Home | Contents | Email
Home | Contents | Email
|
Tattoo History |
A Brief History of Tattooing page 2Freak Shows For many years afterwards, though, tattooing lost its cache and was relegated to the level of the traveling circus. The modern tattoo and the USA Tattooing didn't take off again until the first electrically powered tattoo machine was built by Samuel O'Reilly in the late nineteenth century. O'Reilly's design -- based on an earlier invention by Thomas Edison that was meant to engrave hard surfaces -- remains the basis for all modern tattoo machines. When Samuel O'Reilly died in 1908 his apprentice opened a shop in New York. His business partner -- a former wallpaper designer -- redesigned much of the old tattoo Flash and, in effect, invented the modern tattoo. As the popularity of the tattoo ebbed and waned, the heart of American tattooing shifted location but tattoo parlours could usually be found near to military, notably Naval, bases. The Naval tradition gave rise to the use of tattoos to indicate where and when you had traveled. In particular, sailors would have the date of the first time they crossed the equator tattooed in to a design on their arm. To the present day After WW2 the tattoo became identified with rebels -- with or without a cause -- and again lost its mass appeal. Tattooing in the US suffered another blow with a tattoo-related outbreak of Hepatitis in the early sixties caused by improperly (if at all) sterilised needles. By the end of the decade, Lyle Tuttle was rejuvenating tattooing's image by working with celebrities, notably women. Tattooing has become more and more popular around the world ever since. It is no longer a fad or a fashion but a recognised art form. |
 |
Home | Contents | Email
|
|
©2003-8 Mandy Tonks All Rights Reserved (image used under license) This web site is for information purposes only. Getting A Tattoo
|