The
Grand Old Men of modern tattooing
Lockhart hung out in the Bay City in the 70's,
getting tattooed by the best. "Back then you could select from
various schools of tattoo art," says Lockhart. "But no
more." The Grand Old Men of modern tattooing can still be found,
however. World famous artists like, Lyle
Tuttle,
Ed Hardy, and Chuck Eldridge. Tom won't begin his journey
until he's paid his respects. And what better place to be regaled with
colorful stories and current concerns of tattoo artists than in Chuck
Eldridge's shop and archives? What better time to be briefed on tattoo's
"taboo" history?
Exotica
for the upper classes
In the 18th century merchant sailors returning from
voyages in the South Seas acquired tribal skin art in lieu of postcards
or souvenirs. Members of the British aristocracy traditionally took to
the sea, and returned with tattoos as well. The first western tattooists
set up shop near the docks, as tattoos (discreetly hidden) became exotica
for the upper classes. But when the port city tattooists began inking
prostitutes and criminals, the tattoo became the mark of lowlifes who
lived on the murky fringes of society. For hundreds of years the tattoo
remained underground (and the tattooist considered as an outlaw)
imprisoned there by persecutions and prohibitions born of myriad fears.
End of history lesson.
Eldridge gives Lockhart some
advice
Never mind that Eldridge's San Francisco tattoo shop is cramped and
chaotic, this "museum" contains everything from primitive
hand-tapping equipment, to the 1891 invention called a "tattaugraph",
to modern machines capable of 125 pricks per second. As a young woman
gets a tattoo high on her thigh, Eldridge gives Lockhart some advice.
Check out an old tattoo shaman in the Bering Sea -- and be careful in
Borneo.
North America's Tattooed Indian Kings
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