60s

– Tattoos trace a path from sailors to the counterculture of the 1960s.
– In the late 19th century, tattooing was common among high society in the United States.
– Tattooing was seen as vulgar and barbarous at the turn of the century.
– Tattooing among seamen can be traced back to Captain James Cook’s nautical explorations in the 1700s.
– Tattoos served as souvenirs and forms of identification for sailors.
– Tattoos like pigs and roosters were believed to protect sailors from drowning.
– Inappropriate and obscene tattoos were rejected by the US Navy in 1909.
– Tattooing businesses began to develop in major naval communities and port cities in the 1910s.