Old tattoo photos

[irezumi]

Looking at Bert's artist hours makes me jealous. 10-6? 12-6pm? That would be great.

Last 2 weeks I havent spent less than 11 hrs at work each day, up to 13 on the weekends. Ridiculous.

[Duffa]

[Hogrider]

I work at the Veteran's Hospital.....I have gotten to see some really nice old tattoos from guys that got tattooed from all over the world (mostly navy guys from WW2 and Korea)

I have always been hesitant though to ask people if i could photograph them....maybe I will start doing that though!

I would definitely ask. I can't imagine that many people would say no. I would get a release signed at the time, just in case. The idea of old pics of the tattoo and new pics sounds like a great idea for a book. How about getting the story of where, when and why they got the tattoo. I can't imagine you would have problems selling that book, although it may never make the New York Times best seller list.

[Shannon Shirley]

Juni Salmon.@ 23yrs ago ,I just realized ya'll might think the magazine cover I was on would be old... 1st issue of ''International Tattoo'' @91'

[Shannon Shirley]

I usta see old Norman Collins tats every once in a while in Nor Cal, truly nice 50ish yrs later. And yeah most of them old cats can appreciate it, my 1st wife usta photograph em, and ask their stories.

I would definitely ask. I can't imagine that many people would say no. I would get a release signed at the time, just in case. The idea of old pics of the tattoo and new pics sounds like a great idea for a book. How about getting the story of where, when and why they got the tattoo. I can't imagine you would have problems selling that book, although it may never make the New York Times best seller list.

[irezumi]

something my boss did 35 yrs ago came in today.

[Shannon Shirley]

Who's yer boss?

something my boss did 35 yrs ago came in today.

[irezumi]

Guy named Jack Witt. Used to work on The Pike back in the 60s and early 70s. Moved east in mid-70s and opened up shop in Savannah about 35 or 36 years ago. Not the most PC of people, but idk too many tattooers from his age that are. He has a lot of history to share, and hair-raising stories of The Pike and his days as a HA in the 60s.

Deb briefly met him, but with not a great impression from what she said here.

[Shannon Shirley]

Hahaha........I bet he knew Charlie Cartwright, same time at the pike. PC didn't exist back then. But that name seems familiar,as Ive heard a lot of stories.QUOTE=irezumi;29763]Guy named Jack Witt. Used to work on The Pike back in the 60s and early 70s. Moved east in mid-70s and opened up shop in Savannah about 35 or 36 years ago. Not the most PC of people, but idk too many tattooers from his age that are. He has a lot of history to share, and hair-raising stories of The Pike and his days as a HA in the 60s.

Deb briefly met him, but with not a great impression from what she said here.

[irezumi]

PC didn't exist back then. ]

his story about Jackie went something like this;

"you heard of this lady named Jackie?"

"yeah! from New Orleans. she was like the first black person to own a shop (as far as i know at least) and one of the first black ladies to tattoo as well!"

"yeah well when she came in my shop a bunch of years back i told her 'i dont think women should tattoo, and i dont like n____s, so you should probably turn around and gtfo' "

yeah i felt pretty dumb after that for my initial enthusiasm. gotta learn when to keep my trap shut.

[irezumi]

painting Don Nolan did to put on his back, but the tattoo never happened. at some point in time some moisture got in there and fucked it up a little.

still ill.

I have a better pic of it but this should suffice for now.

[Shannon Shirley]

that's just what it is.....Did Jackie pass? I remember her,,80's NTA conventions.

his story about Jackie went something like this;

"you heard of this lady named Jackie?"

"yeah! from New Orleans. she was like the first black person to own a shop (as far as i know at least) and one of the first black ladies to tattoo as well!"

"yeah well when she came in my shop a bunch of years back i told her 'i dont think women should tattoo, and i dont like n____s, so you should probably turn around and gtfo' "

yeah i felt pretty dumb after that for my initial enthusiasm. gotta learn when to keep my trap shut.

[irezumi]

that's just what it is.....Did Jackie pass? I remember her,,80's NTA conventions.

not sure to be honest. i have 2 friends that worked for her, but i havent seen or heard from them in ten or more years. the big easy seems to just suck people up and keep them in some sort of limbo.

