Goodnight Irene

Irene Woodward, also known as La Belle Irene, was a tattooed lady who performed during the 1880s. She made her New York debut just weeks after Nora Hildebrandt to great fanfare, including a report in the New York Times. She worked at Bunnell's museum and successfully toured Europe. Onstage, she claimed to have been tattooed by her father, and, in a break from the usual tales of forcible tattooing, claimed she actually wanted the work done. Woodward was actually tattooed by Samuel O'Reilly and his then-apprentice Charles Wagner. At times, she claimed to have been inspired by having seen Constantine. In 1883, she married a showbiz man named George E Sterling with whom she had a son, also named George, and spent 15 years in the circus.

She died in December of 1915 at the age of 53 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Info courtesy of MBEzine.

Here's a sketchbook page from the sketchbook of Samuel F. O'Reily, Irene Woodward was illustrated by him.

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Eagles, Two Maidens and a Tiger

This article is by Chuck Eldridge at the Tattoo Archives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Reprinted here by his kind permission. Mr. Eldridge is a tattooist, and an acknowledged historian on the subject of tattoo history. If there is anything you want to know about the Tattoo World, Mr. Eldridge is your man.
http://www.tattooarchive.com/

George Burchett George Burchett was probably the most famous tattooist of his era, which spanned from 1890 through 1953. Tattooing in London through two World Wars, Burchett catered to both the rich London society and the poor alike.

Born George Burchett Davis in 1872 in Brighton England, George did his first “scratching” (as he described it) on his schoolmates. One of his first customers was his younger brother Charles, who at the age of four or five was wiling to pay the large fee of a stick of liquorices for the pleasure of being scratched by George.

George Burchett joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen and found that his ability to “scratch” was welcome. Navy discipline proved too much for the young George, so he jumped ship in Tel Aviv and did not return to Great Britain for twelve years. In order to avoid the authorities George Burchett Davis dropped his last name and became George Burchett. During this part of his life, he worked as a tram conductor and a cobbler, but continued tattooing part time. In 1900 he became a full time tattooist. During the next half century and until his death in 1953, George Burchett created one of the largest tattoo practices in the world.

Charles Davis

Charles Davis followed in his older brother's footsteps into the tattoo world, but never received the acclaim that George did. The brothers worked together and operated shops separately for many years. George and Charles were just a few years apart in their ages. It's difficult to tell them apart in photographs today, with both of them dressed in white shirts, vests and ties, and sporting well-trimmed mustaches and matching shoes! They both even liked to work in white medical smocks. Their tattooing styles were so similar that it is difficult to tell their tattoo designs apart. In later years Charles stepped away from tattooing, and in the 1950s George wrote that Charles was active in the insurance business.

Pigtals no more when tattoos was tattoos: by Bob Crutch Crutchfield

Happy New Year , here are some pics from former crew members off my favorite Diesel Sub , these fellas sailed on her late 50s early 60s ,me late 60s early 70s....You can see Tats here in actual service at sea aboard,before Tats were considered K@@L haha,...one crewman with Swallows on chest another young crewman with name of boat/sub on his arm....and check out the Mohawk haircuts, the V8 one unique haha...you can`t do this stuff in modern Navy haha....even when I was in the Diesel Sub Force "Pigboat Navy " as they called us,45 yrs ago now, uniforms were lax at sea , some wore short pants,sandals and many of us sported beards...we were known as "Sewer Pipe" Sailors because we could take no baths aboard ,and we always smelled abit and alot like diesel (on leave once dancing slow with a gal she ask me what is that smell=it was the diesel you could not wash it out of your skin,it had to wear off ,..might add =she dealt with it haha).   I did one 40+ day patrol N.Atlantic no bath...man did that hot water feel good in Boston Navy Yard base when we finally got into Port......  the pictures of boat diving taken thru periscope is mine taken on that N Atlantic patrol, swim call off Jamaica (my crewtimes) down in Caribbean, last pic myself and some of my shipmates on dock by the Boat  ,and the newsclipping around 73 , the Amberjack was last of diesel boats to go down and our squadron SUBRON 12 was decommed = shutdown forever....  crutch

Sailor, Collector, Writer.

Bob Crutch Crutchfield

Snakes and High Heels

From exhaustive electroscopic comparison analysis at our very own International Institute for Tattoo Art Research, a division of Lift Trucks Project, our studies have led us to the following determination.  The large tattoo flash board from Dusty Rhodes studio is most certainly the handwork of Joseph Hartley.

