to prominence in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, not only because of his bold and unique style that remixed concepts of American traditional and Japanese tattoos, but because of his innovations in the business of tattooing. When he opened his shop, Realistic Tattoo in San Francisco in 1974, he only took appointments. No walk-ins, no flash sheets, only custom work that was created in collaboration with his clients. This custom-only shop was the very first of its kind in the United States, and revolutionized the way people conceptualized tattoos as a whole. Hardy’s shop allowed for people to bring their individual ideas and stories to life by commissioning an artist to create something truly unique and one-of-a-kind. Custom tattoos meant that patrons could get whatever they wanted tattooed on their bodies, not just an anchor or a heart with the word, ‘mom’ on it, opening more people's minds and increasing the desire for tattoos. In addition, Ed Hardy franchised his brand into the fashion industry which also contributed to tattoo culture breaking into the mainstream.
In conclusion, tattooing is an art form with a rich history, but has only been more widely accepted in the last fifty years. With the help of technological innovation, hygiene, shifting political landscapes, and the onslaught of collaboration on custom pieces with clientele, tattooing has made its mark on our society, and will only continue to do so.
Until next week...
-Livia Michael
Sources:
Tattoos: The Untold Story of a Modern Art by Matt Lodder