[Shannon Shirley]

I remember back then , I think It was that cat..'Henri ....had worked for her and left to open on his own, If Im not mistaken.

not sure to be honest. i have 2 friends that worked for her, but i havent seen or heard from them in ten or more years. the big easy seems to just suck people up and keep them in some sort of limbo.

[JAllen]

@irezumi, so thomas works will ya'll down there then right? how long have you been working there?

[irezumi]

a little over 2 years.

[67olds]

Thats really neat

[smiling.politely]

just got a bunch of new photos of my dad's tattoos from Goodtime Charlie, back when he was in Kansas in the early '80s. i'll upload them a little bit later.

[smiling.politely]

in early 1983, my dad walked into Charlie's shop, watched him tattoo for two days straight, then started dropping money on tattoos over 10 days. in that time, Charlie did his hands, added the dozen roses around the girl on his right arm and clouds around the eagle on his left arm, and tattooed almost his whole chest, except for the wizard/castle, dragon, and lettering on his stomach. in 1984, he went back and had the dragon outlined, the peace pipe on his forearm, and the text inside his forearm. around that time, he had met my mother, and converted her from house tattoos. her first was a Van Halen logo with a guitar string/casette motor machine. the unicorn on her forearm is hers. of the tattoos i've mentioned, none have been retouched since Charlie did them almost 30 years ago, except shading in the dragon and the clouds around the eagle. Nick Cartwright did a tattoo on my mom's other forearm which is currently being covered in a Koi/chrysanthemum sleeve by my boss, Josh Cruse.

the butterfly girl in the midst of the dozen roses was done by a guy named O'Sullivan, who apparently had a fully functional, immaculate shop set up in a garden shed. the castle/wizard and shading for the dragon were done later by a guy named Richard "Critter" Trukken, who also did all of my dad's legs, back, both sets of ribs, and finished out what's on his arms. he also redid the clouds Charlie did on his left arm (hence the lack of closer photos of it). at some point, if he feels like it, i'll get some photos of his other tattoos, and possibly some stories. having been fairly entrenched in the tattoo world of the late '80s and early '90s in Kansas, there's a fair few of them.

side note... excuse the scratches on his hands... new, fairly violent kitten in the house.

[Avery Taylor]

That was by far and away the coolest post I have seen on this forum. I am guessing that your dad is not a banker. Those hand tattoos are as cool as it gets.

[hogg]

Thanks so much for that, @smiling.politely! That was a real treat. Your dad sounds awesome.

[smiling.politely]

he most definitely was not a banker... i know he moved furniture for a few different places, and built barns, worked in a lumber yard, and worked in his brother's cabinet shop after we moved out into the country. the details some of his arm tattoos have left is surprising based on all the years of outdoor construction work. on a side note, he was 23 when he started going to Charlie.

as for being awesome, both of my parents are pretty rad.

also had them dig out a frame with Charlie's old business card and care instructions. the blue card and "Keep the world artful" bits are from my mom's brother's time in California, and the card for "Sully's" was the aforementioned garden shed shop.

[irezumi]

Those are awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[Duffa]

@smiling.politely - that was a fantastic post, thanks for sharing!! Both your parents doing it like a Boss. If they let you get more photos and stories to post I have a feeling they'd go down rather well. (You should try and get them to sign up!) Thanks again mate

[smiling.politely]

they'll definitely let me get some more photos, and i'm glad everyone is liking the ones i've already put up. the majority of the tattoos on my dad are pre-1995, as are most of my mom's (although some have been reworked, and some are going to be covered). as i've gotten further into getting tattooed and learning about the history of tattooing, they've gotten more and more surprised at how much i ask them about what seems trivial to them at times. i actually didn't know "Charlie" was Goodtime Charlie until i was 21 or 22 (2 or 3 years ago, i know, i'm so old), when i was getting tattooed by Dennis McPhail, and mom pointed out a photo from Jack Rudy's wedding with Dennis, Charlie, Jack, and Corey Miller. until that moment, i just thought Charlie was a rando local, since his time in Kansas isn't super known among most people here.

and my mom may wind up making an account, but dad is a bit of a Luddite with computers. maybe i can talk her into signing up, even if it's just to do a blog telling some of their old stories. and as surprised as they are that learning all of this is as important to me as it is, i'm not sure they quite understood how many people on here will be interested by it, along with the scope of this particular forum.