One element of our research over the course of a couple of hours and in between other stuff, was to focus upon the written words. Lettering is, in itself, as telling and unique as a signature. No two people will pen a letter exactly the same way.

Selection from a book documenting Joseph Hartley work, by the esteemed expert, Mr. Hanky Panky.

A close up of the sheet found in Dusty Rhodes shop.

As we compare the individual letters in the word "NAME", note the outward curve on the right stroke of the “A" and the distinctive convex and concave lines on the "N". The way the center angle of the "M” does not descend as far as the other parts of the letter. Our research shows that in Hartley’s lettering most of the forms have the tops dramatically curving as if they’re leaning back and windswept.

   Hanky Panky's book (Left)                                       Dusty's sheet (Right)

 Joseph Hartley sheet kindly sent by a Lift Trucks contributor. (Above.)

Board from Dusty's studio

We encourage our readers to look for these points of similarity. Snakes with distinct red/white underbelly's and black and green backs. Unique little dots around hearts. The women have stylized bright eyes, arched eyebrows, rosebud lips and heavy jaw lines... The final tells being the ladies tiny size 2 shoes and the fact that Hartely was well known to have supplied the Rhodes brothers in the 1930's with supplies from his Tattoo business in Bristol, England.

Just as sure as a clean fingerprint on a newly cracked safe, we believe this conclusively connects the art to the artist.

We also think this sheet is his ultimate masterpiece.

This of course, has nothing to do with the fact that we own the item.

Dusty Rhodes

The old tea china gently rattled as he walked down hand hewn wood stairs, fire cold dead now but for smoky remains. As he latched the door and walked the cobbled streets to work early morning sunlight streamed over mermaid shaped clouds. Shades of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Prof. Manley slowly became Dusty the Tattooist. Consumed with his near to waking dreams from the night before of Indian chiefs and red mesas, the most un-Brit women clad scantily whirling around with exotic snakes, fans and feathers, the ground littered with heads of evil marauders impaled with a Scotsman's Sgian Dubh knife. The fantasies ran another beautiful day in Grimsby, which, once fueled by fishing and maritime, was now headed into steep decline.

The town was not yet fully awake as Dusty lit his first cigarette outside the neat as a pin shop.  A retired sea captain allowed a greeting as he stumped by. Neptune, God & Country and the Girl at port-side home were all a-waiting to be memorialized in tattoos.  Children peering in the tattooists window were scooted down the road by overburdened mums. 

Manley "Dusty Rhodes" (1860-1962) was listed as a tattooist in Chatham, England 1911 although he spent most of his career in Grimsby. The designs above found in Dusty's shop, are most certainly by Joseph Hartley who sold flash samples and materials from his famous Bristol tattoo shop. This anonymous sheet below was found on the back of the Ladies Cheeks Tinted sign seen in window.

Tattoos on the Barbary Coast: Part II

Everything hidden creeps up through the sidewalks oozes through the cracks, crimes crying to be solved.  Shanghaied, rolling out under the Golden Gate.

 Fog horns freight train whistles odd night noises music or.... tattoo signs, an old jackknife and some papers, a bottle of ink dried up now, somehow the big sheets made it by, floating mermaids and lovesick sailors, a bowling ball in the corner of the old pine floor, flash sheets with dragons, a fish, many little birds and a mystery of the bejeweled twins who, with a wink and a smile, live eternally young from these pages.

Captain Jack Howard, SF 1920's

Luck of The Irish

Tattoo artists often employed popular characters for sample art boards hanging in their atelier.  In this drawing by Thomas Berg, this pair from the comics are tossed in the mix with traditional sailors imagery of flags, dragons and, of course, mom.

Jiggs and Maggie

The humor centers on an immigrant Irishman named Jiggs, a former hod carrier who came into wealth in the United States by winning a million dollars in a sweepstakes. Now nouveau-riche, he still longs to revert to his former working class habits and lifestyle. His constant attempts to sneak out with his old gang of boisterous, rough-edged pals, eat corned beef and cabbage (known regionally as "Jiggs dinner") and hang out at the local tavern were often thwarted by his formidable, social-climbing (and rolling-pin wielding) harridan of a wife, Maggie, their lovely young daughter, Nora and infrequently their lazy son Ethelbert later known as just Sonny.

