Good Vibrations
A Brief History of Tattoos
by Sandra Schulman
June 24, 2010


From Japanese warriors to exotic circus ladies to sailors, gangs, Mike Tyson’s flaming face and Bombshell McGee’s “We are all Sinners” forehead, tattoos cover the world from head to toe.

The word tattoo has two major derivations- from the Polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something and the Tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’. The history of tattoo began over 5,000 years ago and is as diverse as the people who wear them.

Tattoos are created on the body by inserting colored materials beneath the skins surface. The first tattoos probably were created by accident - someone had a small wound, and rubbed it with a hand that was dirty with soot and ashes from the fire. Once the wound had healed, they saw that a mark stayed permanently.

In 1991, a five thousand year old tattooed man “Otzi the Ice Man” made headlines when his frozen body was discovered on a mountain between Austria and Italy. This is the best preserved corpse from that period ever found, his skin bears 57 tattoos: a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines long above the kidneys and numerous parallel lines on the ankles. The position of the tattoo marks suggests that they were probably applied for therapeutic reasons, perhaps for treatment of arthritis.

The Egyptians spread the practice of tattooing throughout the world. The pyramid-building third and fourth dynasties of Egypt developed international nations with Crete, Greece, Persia, and Arabia. By 2,000 BC the art of tattooing had stretched out all the way to southeast Asia.

The earliest evidence of tattooing in Japan is found in the form of clay figurines which have faces painted or engraved to represent tattoo marks. The oldest figurines are from tombs dated 3,000 BC or older. It is believed that the tattoo marks had religious or magical significance.

The Japanese were interested in the art mostly for its decorative attributes, as opposed to magical ones. The Horis - the Japanese tattoo artists - were the undisputed masters. Their use of colors, 3-D perspective, and wildly imaginative designs gave the practice a whole new look. The classic Japanese tattoo is a full body suit.

The arrival of Western missionaries forced this unique art form into decline as tattooing has been discouraged or forbidden by most Christian churches throughout history.

Early Jesuit accounts testify to the widespread practice of tattooing among Native Americans. Among the Chickasaw, outstanding warriors were recognized by their tattoos. Among the Ontario Iroquoians, elaborate tattoos reflected high tribal status. Inuit women’s chins were tattooed to indicate marital status and group identity.

The first permanent tattoo shop in New York City was settled up in 1846 and began a tradition by tattooing military servicemen from both sides of the Civil war. Samuel O’Reilly invented the electric tattooing machine in 1891. Sailors on their ships returned home with their own tattoos, usually a basic style that only uses a minimum amount of details with a cartoonish feeling and typical motifs ware flowers, hearts, mermaids, ships, anchors, snakes, birds, and names.

For a long time, tattooing was the preserve of sailors and... criminals! In prison, the tattoo - professionally done and homemade- indelibly imprint on their bodies what these men seem to desire in their souls: autonomy and identity.

The ultimate symbol for gang members are their gang tattoos, getting a permanent mark is a sign of showing total commitment to the gang. Known symbols include teardrops under the eye as well as spiderwebs on the elbows to symbolize people killed.

Tattooing in New York City went underground after the City Health Department found what it said were a series of blood-borne hepatitis cases coming from tattoo parlors in 1961. Tattoos were still being done secretly on the second story of buildings on Canal Street, in basements, apartments and backrooms. In the 1960s, Lyle Tuttle tattooed Janis Joplin. The 1970s brought tattoos into a new youth culture through rock and roll. Spider Webb, a well-known artist, protested the ban by tattooing porn star Annie Sprinkle on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for violating health law. Webb appealed the case, which the New York State Supreme Court refused to hear.

By the 1980s, tattooing had become popular. It was no longer a part of the subculture, even people with Harvard educations were getting them, as well as curators at well-known art museums. MTV was taking over cable television and there was hardly a band – or their groupies - that did not have tattoos. The NYC ban was repealed in 1997 when they realized no hepatitis cases had occurred in 40 years due to new sterilization methods , and a massive Tattoo Convention was held to celebrate.

LA has its own TV show “LA Ink”, and has made a star out of the owner artist Kat Von D.

More than skin deep, tattoo has gone mainstream.