 Previous Tattoo Chronicles by Bob Baxter
#20 A Life in Ink (Episode 2)
#19 A Life in Ink (Episode 1)
#18 It Ain't What It Used To Be
#17 101 Biggest Jerks in Tattoo
#16 Tattoo Travel Horror Stories
#15 The Sunny Side of Life
#14 Would You Do a Reality Show?
#13 Who Doesn't Love Ed Hardy?
#12 The Best in the Business
EXTRA! Say Cheese
#11 Taking a Ride
#10 The Best of Friends
#9 Back to Reality
#8 Aboard the Bus
#7 Return to Samoa
#6 The Answer's Upstairs
#5 Out of Control
#4 Ouch!
#3 The Master, Paulo Sulu’ape
#2 One Bright Idea
#1 Bigger Than Brazil
Forward
I first started researching the history of tattooing in the mid-nineties, and to say there was a dearth of source material at that time -- online or elsewhere -- is a little bit like saying there's a chronic shortage of water in the Sahara. The magazines of that era that did cover tattooing where often sporadically printed, niche publications that seemed aimed at the fetish crowd, or were mostly interested in pretty girls with ink on the back of Harley's, which wasn't really a surprise, because they were off-shoots of biker mags. There was almost no mention of indigenous tattooing, or "tribal tattooing" as it was usually called, and even less printed of might be called casual cultural anthropology about tattoos. Most of what appeared in print that did mention "tribal tattoos" were first-person travel stories, the thrust of which would have been perfectly suited to a Ripley's, "Believe It or Not" panel in the Sunday Comics. "Look at what those crazy natives are up to!"
It was at this time that Bob Baxter showed up on the scene, and magazine coverage of tattoos and tattoo culture would never be the same. As Editor-in-Chief of Skin & Ink magazine for over fourteen years, Bob Baxter guided the publication to a Folio Magazine Editorial Excellence Award, making it America’s most respected and educational body art publication. I often called Skin & Ink, "the National Geographic of tattoo magazines", but that is something of a disservice to Bob and diminishes his editorial vision to cover the full spectrum of tattoo culture around the world. Such vision was and remains a rarity. Bob Baxter made Skin & Ink the best tattoo magazine in the world, bar none.
When I heard that Bob had left Skin & Ink, I reached out to him the same day on the telephone, urging him to write for the Vanishing Tattoo website and share with us his extraordinary experiences covering tattoo culture over the last decade and a half at Skin & Ink. The Tattoo Chronicles by Bob Baxter is the result of that exchange and just like every other regular visitor to www.vanishingtattoo.com, I can't wait to read his reminiscences, scoops, untold stories, behind the scenes gossip and unexpurgated recollections. That means you'll get the full Bob Baxter - longer and uncut, complete and unabbreviated, uncensored and unabridged.
To ask questions, make comments or demand an apology, you can email Bob at baxter@tattooroadtrip.com.
Welcome aboard, Mr. Road Tripper.
-- Vince Hemingson
 
As editor in chief of Skin&Ink magazine for over fourteen years, Bob Baxter guided the publication to a Folio Magazine Editorial Excellence Award, making it America’s most respected and educational body art publication. He currently edits and writes a Daily Blog at www.tattooroadtrip.com, the ultimate E-zine and resource site for international tattoo artists and collectors. To ask questions, make comments or demand an apology, you can email Bob at baxter@tattooroadtrip.com.
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