The strip deals with "lace-curtain Irish", with Maggie as the middle-class Irish American desiring assimilation into mainstream society in counterpoint to an older, more raffish "shanty Irish" sensibility represented by Jiggs. Her lofty goal—frustrated in nearly every strip—is to bring father (the lowbrow Jiggs) "up" to upper class standards, hence the title, Bringing Up Father. The occasional malapropisms and left-footed social blunders of these upward mobiles were gleefully lampooned in vaudeville, popular song, and formed the basis for Bringing Up Father. The strip presented multiple perceptions of Irish Catholic ethnics during the early 20th century. Through the character Jiggs, McManus gave voice to their anxieties and aspirations. Varied interpretations of McManus's work often highlight difficult issues of ethnicity and class, such as the conflicts over assimilation and social mobility that second- and third-generation immigrants confronted. McManus took a middle position, which aided ethnic readers in becoming accepted in American society without losing their identity. A cross-country tour that the characters took in September 1939 into 1940 gave the strip a big promotional boost and raised its profile in the cities they visited.

Courtesy Wikipedia.

Swinging on a Star

Irene Woodward, born 1862, signed and incsribed  "Age 20..."  on this carte de viste. Probably for sale to adoring fans at the circus. That’s if we can believe she was 20 when she signed the the back of the card.  My other job is working in a liquor store so I’ve gotten pretty good at guessing people’s ages.  All women lie about their age, usually shaving off a few years but still, I would not card her. This young lady, as radiant as she is, probably is not under 21.

But she could have been tattooed around 1880, considering she was born in 1862. Eighteen might have been the legal age (if there was one) for this kind of enterprise. 

She almost went down in history as the first tattooed lady in the circus game, short by only a few weeks.

The inking was most certainly done by Samuel F. O’Reilly. Although she claimed abduction by tribesmen in the South Seas, Mr. O'Reilly's signature swirls and embellishments can be seen adorning her legs. We love the hand tinted pink carnation on her shoulder. Nice touch Mr. 1880's Photographer guy!

Looks like somebody from " An Artist Formally Known as Prince" music video traveled back in time and got Shanghaied by a tattoo artist. Which just might have been the best thing that happened to Ms Woodward, because let’s be frank, the 1890’s must have been dreadful.

Cover page from an O'Reilly sketchbook. Note the swirls and action line dash's, all signatures of his splendid work.

We salute you, La Belle Irene!

And a tip of the cap to the master tattooist Samuel F. O'Reilly.

Thanks to  http://wiki.bme.com/index.php?title=Irene_Woodward

"Irene Woodward, also known as La Belle Irene, was a tattooed lady who performed during the 1880s. She made her New York debut just weeks after Nora Hildebrandt to great fanfare, including a report in the New York Times. She worked at Bunnell's museum and successfully toured Europe. Onstage, she claimed to have been tattooed by her father, and, in a break from the usual tales of forcible tattooing, claimed she actually wanted the work done. Woodward was actually tattooed by Samuel O'Reilly and his then-apprentice Charles Wagner. At times, she claimed to have been inspired by having seen Constantine. In 1883, she married a showbiz man named George E Sterling with whom she had a son, also named George, and spent 15 years in the circus.

She died in December of 1915 at the age of 53 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

http://wiki.bme.com/index.php?title=Irene_Woodward

http://ltproject.com/ltproject/Samuel_F._OReilly.html

First Tattoo Pinup Ever?

 Samuel F. O’Reilly 

After emigrating from Ireland in 1871, Samuel F. O’Reilly set up his tattoo business in the back of a barber shop at 11 Chatham Square, New York City. This image, showing a woman’s legs was considered quite racy in the late 1800s. 

"A lady, when crossing the street, must raise her dress a bit above the ankle while holding the folds of her gown together in her right hand and drawing them toward the right. It was considered vulgar to raise the dress with both hands as it would show too much ankle, but was tolerated for a moment when the mud is very deep." As told by The Lady's Guide to Perfect Gentility. 

That sounds just like our image, the subject holding her garment with both hands, it almost looks like she could be standing in mud. This drawing is from a notebook dating to the 1880’s. It appears he used his wife’s initials, M.F.O.R. (Mrs. F. O’ Reilly,) to illustrate a four letter sample in a banner. 

This is thought to be one of the earliest known examples of American tattoo flash, and possibly one of the earliest pinups penned by a tattoo artist.

We get questions...

Q. What does the term "flash" mean again?  

A.  Comes from the carnival world. It means an attraction, a dazzler, an eyeful designed to catch the "marks" attention as he walks through the state fair, seaport, circus, rodeo or strolls down the carnival midway.  

