Tattoos
aren’t just pointless body marks for “punks” and delinquents. They have been
around for thousands of years and the art of tattooing has been practiced in
many cultures. You can learn so much about a person by looking at their
tattoos. Personally, I think tattoos are beautiful and the art of tattooing has
such an interesting history. I hope that someday tattoos will be more
acceptable in the workplace because individuals with tattoos shouldn’t be
viewed in a negative way.
The
earliest known evidence was found in 1991, when a man was discovered frozen on
a mountain between Austria and Italy. His body is said to be over 5,000 years
old. He had several tattoos, a cross on the inside of his left knee, six
straight lines 15cm long above his kidneys, and numerous parallel lines on his
ankles. In all, the man has 58 tattoos, mainly just simple dots and lines. The
positions of his tattoos suggest that they were applied for therapeutic
reasons. (Kromarik, Katherine)
Other
evidence of early tattoos was found after World War 2. Archeologists dug up
some graves in the Altai Mountains of South Siberia. The graves were full of ice,
so everything was very well preserved. In one of the graves was a chieftain
with tattoos representing different totem and game animals. These are the very
first documented picture tattoos. (Kromarik, Katherine)
There
have been many different tattooing techniques throughout history. North and South American Indian Tribes
tattooed their bodies and faces with simple pricking. Some tribes in California
introduced color to into these scratches. Tribes of Arctic and Subarctic
(mostly Inuit), and some people in Eastern Siberia, made needle punctures and
threads with pigments (usually soot) were drawn underneath the skin. Maori people of New Zealand were famous for
their wood carving technique of tattooing. Shallow, colored grooves were
produced on the face and buttocks by striking a small, bone, cutting tool (used
for shaping wood) into the skin. (Kromarik,
Katherine)
In
1691, William Dampher, a sailor and explorer who travelled the South Seas,
brought a heavily tattooed Polynesian man named Prince Giolo (also known as
“The Painted Prince”) to London. The Painted Prince was put on exhibition to
make money and he became all the rage in London. He had some of the first seen
tattoos in Europe in 600 years, and it would be another 100 years before they
would see any others. (Kromarik,
Katherine)
The
word “tattoo” came from the Tahitian word “tattau” which means “to mark”, and
was first mentioned by explorer James Cook in 1769. James Cook had made many
trips to the South Pacific. Returning to London from one of his trips, he
brought back a tattooed Polynesian named Omai. Omai quickly became a sensation.
Soon after seeing Omai, the upper class got small tattoos in discreet places.
Tattooing became a fad for a short time. (Kromarik,
Katherine)
Tattooing
didn’t become real popular because it was a painstakingly slow procedure. Each
puncture of the skin was done by hand and then the ink was applied. In 1891,
Samuel O’Rielly made the first electric tattooing machine based on Thomas
Edison’s electric pen. The concept of moving coils, a tube, and a needle bar
that he used is still being used today. This new machine made tattooing cheaper
and easier. Because of this, the average person could easily get a tattoo,
turning the upper class off to tattoos. (Kromarik,
Katherine) Even today, I believe that people with tattoos are being looked down
on and seem “trashy” to the upper class, and finding a job is tougher for
people with tattoos than for those without. Businesses seem to not like
modified people because in their opinion, they make their establishment seem
unprofessional. I don’t think tattoos should be viewed in a negative way.
They’re beautiful to me and a person shouldn’t be judged negatively if they
have them.
Eventually tattoos lost credibility because
tattooists started working in bad parts of town and heavily tattooed
individuals started travelling with freak shows and the circus. Today’s tattoo
lovers owe a lot to the circus. For over 70 years, every big name circus
employed several completely tattooed people. Some were featured in side shows,
others did things like sword swallowing and juggling. They got paid really well
and the people with the most elaborate tattoos often got fought over between
circuses. The circus people advertised for tattoo artists by displaying their
work. The circuses made tattooing prosper, making this art form still popular
today. (Kromarik, Katherine)
WORKS CITED
Kromarik,
Katherine. “History of Tattooing.” The Art of Tattoo. Michigan State
University. April 2003. Web. Date of
access 11/18/12. <msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/history.html>
Kromarik,
Katherine. “History
of Tattooing.” The Art of Tattoo. Michigan State University. April 2003. Web. Date of access 11/18/12. <msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/his_1800.html>
