On October 22, 2009 I gave the following talk at the Tattoo Scuttlebug held by Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum. It was a great pleasure to share the stage with Chuck Eldridge of the Tattoo Archive, the great Philadelphia Eddy, and Troy Temple. The following is a brief, and quite general, overview of the sailors mark on early American tattoo design. I don’t often share my work in the field through this platform… but as the script and images are basically just sitting on my computer, I figured why not give it a go. I’ve included some images, but will note that the original presentation included roughly 30 more.

The Olympia

It’s fitting to begin here, with this image of USS Olympia. Now docked outside this very building, the Olympia is the oldest steel warship afloat today, having launched in 1892. The ship played an integral role in the Spanish American War and won fame for her most famous officer, Commodore George Dewey.

Aboard ship in 1899, outside on the weather deck, William Reader tattooed his shipmates. This wonderful photograph allows us to look this evening at the Olympia not as just a ship, but as representative vehicle for the tattoo. Tattooing, of course, is not exclusive to the sailor, but in the American context the sailor and the sea play an extraordinary roll in shaping the artistic and professional development of the industry. As you’ll learn through my colleagues tonight, many tattooists were sailors first. And, many tattooists best clients too were sailors.

The history of tattooing is long and varied. Cultures all over the world have marked their skin, and marked their identities, through tattoos. In the Americas, tattooing was practiced by several native cultures, but it was through the Sailor that interest in the art was invigorated and through their bodies that the initial visual vocabulary of the “American tattoo” was formed.

Like the men seen here aboard the Olympia, American sailors have marked their national identity, memorialized events, and forged their individual identities with tattoos. My hope tonight is not to present a full history of American tattooing, but give a sense of the types of images that were popular in the first decades of a true American tattoo trade. The sailor, without question, helped make this possible. His on shore stomping grounds became fertile soil for the opening of full scale tattoo shops. His interests gave way to the images that filled the tattooists books and covered his walls.

Whenever some free time presents itself (rarely) I’ve been heading into North Philly to hunt for “ghosts.” These markers of industry past are great signals of the lives once lived in the neighborhood. I’m particularly fond of finding sets that connect discrete parts of a specific trade. For example, finding a horse hair dealer near an upholsterer.

Anyway, here are a few recent pictures. All are taken north of Girard and east of Broad Street.

11 Chatham Square is the most important address in New York’s vibrant tattoo history. The space first functioned as the shop of Samuel O’Reilly, who in 1891 patented the first electric tattoo machine. Though its widespread use is disputed, the change to the industry the patent represents is huge. For one, electricity changed the soundscape of tattooing. Without it that constant buzz we now associate with the tattoo parlor wouldn’t exist.

After O’Reilly’s death, the shop landed in the hands of arch rival Electric Elmer Getchell. Elmer had, at one point, attempted to sue O’Reilly for infrigement… the basis of the claim being that all credit for the tattoo machine should go to Thomas Edison. (For many reasons, this is actually true. O’Reilly simply played with a preexisting Edison design).

Many other famed Bowery tattooists had their start at 11 Chatham Square. Charlie Wagner, who ruled the Bowery for almost 50 years, apprenticed under O’Reilly. He later moved to 4 Chatham Square and from there created a good many sideshow acts. In 1911 he returned to no. 11, working at the address until his death. Guys like Lew the Jew also worked in the shop. Lew is famed for his flash designs, a function of previous employment in wallpaper design.

Little of the rough and tumble nature of the area remains – save for an Off Track Betting outpost. The long tattoo tradition is basically removed from contemporary street scape, yet for those of us who love tattoo lore  11 Chatham Square remains hallowed ground.

Below is an image of the building as it looks today (or to be exact last Sunday).