Alex Gordon
Gordon was an American-born tattooer who, apparently, got his introduction on the Bowery (this is according to a newspaper interview) and then moved to England and tattooed in London. He…
Anonymous
This is an antique pencil drawing on very old paper- probably late 1800’s to 1910 from an unknown hand. It’s a page from an itinerant sketchbook, likely English. Often times these…
Ashton Taylor
Ashton Taylor (?-?) – We have been told this drawing is by Ashton Taylor. “Okay,” we said. It’s a great dragon and has all the hallmarks of tattoo flash. And…
August ‘Cap’ Coleman
August ‘Cap’ Coleman (1884-1973) was born in 1884 near Cincinnati, Ohio. After being tattooed by J. F. Barber, Coleman enlisted with Sheeshley Shows as their tattooed attraction and tattoo artist…
Bert Grimm
Bert Grimm (1900-1985) started hanging around tattoo shops in Portland Oregon when he was about 12 years old and before long he started tattooing. Grimm was a fixture in the…
Bob Shaw
Bob Shaw (1926-1993) worked on the famous 22 Chestnut Street location in Long Beach . He was a solid member of the Nu-Pike gang of famous tattooers. Bob was covered…
Captain Jack Howard
Capt. Jack Howard (1870-1921) settled on Barbary Coast in San Francisco after traveling with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Note drawings of Buffalo Bill Cody on the top of this…
Charles ‘Red’ Gibbons
Charles “Red” Gibbons (1879-1964) Little is known about Red Gibbons’ early life, other than he had worked as a tattoo artist in an arcade in Spokane, Washington. He gained notoriety…
Chris Nelson
Not much was known about him, but he worked on The Pike in Long Beach, CA along with Bert Grim. According to Jim LePorte, Chris Nelson and Ed Hardy were…
Dainty Dotty
Dainty Dotty (1909-1952) was the Fat Lady in the Ringling Bros circus in the 1930s and 40s. She married tattoo artist, Owen Jensen, who taught her the art of tattooing. They…
Dan Danzl
Danny Danzl (1911-??), a Minnesota native who arrived in the Northwest around 1940. He was gardener in Portland, OR where he started tattooing. By 1942, he’d moved to Seattle. He…
Dominic Chance
No information
Duke Kaufman
Ralph “Duke” Kaufman (1924-1964) spent many years away for a bank robbery conviction. His pieces are notable for the classic shading employing a core and cast shadow style. Like the…
Dusty Rhodes
Manley “Dusty Rhodes” (1860-1962) was listed as a tattooist in Chatham, England 1911 although he spent most of his career in Grimsby. The designs above found in Dusty’s shop, are…
Earl Brown
Earl Brown (?-?) tattooed in many locations during his career. At his Kentucky tattoo shop, Brown called himself a master tattooist with 35 years’ experience. His card stated, “I originate…
Ed Smith
America’s Tattoo Master, Mr. Samuel F. O’Reilly, trained Ed Smith along with Charles Wagner in the 20’s and 30’s on the Bowery in New York City. Bums, empty bottles, and…
Ernie Carafa
Ernie Carafa (1946-2018) started tattooing at age 16 by trading fireworks for tattoo equipment. After almost 50 years of working as a tattoo artist, Carafa, originally from Brooklyn and now…
George Burchett
George “Professor” Burchett (1872–1953) was probably the most famous tattooist of his era, which spanned from 1890 through 1953. Burchett tattooed in London through two World Wars and Burchett catered…
Gus Wagner
Augustus “Gus” Wagner (1872-1941) “World’s Champion Hand Tattoo Artist and Tattooed Man,” was one of the most exuberant figures in the history of American popular culture. As tattooist and showman,…
Happy Hooper
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Harry V. Lawson
Harry V. Lawson (1882-1950) For such an important tattoo master, not a lot is known about Harry V. Lawson. According to the 1937 Albert Parry book titled, “Tattoo”, Mr. Lawson…
Horiyoshi III (Yoshihito Nakano)
Yoshihito Nakano (b. 1946), Horiyoshi III received his current title from the late tebori master Yoshitsugu Muramatsu, also known as Shodai Horiyoshi of Yokohama. Sailor Jerry visited and studied Horiyoshi II’s work in Japan…
J.B. King
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Joe and Mabel Darpel
Joe Darpel (1900-1968) Bert Grimm tattooed Joe Darpel from head to toe and then Joe took his Bert Grimm body suit on the road and worked as an attraction and…
Joseph Hartley
Joseph Hartley (1882-1945) tattooed in Bristol, England from 1882 to 1945. This legendary tattooist taught Lee Skuse, among others, the art of tattooing.
Juan Leon
Juan Leon (1934-??) was classically trained at the Chicago Art institute and Otis Art institute in Los Angeles. He was a Mexican tattoo artist who worked in the movies, drawing “authentic”…
Karl “Bumpus” Lark
Karl (1905-1982) was born in Ohio. He was a brakeman for the B&O Railroad while being a tattoo artist on the side. Eventually he would become a full-timer after moving…
Lee Roy Minugh
Lee Roy Minugh (1911-1994)
Martin Hildebrandt
Martin “Old Martin” Hildebrandt (1825–1890) opened a tattoo shop on the Bowery in the post Civil War era and is considered to be the first tattooist in New York City. …
Owen Jensen
Owen Jensen (1891-1976) was born in 1891 in Pleasant Grove, Utah. As a young man he worked in the railroad shop in Ogden, Utah. Jensen has said that in 1911…
Paul Rogers
Paul Rogers (1905-1990)
Rosie Camanga
Tino “Rosie” Camanga (1910-??). Everybody has heard of Sailor Jerry and Ed Hardy, but how about Rosie Camanga? While those two ended up on almost every shirt in New Jersey, Rosie Camanga…
Sailor Bill
These girls were employed outside a tent on the midway. There are some fabric ties to affix them to the tent wings. It’s very well done and puts in doubt…
Sailor Jerry
Sailor Jerry (1911-1973) There Used To Be More Sailors In The World While some men set up comfortable homes in the suburbs and saved for better washing machines and lawn…
Samuel F. O’Reilly
Samuel O’Reilly (1854-1909) is considered to be the godfather of the American Tattoo, Samuel was tattooing as early as 1875. He developed the first electric tattoo machine based on Thomas…
Stoney St. Clair
Leonard L. St. Clair (1912-1980), nicknamed “Stoney”, was a circus performer and tattoo artist born in West Virginia. As a child, Stoney was crippled by rheumatic fever and confined to…
Tattoo Ole
Tattoo-Ole is often referred to as the world’s oldest operating tattoo studio. The building on Nyhavn 17 is historically saved by the Copenhagen Museum. This shop lasted through many rough…
Tex Rowe
Tex Rowe’s (1921-2009) flash page design is very distinctive. The centerpiece gypsy and the images radiating out are stunning. His sheets can be deemed authentic by the “8-Ball” numbering system it seems only he…
Tom Berg
Tom Berg (?-?) was an English tattooist who came to the United States at the turn of the century. He is known to have tattooed in San Francisco where he…
W. R. King
Wilbur Raymond King (1894 – ??) was a gifted classic tattooist who rode the rails and traveled with the circus and the carny circuit. He was deaf from birth. One…