Tattoo History and Culture

– Sailor tattoos have been a tradition among sailors since at least the 16th century.
– Tattooing mostly took place during downtime at sea and was done by hand with needles and simple pigments such as soot and gunpowder.
– In the 1870s, former sailors started opening professional tattoo parlors in port cities in the United States and England.
– The trend increased with the development of the electric tattoo machine in the 1890s.
– These sailors turned tattooists trained a generation of professional tattoo artists who developed the American traditional tattoo style.
– By the late 18th century, around a third of British and a fifth of American sailors had at least one tattoo.
– In the 19th century, common tattoo motifs among sailors included anchors, ships, patriotic symbols, love symbols, and religious symbols.
– Historical records from 1900-1908 show that 23% of first-time enlistees in the US Navy were already tattooed.
– Anthropologist A.T. Sinclair reported in 1908 that 90% of American men-of-war men and deep-water sailors were tattooed.
– Some sailors and servicemen became professional tattoo artists, such as Amund Dietzel and Ben Corday.
– In the 1930s-1940s, a style of “old school” tattoos became popular among sailors featuring traditional symbols and maritime-inspired images.
– This style was further popularized by tattoo artists Norman Collins (Sailor Jerry) and Lyle Tuttle.
– By the early 1990s, interest in sailor tattoos had declined among sailors and non-sailors.
– In the 1990s and 2000s, there was a revival of the “old school” style promoted by artists like Don Ed Hardy.
– Sailors in the Royal Australian Navy have incorporated symbolic tattoos as part of their traditions.
– Retro sailor-style tattoos have remained popular in the American Traditional style.
– In 2016, the US Navy allowed sailors to have tattoos below the knee, on the forearms and hands, and up to one inch by one inch on the neck.