For National Tattoo Day: The Tattoos of Travalanche

Friedrich von Ledebur as Queequeg in “Moby Dick” (1956)

Happy National Tattoo Day! We thought this a suitable day to share a finding aid to our little tattoo section of Travalanche, for we do indeed have one, with about 15 posts.

None precisely tell the history, though, so first a very brief thumbnail sketch, for I’m quite certain that many young people don’t realize that the contemporary prevalence of tattooing in the U.S. is a relatively recent development. That said, tattooing itself is an ancient human activity, stretching back thousands of years, and across the globe, including Europe. At some point it came to be regarded as “barbarous” in Western Europe, but many places in the world never ceased the practice. Captain Cook’s voyages to the South Seas in the late 18th century popularized the practice among sailors, and thereafter and for the next couple of centuries tattoos enjoyed popularity in the West strictly among certain fringe groups, such as sailors, bikers, criminals and/or convicts, and of course sideshow professionals, which is of course our main point of interest here. And this was still the case well within living memory, throughout my childhood and even into my young adulthood.

Things shifted towards the late 1980s, thanks to the influence of publications by V. Vale and many others, as well as the resulting sideshow Renaissance, and the embrace of the practice by rock musicians and Hollywood movie stars. During this phase it was largely associated with punk and grunge music. Tattooing and other body modification practices like piercing were seen as rebellious because of their previous associations, and teenagers began getting them to provoke their parents. (Come, come, we all know that’s what happened). It became fashionable, and then, nearly ubiquitous by the early years of the present century. And now women sport them unashamedly in corporate boardrooms. It’s funny what can be accomplished when no one puts their mind to it!

At any rate, I hope you will peruse our tattoo section, which features important “illustrated” sideshow stars like Captain Costentenus, La Belle Irene, The Great Omi, Rasmus Nielsen, Artoria Gibbons,Lorett Fulkerson, Betty Broadbent, Jack Dracula, and Coney Island USA’s own Michael Wilson, as well as tattoo artists such as Bert Grimm, Lyle Tuttle, and Stoney St. Clair.

And again the tattoo section of Travalanche, with these and other articles, is here.

To learn more about variety history, including the sideshow, please see my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous,