Tattoo of the Week: Sideshow Ink

While I was at Coney Island I stopped by the Coney Island Museum and saw their freak show. A lot of the performers had some beautiful tattoos that decorated their skin. One of the female performers was kind enough to let me photograph her tattoos. I loved her arm piece with the mermaid and child on an anchor. It looks like all those classic paintings of the Madonna and child but with a sailor twist. It is a great example of tradtional Western tattoos of the 1800s where there were a limited selection of designs and many of the designs of the time based on sailing since many of those who got tattoos were thought to be sailors and criminals.

Her tattoo of the female ninja is pretty cool; kind of a spin on the classic pin-up.

Check out the Coney Island Museum site

Americana Tats

Americana style, also known as Sailor Tattoos, is visually distinct and very intertwined in American visual culture. When it comes to tattooing, I think it is safe to say that Americana is one, if not, the most recognized style of tats and the most commercial in America. We see it plastered on everything from t-shirts to skateboards to oneises thanks to lines such as Ed Hardy. He is the one who I think most people today tend to think of when looking at Americana. But even before Ed Hardy shirts and hats, Americana tattoos were often seen gracing the skin of sailors. They often got them when they pulled into ports all around the states and in other countries. While sailors and tattooing has been around since the first European saw Native Americans that had intricate designs adorned on their skin, the style doesn't really start to take shape til the turn of the 20th century with the advent of the electric needle and a man known as Sailor Jerry.

Sailor Jerry was the American tattooist of his time and developed lots of tattooing standards that are still used to day like single-use needles and developed a whole range of pigments that were never before used. His style was influenced by Japanese design and sailor culture (he joined the navy in his late teens). He was most known for his attention to detail and his playful designs and was often copied. He mentored many well-known tattoo artist such as Don Ed Hardy, Rollo Banks and Dan Nolan.

It has uses thick black outline with bright colors often (but not limited to) yellows, red , blues and greens. Some of the subject matter often depicted are pin-ups, anchors, pirate ships, gypsy, tigers, snakes and skulls. What I personally like about the style is that it bold and in your face. In a way it represents a kind of freedom and stand against authority which I think reflects American culture . Yet, there is a kind of mysticism with all it's references to death and certain animals such as the tiger which is usually associated with fierceness which you try to tap into.