Let's start off with some reasons how and/or why someone might come by a tattoo.
#1. I was drunk. Very commonly heard and featured in the Jimmy Buffett's "Wasting Away In Margaritaville". You know the story -- a night of drinking and, the next morning, (in the lyrics penned by Mr. Buffett) "...how it got there I haven't a clue". In fact, at a recent round table discussion over morning coffee at a rural store, one local offered up that he'd never known anyone with a tattoo that wasn't drunk when they got it. The others present readily concurred.
#2. I was in prison. Yes, though strictly prohibited by most penal institutions, tattooing does go on in "the joint". The results vary in quality from terrible to excellent. In fact there is a whole genre of tattooing known as the "joint style". Almost always involving black and grey work without the use of color, this was originally because equipment and supplies were hard to come by for the clandestine practice of prison tattooing. But over the years monotone has become the accepted and preferred style. Now black and grey is a popular and sought after style practiced on the outside as well. So these days black and grey tattoos may bring to mind the gangster/prison image but actually represent a popular fashion in tattooing.
#3. I got it because many cool/famous people have one. There is seemingly some truth in this. Let's see now -- Lindsay Lohan, Justin Timberlake, Paris Hilton, Johnny Depp, Snoop Dog, Angelina Jolie, 50 cent to name just a few. Still not convinced? How about Jesse James, The Pickers and The Pawnstars? And those as for those without tattoos -- the President, the Pope and so forth. All in all, I think, a pretty solid indication that tattoos are way cool!
#4. I need it for ID. A reason often cited through history by solders going off to war. Obviously a tattoo could assist in identifying the remains of a fallen solider. These days DNA testing would probably be a better method of confirming identity.
#5. I like to piss people off. An excellent reason and often quite effective. There are a small number of people who are offended at having a tattoo brought into their line of sight. If that is a concern you might consider that these same individuals are probably the type that take delight in finding most things around them objectionable most of the time. So in reality it's a win/win situation and such an encounter should prove rewarding to both parties.
#6. I want to give back to the tattoo community. It seems that everywhere one goes these days there are tattoos to be seen. We are often astonished, amused, revolted, puzzled, confused, surprised or delighted at these totally unexpected encounters but go on our way and probably never give it another thought. But the object of the above cited emotions remains with the wearer to the grave. So I don't think it's too much to ask that some of us will be willing to acquire suitable epidermal decoration that others may enjoy in the future.
#7. I am a rebel. This is not a real strong point these days as so many people have tattoos. And marking your body hardly compares with forms of rebellion that bring severe social ostracism and even danger into the picture. So a tattoo is a pretty cheap form of rebellion -- and shouldn't everyone want to be a rebel on some level?
So anyway, enough of that. Please feel free to ascribe any or all of the above to my decision to get a tattoo.
Many years ago I was just beginning to work full time at the defense contractor North American Aviation. This was a new and exciting time in my life and I learned and saw a lot of the adult world that was new to me. For the purposes of this post I'll mention one guy with one tattoo. I did not know him and don't remember ever speaking with him. A bit older than I was, he often worked within a few feet of me but was obviously more skilled at his trade and entrusted with considerably more responsibility. I soon noticed that he had a tattoo on the inside of his lower arm featuring a profile view of a woman's face. There was also an abundance of hair, both piled on top of her head and cascading down over her shoulder. I thought it was pretty cool. Perhaps a portrait of his wife or girlfriend. It also somewhat resembled an old time Pachuca, the 1940s/1950s equivalent of what we'd call a Chola (a word I had not heard at the time) today.
At the time this would have been far more unusual and artistic than the usual tattoos you'd see
and it remained in my mind.
Skip forward a few (or even more) years. I really can't remember when or where but at some point I came across an illustration, a pen and ink drawing that closely resembled that tattoo I remembered from North American. It immediately became obvious that this drawing was from a much earlier era and it was very likely the inspiration for the tattoo. Further research revealed that the artist was Charles Dana Gibson, a very well know illustrator in late 1890s and the early 1900s. In fact, in the era just before printing technolagy allowed for half tone reproduction of photographs in newspapers, artists like Gibson were the sole source of affordable picture illustration in the print media. Mr. Gibson was more skilled than most and was particularly noted for his drawings of young women. So much so that a whole genre of the fashion/glamor illustration of the day came to be considered the Gibson Girl look.
I didn't think much at the time about there being a story behind the drawing but at some point later on I would become aware the that model was a very well know personality of the day. Her name was Evelyn Nesbit and she was a model and a stage actress. Born on Christmas day in 1884, her father died when she was young. By the turn of the century Evelyn and her mother had moved to a modest apartment in New York City. The attractive young girl soon found work as artist's model and a chorus girl in the production "Florodora". Soon one of the most in demand models in NYC, she attracted the attention of Stanford White, a prominent architect and well know playboy. He was 47 years old and she 16. Over the next few years White endeared himself to Evelyn's mother and took liberties with the daughter. By 1905 Harry K. Thaw, son of a wealthy family and a dope fiend, had persuaded Evelyn to marry him. Then on June 25, 1906 an insanely jealous Harry Thaw walked into the Cafe Martin in the Madison Square Garden and fired three bullets at point blank range into Stanford White's face. Thaw was tried twice for murder and found legally insane the second time. Evelyn testified for the defense in the second trial and reportedly was supposed to receive 1 million dollars for her efforts from Thaw's family. But she never got a cent. Harry Thaw went to an institution for a number of years and was then judged sane and released. Evelyn had a modest career in the entertainment industry and died in Santa Monica, California in 1967.
So I hope that provides some insight on the subject of my tattoo. Yes, it may look like a Chola and like it was done in the "joint" but it's actually an iconic and widely recognized piece of American art featuring a famous figure from The Gilded Age. After all these years I am quite pleased with it!
