A tattoo is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment.
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I have a confession to make. Gonna let that sink in for a minute…
Nope. Too soon. So instead I’ll confess that I have great readers who help me out by frequently provider even greater (settle down word police – I know) content that I am happy to share. Dan over at Authority Tattoo wins the “most patient content provider of the year award” (a crowded field I assure you) and graciously shared some interesting facts about tattoos you may not know. What I know is that if you have healing and aftercare questions – and you know you do – after you check out my semi-literate offerings here and here head over to Authority Tattoo for some crystal clear and accurate advice.
tattoo by Jeff Gogue at 26 Swords
You love tattoos, but how much do you really know about them?
Unless you’re a genuine aficionado, there are probably quite a few facts about tattoos that will be able to surprise you.
I’ve compiled a few of them here. They range from stats to history to basic facts about tattoo materials and processes.
15 Tattoo Facts You Probably Weren’t Aware Of
Tattoo machines seem like a fairly recent invention, but the first one was actually patented all the way back in 1876. The inventor was a tattoo artist named Samuel O’Reilly based in New York. O’Reilly realized that, with a few modifications, Thomas Edison’s electric pen could be turned into a tattooing device that would make his work a whole lot easier.
Before tattoo machines, tattooing was a laborious, time-consuming, and frankly painful-sounding process involving chisels or picks.
Tattoos recently underwent a gender switch. Ink used to be a mostly male pursuit, but a 2012 survey of Americans found that 59% of people with tattoos were women.
Your black ink might be the darkest, but that doesn’t mean it’s the hardest to remove. In fact, since they absorb light more easily, darker colored ink breaks apart more quickly under the laser than lighter colors. Light tends to bounce off green and yellow pigments, which makes those some of the hardest colors to laser off.
Many people consider tattoos therapeutic. People get tattooed to cope with depression, overcome trauma, or simply feel more empowered and confident in themselves. Therapeutic tattooing at least partly explains why women with tattoos reported both higher rates of depression and higher rates of self-esteem.
Your body is constantly trying to get rid of your tattoo. Your white blood cells consider the ink particles that are injected in your skin to be a foreign body that needs to be cleared out. Those ink particles are just too big for the white blood cells to break down. That’s why laser removal works – by breaking down the large particles so they can be flushed out by the white blood cells. It’s also why your tattoo fades over time because those white blood cells gradually erode the ink particles.
You can get blacklight tattoos created using UV ink. The ink will barely be visible under normal lighting conditions (and might become entirely invisible after gently fading for a year or two), but will show and glow under a blacklight. Be careful though – UV tattoos aren’t as safe as conventional ones.
There’s a reason tattoos hurt: a tattoo gun pierces your skin between 50 to 3,000 times a minute while you’re getting inked.
Tattooing was illegal in New York for over 30 years, and this was surprisingly recent. From 1961 to 1997, a tattoo ban was in effect in an effort to contain hepatitis B. (And there’s little reason for that fear these days – licensed tattoo artists know how to prevent contamination and the spread of bloodborne diseases like hepatitis B.)
Tattoo artists won’t just tattoo anything you ask them to. Most tattoo artists have some types of designs they refuse to ink on their clients, whether for ideological or practical reasons. Many will refuse to tattoo white supremacist symbols, for instance. Others will refuse to tattoo a lover or spouse’s name because these are the tattoos people regret the most.
Not all tattoo ink is vegan-friendly. One thing to watch out for is bone char, which is added to black inks to give them a deeper pigmentation. Other tattooing equipment might also contain animal-derived ingredients, even the tracing paper. Thankfully, most tattoo artists can accommodate vegans looking for ink (and many of them are vegans themselves).
The oldest known tattoo was discovered on the skin of a mummy that dates back to sometime between 3370 and 3100 BCE. His tattoos are simple dot and line designs.
Some people use tattoos to get permanent cosmetics. The designs are meant to mimic their make-up so they can make the look permanent and save time on their daily routine. Tammy Faye Baker’s famously eccentric makeup, for instance, was at least partly permanently inked.
Most tattoo ink uses pigments derived from metals, such as chromium, iron oxides, and nickel. The rest of the ink is made of a carrier that can be made of glycerin, denatured alcohol, or some other similar substance.
Getting a tattoo is hard on your skin, but it’s nothing compared to what tattooing does to your body. Because of all the precise, intricate handwork, along with all the hunching and awkward contortions involved in tattooing different parts of the body, many tattoo artists have to end their careers because of various ergonomic conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back problems. Artists who want to make a long-term living in the industry usually have to own and manage a studio instead of tattooing all day or earn enough to work part-time.
Thanks again Dan for this fun and informative article. And in case you are wondering – this is not a paid promotion. I am always happy to post well-written tattoo related content as long as you are cool with me taking forever to post stuff – like Dan
Iconic Tattoo Shop, “Good Time Charlie’s End of the Trail” Comes to a Close in 2020
A Retrospective of Good Time Charlie’s
Charlie Cartwright – The Original Good Time Charlie
The world-renowned, iconic tattoo shop “Good Time Charlie’s End of the Trail” will soon be closing it’s doors, after a run of 32 years in Modesto, CA. If you include the beginning of the Good Time Charlie’s namesake shops, it’s a tattoo flagship that’s been sailing for 45 years.
Quite a bit has changed since Charlie started honing his craft. Equipment was harder to find, in many states, tattooing was illegal. The competition was less and defiance of the tattoo artist ethics code could easily mean your new tattoo shop would go up in flames if deemed too close to an already established one.
Being tattooed was a sacred commitment, understood by only a few, usually by those who American society found incomprehensible. But those who sought tattoos out were ones who were deeply committed to their life message and values, which is interesting when you think about it. A tattoo holds a moment of a person’s own complete acknowledgment in all honesty. The outcasts were the first to make these statements. There was a discernment when it came to picking an artist, reputations hailed, and the relationship of understanding and knowing their clients deeply was everything. Once there was a time when people put tattoos on discreet parts of the body, so no one would know.
Stay Gold Charlie
Charlie, now 79 and his wife of 58 years, Olivia, have been enjoying road trips around the country on the tattoo convention circuit, to support his book “Tattoo Man.”
Gorgeous Collectible Book – Tattoo Man by Charlie Cartwright
Changes in personal direction and egged on by an industry’s metamorphosis, have helped Good Time Charlie in the making of this decision. But a career that has spanned over 64 years owns a legacy onto its own, a story that will not cease to be told despite the shop’s departure.
An auction of shop’s items, including original artwork with creations dating to 1972, is scheduled to begin early Jan 2020. Items are not limited to original and reproduced flash artwork (although there is an abundance of it), but will also include original shop signs, art, and reference books, and shop decorative items. The coveted refrigerator is up for grabs, as well as wall panels that contain artwork from visiting tattoo artists.
The Black Wall, which is a collection of reproduced flash designs, hand-picked, hand-assembled in the ’80s (in Wichita), colorized flash sheets, by Charlie and his son Nick, will be available for a flat price, per panel via www.goodtimecharlie.net website. Every panel from the wall is blessed with an original signed GTC logo. Charlie’s original drawings from the Black Wall will also be available on the website.
Vintage tattoo t-shirts, misc artwork, neon signs, etc., will also be available for sale at the shop or online.
Final bids on auction items will be tallied end of Feb, to coincide with the shop’s closure. Bidders from all over the world are expected to participate online and the demand for owning a piece of tattoo history will be a high priority for today’s most dedicated tattoo artist.
This article was provided by Kimiko Tokita – if you would like more information contact him at: (805) 217-0556 or kimiko@whitecrowe.net