Flash is the bright design, the purple dog on the top shelf, the gleaming bakelight radio in orange, yellow and green, the zip, zap and pop that makes you reach in your wallet, suspend belief and throw as much dough as possible at the booth. In this case, you want the beautiful pin up girl, the brave tiger or the sailing ship memorialized on your person.

Flash is the top shelf. As opposed to "slum" which is the crap in boxes sitting in the dirt by the carneys feet. Slum is comprised of rubber snakes, frog clacker noise makers and those woven Chinese finger traps where the more you pull, the tighter they got. Slum is the red cellophane fish that would curl in your hand. Or not, telling everyone something about your personality.  

The term transferred over to the tattoo world. A good and bold sheet of tattoo flash would turn heads and stop 'em in their tracks. 

Captain Jack Howard

Just in to Lift Trucks:

A tattooists interpretation of the Italian Renaissance. Note Christ tempted by the babe in the rose (bottom right.)

Captain Jack Howard, Barbary Coast, San Francisco, ink and watercolor in heavy paper, 22" by 29", c 1920's.

And just for fun, the sheet as a blueprint.

The Barbary Coast was a red-light district in old San Francisco, California. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway. Particularly notorious was Pacific Avenue, one of the earliest streets to be cut through the hills, which led directly from the wharf to the center of town, near Portsmouth Square. The neighborhood quickly took on its seedy tone.

This piece is just in at Lift Trucks Project. Penned on the back of the tattoo board, is this tally. What it looks like is a 9 hour day paid $30, 4 days a week comes out to $120 per week.  Awful, right?  Well , maybe not.  It comes out to $6,240 per year, if every week paid the same. Here's an indication of what things cost in 1942, the date on the sheet. Average cost of new house $3,770.00 Average wages per year $1,880.00 Cost of a gallon of gas 15 cents average cost for house rent $35.00 per month, a bottle of Coca Cola was 5 cents, average price for a new car $920.00.

How does this stack up to todays income for the tattooer? On the internet and according to a fellow with the moniker "Doomed" (Thanks in advance if this is your information) herewith his opinion on the matter:

 "...all tattoo artists get paid cash. there are no corporate tattoo headquarters sending out checks. you probably already knew this, but i was just refering to the guy who said "coming from a tattoo artist who gets paid under the table". we aren't washing dishes, that's just how it works, we get paid cash.

Like everyone else is saying, there is no standard. there are so many factors that go into it, like how busy the shop/artist is and how many tattoos (if any) they did that day. sometimes the weather affects the customer average, stuff like that. some artists charge by the hour, and some by the size and detail of each piece. but keep in mind that not all that money goes to the artist. and no, not every artist gets paid 60/40 like some other guy said. it all depends on how long the person has been working as an artist. i've seen people getting paid as low as 20% (which was really wrong anyway) and some people getting paid as high as 70, 80%. i would guess the only way you get 100% of the money you make is if you own the shop, however in that case you're responsible for paying all the bills of the shop so in a sense you don't get all your money. "

So, in short, there is no such thing as a tattoo artist "salary". good luck."

The Stoney Age

This is Stoney St Clair's third and final stage of tattooing. He started out doing the classic tattoo imagery, progressing along to a transitional drawing style like this cover up image seen below.

His style evolved into a wild, totally unique style of tattoo art wholly his own. 

Body Electric

Margot Mifflin, Curator  

The Body Electric exhibition features vintage tattoo flash of the late 19th to early 20th century and original art by the most influential tattooists today.

Opening reception Sept 18, 6-8pm.  Vintage tattoo flash on exhibit from Lift Trucks Project.

Ricco Maresca Gallery, 529 W 20th St, New York, NY 10011

  

Stoney St. Clair: Leonard L. St. Clair (1912-1980), nicknamed "Stoney," was a circus performer and tattoo artist born in West Virginia. As a child, Stoney was crippled by rheumatic fever and confined to a wheelchair. His father, a coal miner, used up the family savings, eventually even losing the family’s home, to keep Stoney at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. In the hospital, Stoney drew incessantly. He found his calling in the circus, and one day when the circus was in Norfolk, VA, some of his circus colleagues took him to a tattoo parlor. Stoney refused to get a tattoo, but when he saw the tattoo artist at work, he was convinced he could do the same thing, and better. Over the next several days, Stoney befriended the artist and watched him work. When the circus left town, the artist gave him some tattoo equipment and Stoney set up shop behind the elephant barn. The circus wintered in Tampa, FL and St. Clair eventually settled in the city, opening a tattoo parlor where he was a fixture for decades, and many older residents still bear his work. He then moved to New Orleans and eventually Columbus OH, where he passed away.

 

Best Circus Lady Ever

Prof Frank Howard  ran away at an early age and came back from being at sea literally covered in tattoos. Here is an old cabinet card from Barnum’s circus where he traveled for many years.

The following is from Bmezine.com  Encyclopedia:

“Annie Howard was a tattooed lady who exhibited with her husband, Frank Howard, in Barnum and Bailey's show in the early 1900s. They told the usual story of being captured by "savages" who forcibly tattooed them. In reality, many of Annie Howard's tattoos were done by her husband. Frank and Annie had a daughter together named Ivy, who became a snake charmer when she was 8. In 1987, the family moved to London with Barnum and Bailey's show.

Annie Howard became notorious in 1882 for being arrested on her way to an interview with Bunnell's Museum for assaulting a man who had insulted her for having tattoos. Bunnell was very happy with the publicity and hired her when she was released after spending 10 days in jail.

After the family returned to America in 1903, Annie and her daughter Ivy disappeared.”

Jerry

Once owned by Mike Malone, this was possibly Jerry's last piece. A classic blended with Japanese design elements. We've never seen the dragon used this way before, it's usually a damsel in distress.

Wonder what Jerry was saying? Lightning bolts, sky in turmoil, the sea thrashing with sharks. The Dragon's not giving up in this land, sea and air battle. Sailor Jerry looking the devil in the eye. Tell "em Jerry!

Jerry the Sailor

Norman Keith Collins known as ‘Sailor Jerry’ born in 1911 was a very popular, well-known American tattoo artist who focused his art on sailors. Before Collins became ‘Sailor Jerry’ he lived in Chicago in the 1920’s where he was taught to use a tattoo machine and would practice his art on drunks. Collins enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 19 where he would travel at sea and was exposed to Southeast Asian art. Collins continued sailing Asia and the Pacific sea and ended up sailing to Hawaii where he eventually opened up his own studio and spent the rest of his life.

Collins art stems from what he was exposed to, which was the typical ‘American Sailor’ religion and Asian designs. Some popular symbols Jerry used were bottles of booze, snakes, dragons, women, crosses, weapons and many more. Each symbol/ object had a meaning behind it. For example the anchors represent stability since they are the most secure object in a sailors life and journey. The anchor is a reminder of what keeps you stable. Sailor Jerry himself was covered in tattoos and wore white t-shirts to expose them.

Sailor Jerry helped change the tattoo industry completely. During these times there were only few colors available for tattooing so Sailor Jerry developed his own safe pigments that created much less trauma to the skin. Also he was the first to make use of single-use needles and hospital-quality sterilization.  

- Kamilla Tatka

Baby Don't Cry

One dry hot day, in the California High Desert, we looked through table upon table of tattoo flash in the garage of a very neatly kept tract home.

The gentleman turned out to be the last man standing at the Nu-Pike in Long Beach. He ended up with flash sheets by Brooklyn Joe Leiber, Chris Nelson, Bob Cleveland and many others. Some signed, some not.

Here is one from that group, by the artist heralded as: The Unknown Master of the Crybabies. Said to have come to Long Beach by way of Oakland.  Maybe, just maybe, it's the work of the Legendary Duke.

Duke Kaufman used the core shading technique not employed by many in the Tattoo trade. You can see it here in the clouds, the heavy black shade area inside of the outside form lines. The black shaded core line on the inside of the legs of the Texas gal also. It's a classical drawing technique meant to round out the form. It works.

We have never seen an actual Duke tattoo but it must be really cool. Lots of them were in black and white only. There is a story about a bank robbery where the plot was supposedly hatched in the back room of Lyle Tuttles studio. Duke was collared at the scene and off he went to the big house. Perfected his black and white drawing skills then tattooed happily away upon release.

Could you imagine waking up one morning with Happy Baby on one arm and Sad Baby on the other? 

Let Us Now Praise Dainty Dotty and All Circus Women

 

We love Dainty Dotty and we feel she loved us. Just look at that smile.

Through exhaustive research we believe that Dotty was indeed the Fat Lady sitting next to Major Mite in this famous story about the Rubber Man and Mae, the Tattooed Lady.

