Did You Know The History of Women and Tattoos

By Jack Gordon

History of Women and Tattoos

One of the first famous tattooed women was Betty Broadbent. Starting in around 1927, she began an illustrious career with Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus. Betty was one of the first women ever to have a full body tattoo, and also one of the first to be tattooed by the "new" electric tattoo machine. Her full body tattoo was done by a New York artist named Charlie Wagner, and after getting tats all over her body, she displayed them in the circus side shows and earned quite a bit of money (and reputation). Eventually, Betty became a tattoo artist herself and worked at the job until her retirement in 1967.

There were plenty of other tattooed ladies that helped make tattoos for women more popular. While most females who had a lot of body art stayed in the circus arenas, others broke out into modeling and other entertainment avenues.

Tattoos in history are rich in tradition, dating back thousands of years.Throughout the course of time, there has always been an important role of tradition and ritual behind tattoos.Tattoos were used in the past as a way to deal with illnesses and disease by placing the tattoo around the fingers and on the wrist. Tattoos also have been used to symbolize a clan or society as well throughout history.

Throughout the course of time tattoos have differed from culture to culture .The earliest tattoos come from Egypt during the time of the pyramids, There are those who believe tattoos started much earlier.tattoos were used as a way to mark slaves and the peasants.Tattoos spread to China and then on to Greece,around 2,000 BC where the Greeks used tattoos as a way to communicate among spies.

Japan also incorporated the use of tattoos as well. The Japanese people used tattoos for religious and ceremonial rites.Tattoo designs indicated the individuals point in life and the tribe that was affiliated with it, tattoos were very popular during these days. Tattoos were a long way from being perfected - which showed in the way they were done.

William Dampher, who was an explorer, was the man who re-introduced tattoos to the western areas. During the year 1961, he brought a heavily tattooed Prince to the area, showing off his tattoos with exhibitions. He made quite a bit of money with these attractions, which in turn made tattoos very popular .

Chatham Square, located in New York City, was the first place to feature American styled tattoos. During the turn of the century, Chatham Square attracted people from all over the United States, especially those with money. A man by the name of Samuel O-Reily set up shop in Chatham Square, becoming the first man to use an electric tattoo gun. In the beginning, the now popular tattoo gun was based on Thomas Edison's electric pin that used a needle point to puncture paper.

The electric tattoo gun features moving coils, a needle bar and tube, which are common components of today's guns. The electric gun was very popular. These guns helped to revolutionize tattoos and allowed the tattoo artists to give tattoos fairly fast as well. People took to this new technology in flocks, making it by far the best and most efficient ways to get tattoos.

During the late 1960s, tattoos really began to take off. They were featured in magazines, television, and talked about everywhere. These days, tattoos are very common, with nearly ½ of the population in the United States having at least one tattoo. There are millions of designs out there for tattoos - including different color combinations that have helped to make tattoos the phenomenon they are today.