Tattoo History

A HISTORY OF TATTOOING
Dr. TATTOFF, unlike many tattoo-removal clinics, is not anti-tattoo. We promote the idea that body modification is an art that should be practiced by trained individuals. You wear tattoos on your skin. You can’t change them at the drop of a hat. They are meant to be permanent art, and you are entitled to have your art and your body look exactly how you want it to look. Should you wish to change that look, our skills in tattoo-removal are at your service.

Dr. Tattoff is committed to furthering our client’s knowledge of our communities and of the world of tattooing in particular. To that end we present here a short history of the art of tattooing, the traditions and cultures that have embraced this ancient art form.

AN ANCIENT ART
Tattooing has been practiced since Neolithic times. "Otzi," the ice man discovered frozen in the Tyrol and dated ca 3300 BCE, was tattooed. The mummified body of the man found in the Pasaryk burial was tattooed with stylized animal designs. Tattoos have been found on other natural mummies dated back as far as 7000 years.

Initially a tradition found in both Europe and Asia, tattooing was rediscovered in the 1770s during the exploration of the South Pacific by Captain James Cook. In European culture, sailors in particular were identified with tattoos until after World War I.

PURPOSES AND PROCESSES
Historically, the reasons people chose to be tattooed were diverse. Identification, cosmetic, religious and magical purposes were most common. Since the pigments are mostly dark, tattoos are most commonly chosen by peoples of fair skin. Primitive dark-skinned peoples sometimes decorated their bodies with scarification. All these are still influential factors behind today’s tattoos as well. The pain of the process has usually accepted and often valued as a demonstration of personal courage.

The Maori chiefs of early New Zealand had very intricate patterns on their faces that they drew as signature in treaties. Tattoos are often used in prisons as and identification of membership in a certain group within the prison community. Throughout history people have also been forcibly tattooed for a variety of reasons. The best known is the ka-tzetnik identification system for Jews in Nazi concentration camps.

Tattoos are also placed on animals, though very rarely for decorative reasons. Pets may be tattooed with identification marks, and sometime certain of their body parts (for example, noses) have also been tattooed to prevent sunburn. Farm animals are sometimes tattooed with identification marks..

Some tribal cultures create tattoos by cutting the skin and then rubbing the wound with ink, ashes or other agents. This may be an adjunct to scarification. Other traditional methods include "tapping" the ink into the skin using sharpened animal bones.


MODERN TATTOOING
The most common method of modern tattooing is introducing ink with a group of needles soldered to a needle bar and attached to an electric tattoo gun or tattoo machine. When the gun is activated the needles move rapidly up and down. When placed against the skin the action of the needles results in the insertion of ink beneath the epidermis layer of the skin into the dermis layer.

Tattoo machines operate on an electromagnetic principle -much like an old-fashioned doorbell. They are manufactured by many small to mid-sized companies throughout the world. Handmade tattoo guns can be built from small motors and used with readily available India ink. Tattoos produced with these amateur devices are more painful, coarser, and are a risk for infection.


PERMANENT COSMETICS
Permanent cosmetics are tattoos that mimic eyebrows, lip liner, lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, and even moles.

NATURAL TATTOOING
Historians suggest that the origins of tattooing come from natural process. There are instances of natural tattoos resulting from manual labor. Workers in coal mines often bear telltale marks due to coal dust getting into wounds.

TEMPORARY TATTOOS
The temporary tattoo art Mehndi, popularly used in certain Middle Eastern, North African and Asian countries, is usually drawn with intricate patterns and designs. The art is typically placed on the hands and feet (since the stratum corneum is thickest there, especially for males) where the stain will last for a long period of time. Although the body art is predominantly applied onto the hands and feet of brides, there exist traditions in Bangladesh, Kashmir and Sudan where bridegrooms are also are expected to be tattooed before wedding ceremonies. Once the henna plant is converted to powder, it is mixed with a dark liquid like coffee or tea, lemon juice (to release the dye) and sugar (for consistency) into a paste which is then applied. Depending on how long the paste rests on the skin, the tattoo lasts from a few days to two weeks beginning with a red-brown color and ending with a fading orange presence.

Temporary tattoos made with so-called 'black henna' may cause allergic reactions. 'Black henna' is fabricated by adding PPD (p-Phenylenediamine) to natural henna, in order to achieve a black color rather than the orange through brown stain of natural henna. PPD is very unhealthy and has been known to cause burns.


POPULARITY
Along with body piercing, tattooing has become popular with young people in the US in the early 2000s. Many celebrities sport tattoos, such as Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears.

A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found on the skin between the thumb and forefinger, stands for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"). Along with the pachuco cross, it is a popular "generic" tattoo among Hispanic teenagers, and has no direct connection to gangs. The tattoo has also been adopted by Vietnamese teenagers, along with the similar interpretation of "to o can gica" ("I care about nothing").

The three dots in a triangle are also used by Freemasons.