Herewith and paraphrasing Albert Parry's, 1933 " Tattoo, Secrets of a Strange Art as Practised among the Natives of the United States."

While on tour with a circus in the summer of 1927, the India Rubber Man fell in love. Professor Henri, in real life Clarence H. Alexander of Ypsilanti, Michigan could stretch his neck seven inches, his arms and legs twelve inches, He was fourty three years old, a professional freak since he was twenty three. His object of attention was Mae, a tattooed gal just twenty, a trooper less than two years. Their associates called them "Tattooed Mae and Rubber November," sadly noting that Mae lacked a trooper's psychology. She was a spectator, the Rubber Man was to her, not a fellow player and possible life mate, but a freak. While Henri Alexander was in love with her tattooings she was repelled by his deformity. She was frightened when he used his elastic magic to pass love notes to her over the heads of the fat lady (Dotty?) and the midget (Major Mite?) sitting between them on the platform.

Could this be Dotty's first exposure to the magic allure of tattoos?  She soon after gave up the fat lady career path and took up electric tattooing. A seemingly more gentile profession. She started in Detroit where she met and subsequently married Owen Jensen. Together they moved west to Sunny California, famously establishing themselves as tattoo artists on the Pike in Long Beach.

The Life of a Twentieth Century Tattoo Artist: Charles ‘Red’ Gibbons

Most early tattoo artists were attracted to the ancient craft of tattoo artistry because of a burning desire to express their creative artistic ability. The appeal of freedom of an unencumbered profession.  They were their own boss, answering to no one.

DREW WINNER, Tattoo Artist at "Electric Tiger Tattoo" painted the picture of Charles Gibbons at work. 19972 Church Street, Rehoboth Beach, DE. 19971

They were like a close-knit family drawn together by an unorthodox and vagabond way of life.  They all seemed to work with each other at one time or another.  Making it hard to know who originated some of the most popular and established tattoo designs. Even though the designs may be attributed to one tattooist.  They were friends, adversaries, companions and sometimes worked alone, but never for long.  There was camaraderie, jealousy, solidarity and division but they stuck together against all odds, just like a family. The good outweighed the bad.  Rewards and returns were worth all the adversities and sacrifices.

In Charles Gibbons’ day, they opened their shops anywhere from eight to eleven in the morning.  Work didn’t stop until every customer was taken care of, sometimes without stopping for lunch or dinner.  There was little time for any social life.

Most tattoo artists in that era were what you would call white collar workers.  They wore two or three-piece suits pressed to the nines; starched white dress shirts; ties or bow-ties, stockings held up by garters,  polished patent leather shoes, and stylish Stetson dress hats.  Charles Gibbons considered himself a professional business man. He dressed like a professional business man.  Modern times have drastically changed the mode of dress in the tattoo community.

A twentieth century tattoo artist’s day consisted in taking care of customers, setting up needles and equipment, inventorying and ordering supplies and sterilizing equipment after each use.  The quality of a tattoo not only depended upon the artistic talent, knowledge and expertise of the tattoo artist, but it also depended upon the quality and precision of the tools of the trade he used.   A lull in customers provided an opportunity to draw and paint new flash.  Then cutting a celluloid stencil for each new design had to be carefully done with a phonograph needle embedded into a wooden dip ink pen handle making sure they didn’t cut too deep so the celluloid wouldn’t crack or etched too shallow. This was so the image transferred the charcoal dust onto the skin clearly and evenly.  Modern tattoo artists don’t have to be concerned with that tedious, time consuming task.  They also don’t have to be careful not to rub off portions of the black powder image before the entire tattoo is completed.  Now they have access to unimaginably sophisticated, life-like computerized images and renderings that were virtually unheard of in Charles Gibbons’ day.  Ultraviolet ink that virtually makes a tattoo glow in the dark is also currently available but it is basically frowned upon by reputable tattoo artists, because it has caused allergic reactions.  Before leaving in the evening, they sterilized the last equipment used, then cleaned and organized the shop readying it for the next day.  The most important and sometimes most difficult task of the entire day was to keep the customers happy. Sometimes an impossible task.  No tattoo artist is immune to having to deal with at least one trouble-making customer sometime during their long day. In the end there was nothing more fulfilling and rewarding than to have a satisfied customer and to know you accomplished a job well done.

Attributed to Red Gibbons

Apprenticeship was and still is, the only way to learn this ancient sacred artistry that required long grueling hours and total commitment.  Its secrets, techniques, and complexities is not easily learned. It is more difficult to precisely apply them while steadily holding a cumbersome, vibrating apparatus on moving skin with bone and nerve-endings beneath it. There is absolutely no room for mistakes.  No erasing here.  Armpits, backs, ribs, groin and feet can be extremely sensitive to tattooing.  That is probably why Betty Broadbent has no tattooing in any of these areas and very little on her upper back.  It didn’t stop Artoria Gibbons, however.

Charles, “Red” Gibbons was a master tattoo artist for over 40 years.  He lived from 1879 until1964.  A brutal robbery resulted in the loss of one eye.  An unfortunate construction accident resulted in the loss of his other eye leaving him totally blind.  Nothing else but death could have ended his beloved career as a tattoo artist.  He was devastated to the extent of no longer wanting to live.  However, with the love and care of his wife and daughter he lived for nearly twenty more years.

The ancient and revered craft of tattoo artistry is constantly evolving.  Innovative equipment, techniques, applications and designs are constantly being discovered.  Charles Gibbons would be utterly amazed if he could see all the changes in his profession today.  

Written by Charlene Anne Gibbons, February 2014

Daughter of Charles “Red” Gibbons, Master Tattoo Artist & “Artoria” Gibbons, one of the most renowned Tattooed Ladies of the twentieth century, tattooed by her husband, Charles Gibbons.

They were married in 1912 in Spokane, WA.  Charles was 33 years old & Anna Mae Huseland was 19 years old.  She was not tattooed until 1918 and 1919.

A book is presently being written by Charlene Anne Gibbons about the remarkable lives of Charles & Artoria Gibbons.

Winning the Fat Lady

Here's Dotty, the tattoo artist. We have always been fascinated with the smiling big woman in the old photos.  One of her designs depicted a woman with butterfly wings floating as if in liberation.  She also had her day with the classic "Put her ol' foot through me heart, matey"  tattoo image.  Could this have been in sympathy for Major Mite? In 1942, Dainty Dotty, who would be Owen Jensen's future wife, worked with Major Mite (world's smallest man) at the Ringling Brothers Circus. Although they were on the circuit together, "America's Greatest Individual Attraction" apparently never won over the big lady. Major Mite was still with Ringling throughout the 1940's until dejected, he slumped back to Portland Oregon to be near his family.

More of this story has to yet be uncovered. Its hard to say if Dainty Dotty knew Owen Jensen in 1942. He was in traveling back and forth between Norfolk, VA and Michigan, were she she met him. By 1944, she was working at the Palace of Wonders in Detroit as a "fat gal." She probably grew tired of folks pointing at her and laughing. Rightly so. This would seem to be a tough road to go down. She might have watched the dapper tattooist and thought this looked a little more genteel than her current employment. In 1945, Dot and Owen married, loaded up the black, five window Ford coupe and joined the great migration for the sunshine state, California. 

Major Mite letterhead with tattoo eagle drawing on back.  

Keep tuned for more on Dotty. Thanks to Carmen Nyssen for her research.

Hawk Rites!

Tom,

California seems to be a fish net for just about everything under the sun, from storage facilities full of valuable items for pennies to being filled with street bums with colorful backgrounds like some sort of whacky catch net. Phil Sparrow wound his last days out in California in his book store before his last roundup in a care facility. Nice place to visit but I don’t think I would want to stay for any real length of time or you can easily get sucked into the vacuum of one extreme or another.

That post of my letter has netted me some reward thank you very much. I have been helping Bert Grimm’s Grand Niece with as much as I can feed her on the book she has been working on for years now, a real Encyclopedia Britannica of the history of many early American Tattooist’s, just an incredible wealth of documented information. Most all consumer literature to date has been, for the most part, coffee table reading single paragraph “stuff” but this is a reference book/item that will survive as “The” tattoo reference book of all time concerning the turn of the 20th Century tattooers and then some, all backed up with reference and documentation. Amazing to hear from her how many have shunned her for information, I’m not at all surprised but if they could only understand the magnitude of what she is doing and how much she has gathered, they would be rushing to get on the bus as a contributor.

She has spent so much time searching micro fish in libraries, phone directories, news accounts, obituaries, census reports, etc. etc, that she has become very knowledgeable in “fact” and gathering year by year whereabouts of many of the tattoo legends. The photo’s she has dug up are incredible, some if not all from their teen years to mid life to old age and of those nobody has photo records of. Life accounts in court documents to grave sites.

I have seen some of what she has compiled and I can’t wait for it to go public through publication.

On another note, all is starting to slumber around the U.S. with the bologna season of the midwest and the excuse of the economy, some shops are reporting how slow things are and I’m convinced of it being geographical and the excuse of the economy is just that, with people saying how tight things are but they just bought the new I phone and pay regularly for energy drinks and large latte chi’s with tuxedo’s, ha! Others report the business never being better but as to the “trend” of tattoos, Lyle Tuttle said it best when he told me “Lets face it, tattooing has shot it’s load”, ha!

This crazy evolution of tattooing in America is really something, and when I speak of evolution, I’m talking about how it truly evolves. For instance, the biker subculture who were once the mainstay from the 60′s to the 80′s has been replaced with the “new and improved” checkbook biker who watches Gangland episodes to become schooled arm chair consultants of the biker lore on something not at all what it once was, where the biker sub culture was the poorer people without a real job gaining identity through their iron machines and actions,  they are now indentured servants to the monthly Harley payment and the credit card that they work so hard to pay off and yet show up every day to a job to keep the high interest payment made on the bike and yet watch their 401 K pay less than that interest. But they are still the evolved crowd whom tattooers can rely on and have become a good staple of income for all. It’s so funny to think that Justin Beeber has been the musical host in 2010 of Saturday Night Live when Bob Marley was once the host, makes ya wanna say “whahhh? Idunno,  it jez, ah, I dunno….” but just what kind of progress is this? I watched “2001 a Space Odyssey” awhile back and laughed at how much they missed their mark, way off but you can remember how colossal that movie was and how prophetic it was acclaimed at that point in time.

Used to be I would have to worry a bit about what was about to enter the door of my shop, a drunk, a whore, a sailor, but now it’s Dad dragging in his Daughter and her friend with their cell phones to their ears like they could be talking to each other ( I call them left handed blinders) and Dad informing me how they just had their 18th birthday, Hah! It’s just to crazy to clarify or define in psychology, it definitely defies any recorded chapters in psychology. It is fun and entertaining but the “It’s not just for sailors anymore” has tweaked a bit, yes Doctors and Lawyers are getting tattooed but so is the guy who didn’t make the grade from medical school and only got as far as an EMT “professor” at the local community college yet married a Doctors assistant who can get scripts for their friends of Vicodin so the tattoo won’t hurt during the tattoo application is in reality the evolved drunk from yesteryears gone by. I really hope that made sense to you Tom.

The evolution of anything and everything will always be unpredictable, I don’t think Johnny Rotten could ever have predicted Green Day as “Punk Rock”, it is again something consumer envied, then recognized by corporate to then be groomed an marketed at WalMart, arghh! Like Thomas Nast could never for see Doonsebury.

I had a beauty today, had all the tell tale marks, home made hand poke marks to the latest trailer park tattoo arhteist, she wanted her deceased Ex Boyfriends nickname “Dirty” on the inside of her hip, whether she was aware that whomever was going to look upon her area of the left ovary bare necked to read “dirty” was of no concern of mine, ha! But at the same time, I savored the moments with that which was bliss. Makes a person wonder if those that Jesus claimed “Know not what they do” were those defined as having abnormal brains, but as to this one, if Jesus don’t love’em I sure do! Rather those than the dramatic emulating the reality programs, you would suspect that the average viewer of the “Ink” programs may feel that tattoo’s were for cancer survivors or those who lost a family member to such, if for only once they would just have some guy stroll in wanting a, lets say a peacock, for no reason whatsoever than he wants a peacock, they show him first filling out forms of privacy disclosure, liability release and payment in advance and the only thing he sez while getting tattooed is “I can’t wait to get outside so I can have a smoke”, now that would be reality but wouldn’t sell Viagra during a commercial break. I am still in awe that nobody from any of the motorcycle manufacturers have figured out that they should advertise through the Orange County Chopper, Sons of Anarchy, and Gangland episodes, weird huh? You would think that the marketing experts would figure that one out,

Anyhow, getting late and tomorrow the witching hour will bring (and I’m not saying that my Mother in Law is planning a visit, although I’m sure her broom is working fine) Halloween! Oh, and thanks for the pumkin art, amazing! But Halloween is the only night that I can get away with “Yer Keith Richards right?” with the reply, “No man, I’m a zombie!” Ha!

Love ya Tom and have a Happy Halloween!

Sincerely,

-Hawk-